Hi, my local shop has a sale on the Cannondale Rush Carbon 4 Team 2008 it is going for £1,550 rather than £2,000.

Has anyone out there got one and any thoughts to the pros and cons?

Thanks

Where and what size?

I ride a 5 at present and really like the look and feel of the Rush. Wouldn’t swap my bike for one but I’m trying to convince my dad to buy one so I can borrow.
Single pivot, light, reasonable amount of travel for the majority of UK riding, decent spec components. Say no more.

Hi, it is alpinebikes.com and it is only available in medium

Excellent bikes and that sounds like a bargain, I would get buying.

Poo. Too small as its only 17″. He needs a Large. I’d go sit on one and see if they’ll let you ride it. I think they’re a good bike and I’m sure current owners will tell you the same. There is one on ebay for a grand. 08, medium, hardly used.

Why I like the Rush…

It climbs like a hardtail with 2 clicks of propedal on, but there’s also the extra grip the rear suspension gives you. Out of the saddle uphill bursts dont have you wallowing around like you would be on a long travel bike. Even with a 50mm stem the front doesn’t wander and I can keep my weight forward on the steep climbs.
Long Epic rides dont leave you feeling as tired and beaten up as a they do on a hardtail bike. The weight isn’t a penalty at 27lbs, any lighter and it wouldn’t have the strength and planted feeling to get me back down the hills.
Its very well balanced and flickable when you point it downwards, just remember to switch the propedal off at the top of the hills. Long wheelbase and slack head angle keeps it stable at speed. It only really gets a bit lairy and short of travel in big rock gardens which would probably have you pinging all over on a hardtail anyway.

Get one and try a short stem and some fat tyres if you want something a bit more all mountainish.

I ride an aluminium rush and am really starting to like it, after a bit of a slow start. Exceptional bike for UK XC riding for all reasons stated above. I could see myself upgrading to a carbon frame in a year or so, the Al version is quite heavy for a short travel bike IMO. I’m 6 foot and ride a large, which is shapes up as quite a stretched out, XC-orientated ride for me.

The big question for me would be frame warranty, as I’m a heavyweight. I get about 3 – 4 years out of an aluminium frame, and have had great experience with CDale’s frame warranty, which is lifetime. I’d want to get a feel for how the shop / Cdale are handling their carbon warranties before buying one. This is probably less of an issue for wee men, and to be honest, at that price I’d probably just buy it.

Thanks, I’m off to go and try it out.

Well I bought it, it does seem great value for monsy. I will let you know how it goes.