I’ve got a 2006 carbon 140 lefty spv and I fancy putting it on a new Helius AC I’m saving for.
I like the idea as I is a nice stiff fork (term used loosely).
What are the thoughts of he massive?

Cheers in advance

I quite fancy the idea of trying lefty on my CC. Give it a go?

Edit: it’ll look something like this (cc I think)

Have a look at this post here (on STW).

I used to ride with a guy who ran a Lefty on one of the FS Nicolais with the Rohloff built into the frame. Looked fantastic.

Can’t comment from a technical viewpoint, but I think it looks great. I love both Nicolais and Leftys ( Lefties?).

There are plenty around that hate both, though. Then again, I think the Orange Five is also a great looking bike.

Hmm, a Five with a Lefty perhaps?…I’d be lynched by the STW hate mob.

I’ve seen a lefty on an RC where the weight saving seems to make sense but on a Rufty Tufty(TM) bike I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.

If you’ve already got it, you might as well try it…it will cost about £50 for a ‘Lefty for all’ steerer, if you haven’t got one already.
Make sure the head tube on the Nic’ isn’t much more than 100mm though, that measurement, plus the headset must be no more than 137mm. If it’s going to be more, get saving for a new fork as well.
There’s a diagram with these measurements in the other post I linked to.

It makes sense to give it a whirl – beats laying down several hundred for a new RS or fox fork anyhow.
Doesn’t sound like a great combination though IMHO, I think when you’re going to that sort of travel, bigger bike etc you need more control over the forks set-up, which is harder to do on the lefty.
You’ve ridden the fork though presumably? What did you think of it at 140mm?

Before opening the thread I thought no, but that RC (I think – two shock mounts, not four) up there looks excellent.

Saw a Mojo the other day with a Lefty – I gagged.

No I haven’t ridden it yet, I did buy it (it was a great deal) for a build I didn’t go ahead with. I decided to go for a Nicolai instead. I just think a 140 on a AC would ride really well. If anyone knows of an AC going S/H let me know as I can’t wait to scratch this itch.

What size frame are you after? The UK Nicolai distributors are selling a new, medium one for £1500, that’ll be without a shock I would have thought.
I’ve just checked the head tube lengths…it’s 130mm for the med and large. The fork you’ve got won’t fit. There is a Lefty XL, that fits H/T and H/S combined lengths of up to 167mm. Even with one of those you would still have a fight getting it to fit, especially as Nicolai’s are supposed to have a deep-insert headset (less options).

Yes that has buggered up my plans well and good!!! The space between the mounts on the lefty is 137mm and the headtube length is 130mm.

God help I so wanted this combination to work. Apart from buy a new fork – anyone got any ideas???????

If its a 2006 Lefty Max you could consider upgrading the internals to a PBR Lefty, have a on the MTBR Cannondale forum for more info

See this thread for more info.

If you really want to stick with your fork, your only option is a different frame unless you could get a custom one with a 105mm H/T. Even then, they might be able to make it that short due to the other tube sizes (TT and DT junction).

Do I need to go down the custom route then the frame gets very expensive, for that price there are quite a few options available. Including full builds. e.g. endorphin 140mm.

I know, I nearly bought an AC at the start of last year…with the options I wanted/needed, it was going to be around £2800 for frame and shock! I hope you get something sorted.

We have built a few frames specifically to take Lefty forks in the past. If all you need is a specific head tube length, since this didn’t alter any of the tube junctions and require changes to the build jig, it wasn’t a hefty upcharge.

Now that the standard headtube is Tapered (and for new orders ZS44/56) this might have become more complicated but drop us a line if you want to look into it properly.

I’m kind of intrigued about Lefty’s myself though my next frame will be a Pinion AC which needs a longer fork than the 130mm they top out at for 2013 (it’ll be getting a 44 RC3Ti – just picked up one of the last sets from Windwave as, unbelievably, Marzocchi have dropped them from the 2-13 range)

If I build up a Helius RC or a 29er hardtail I’ll be looking again.

Cheers Simon I’ll be in touch soon.

Chainline off this here forum had an amazing 20lb Helius RC built up with a lefty for 24hr racing…

I’m surprised he hasn’t popped up on here to comment but perhaps he is away out riding 😆

I would imagine he is out re calibrating his scales!

I remember 20lb was his target weight… I think he got pretty damn close too 😛

Stolen from MTBR…

Weights/spec so far
Frame, Size, & Color: Nicolai RC, 2010, Size M, Ano Black: 2360g
* Fork: 2012 Cannondale Lefty Ultra Carbon SL xloc 120mm:1290g incl. bolt thru axle
* Steerer Hellore Carbon 68g
* Shock, i2i, stroke – 2012 Fox RP23 Kashima:248g incl. hardware(steel)
* Brakes: 2012 Hope X2 Race Evo: 652g with discs/bolts/adaptors
* Cranks: Shimano XTR M980 with TA Chinook 34T – 666g with BB
* Shifters: Shimano XTR: 122g
* Chain Guide – Carbocage carbon (85g claimed)
* Rear Derailleur: Shimano M980 XTR 172g
* Pedals:Shimano 540’s 340g
* Stem: 90mm Point One Racing Split Second – 104g
* Handlebar: Easton Haven Carbon – 178g
* Seatpost: Thomson Elite layback 238g (KS i900 560g)
* Seatpost QR: Superstar lite: 32g (KCNC clamp14g)
* Saddle: Saevid S1.2 76g
* Cassette: Sram XX 11-36 206g
* Chain: KMC x10SL 235g
* Headset: Acros AH-01 ceramic 82g
* Grips: Ozrider 30g
* Front Tire: Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evo 2.25 tubeless 462g
* Front Rim/ Spokes: Stans Alpine/Sapim CXray SP 484g
* Front Hub/Skewer: Extralite Hyperlefty (84g) – lefty Bolt thru
* Rear Tire: Schwalbe Rocket Ron evo 2.25 tubeless 428g
* Rear Rim: Stans Alpine/Sapim CXray SP 490g
* Rear Hub/Skewer: Extralite Hyper Rear (166g) Superstar Lite QR 28g
* Cables: Shimano XTR 40g
* Overall Weight 9.46kg

So 20.85lbs !

See here… Taadaa!

mmmm, I will give that, its close, I want the wheels…

It’s a scientific fact that anything plus a lefty = awesome 😛

#edit: So awesome in fact, that STW tried to post my statement twice. Ignore this one!

My arse is sore just thinking about sitting on a 76g saddle for 24 hrs.

I’m kind of intrigued about Lefty’s myself though my next frame will be a Pinion AC which needs a longer fork than the 130mm they top out at for 2013

This?

Any more idea what the upcharge for a Lefty headtube would be?

Andy

The Pinion AC 26 got a Marzocchi 44 RCTi. A Lefty would be ideal on the new Helius TB (130mm travel) and I’ll be looking for one for my forthcoming 29er hardtail.

The Pinion AC 26 got a Marzocchi 44 RCTi. A Lefty would be ideal on the new Helius TB (130mm travel) and I’ll be looking for one for my forthcoming 29er hardtail.

LenHankie – Member

a Five with a Lefty perhaps?…

I’d love to see a single-sided single pivot bike with a lefty – like the single sided swingarms you see on motorbikes.

I know Yeti chased the idea for a while with the ASR-7 but never managed to carry it off. (One less chainstay to break, eh?)

Great idea!

Thanks for the links above too. Has just confirmed to me that the new bike for me this year will have a Lefty!!