Hello all,

I am looking for some advice from anyone knowledgeable of Cannondale headshok and lefty and the various models of bad boy.

Basically I want a bad boy 1, but they are proving hard to get hold of (due to issues with the uk supplier, apparently).

I was wondering if I could buy a standard bad boy and then fit a headshok and lefty fork?

Can a lefty or headshok be fitted to any bike? Can they be fitted together?

Depends which Bad Boy you mean; some of them have a 1 1/8″ head tube (which won’t take a headshok) and some have 1.5″ (which will).

Andy

also depends what you mean by ‘lefty’, traditionally it refers to the one sided dual crown 110mm-140mm travel fork as seen on XC bikes etc, but they started making single/mono single crown forks a couple years ago for their commuter/bad boy range.

As long as you have a 1,5″ headset & steerer you should be ok, but smaller frames used forks with shorter steerers and vice versa, so you’d have to match them up correctly.

Hmm there are so many models of bad boy floating around on the second hand market this could get confusing.

I want one of these…

I’ve been building my own bikes since I was 16 (now 35) so i’m quite happy to build my own if I can get the parts. I can probably buy a bike with a single crown lefty, but wanted to check I would be able to fit a headshok at a later date (if I can find one for sale).

I assume that a lefty requires a special hub, but will take any standard disk.

Thanks for the advice so far guys. I’m looking forward to building a rapid bike for commuting.

I Looked into how much a rigid lefty would cost new, i believe they make the rigid one in 1+1/8th and 1.5. it turned out to be close enough £300. i cant imagine the headshok being cheaper. and that is only 1.5.
mtb lefty forks can be converted for 1+1/8th thats the double crown.

didnt seem viable enough for me,

can you get the full bike from europe/USA if you are very set on that spec?

I would suggest you will have a lot of trouble trying to get one of those forks aftermarket and it will be lots of moneys if you can get hold of one.

(as a second point, i know the bad boys look kool but they are pretty desirable to theives and are not going to be as fast as many many other commuting options eg CX bike)

I’ve had a look around but I think the bike that I posted above is only available in the states (Bad Boy 1), when you switch to the uk version of the cannondale site then the top spec bad boy is shown without the lefty

this one is for sale on gumtree for £550, but it looks like the 1+1/8th rather than the 1.5.

Evens have both the ridged (R9) for £510 and the headshok (DL50) for £1000

The more I look into this the more I am thinking that maybe I should just not bother with the headshok, as I only really want the bike for commuting and the occasional ride with the wife. Besides i’ve been riding a 6 year old specialized epic to work, so any hardtail is going to be quicker than that.

Having said that the spec on the DL50 is much better than the R9. I have budgeted for £1000 but if I buy the R9 or the ridged lefty then I have money spare for upgrades (or beer).

Or failing that I can just wait until next seasons bad boy range is here (due in October I think).

How do you know the R9 is much worse than the Headshok?
TBH, both are fairly limiting. But I reckon both would be fine for commuting, with the R9 probably offering slightly less weight.
Sounds like both 1.1/8th and 1.5″ would suit you as well? IME, most buyers tend to prefer a 1.1/8th as its means they can ditch the (less popular) cannondale fork for something else, without faffing with adaptors.
(I prefer 1.5″ myself).
Id love the bike you posted in the pic above myself, expecially if 700c version, ive been toying with the idea of a single speed badboy for a while, but I heard so many poor reviews of the eccentric b/b, and the fact that cannondale seem to have stopped prodcuing it makes me think its a purchase that i’d end up regretting.

And yes, any disc will fit a lefty, its only a lefty hub required to run this set up.

Well my new ride arrived today, the first mod was to replace the frankly crappy pedles with crank bros egg beaters (pillaged from my epic). I’m going to ride it to work for a couple of weeks but I might swap the seat, post and grips also.

I still plan to swap the front forks for lefty forks, but dunno if that will ever happen (besides I only want to swap for cool points rather than any functional reason).

I’ll keep you posted on adventures..

Cannondale Bad Boy Fatty R4 2012 Hybrid Bike
Frame: Bad Boy Stealth, 1.5 Head Tube
Fork: Fatty Rigid, Opi, 1.5″ Steerer
Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore, 34.9 Mm Clamp
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Slx, Shadow
Number of Gears: 27
Shifters: Shimano Deore
Chainset: Shimano Deore
Chainrings: 48/36/26 Tooth
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Deore
Cassette: Sunrace Csm969, Bad Boy, 11-32, 9-Speed
Chain: Kmc Z99 Black, 9-Speed
Pedals: Cannondale Urban 6Point3 Alloy Platform
Front Brake: Shimano M445 Hydraulic Disc
Rear Brake: Shimano M445 Hydraulic Disc
Brake Levers: Magura Mt2 Hydraulic Disc
Handlebars: Cannondale Si Urban Opi Stem/Handlebar, 620 Mm
Stem: Cannondale Si Urban Opi Stem/Handlebar, 7 Deg
Headset: Tange Custom 1.5″
Grips: Cannondale Cityscape Urban Lock-On Black Chrome
Rims: Maddux C2 Urban Sl, 32 Hole
Front Hub: Shimano M525
Rear Hub: Shimano M525
Spokes: Stainless Xd Black, 15G
Front Tyre: Schwalbe Kojak Race Guard, 700X28C
Rear Tyre: Schwalbe Kojak Race Guard, 700X28C
Saddle: Cannondale Bad Boy Urban
Seatpost: Cannondale C2, 2 Bolt, Alloy, 31.6 X 350 Mm

Lefty can be made to fit anything. Querty cycles are the go to guys in the
UK for bits. Failing that, you can get anything else from the States
PDQ. Servicing – if you are handy with the tools you can DIY a rebuild.
However it is imperative you follow the servicing instructions, as it is a tricky
Rebuild to say the least. I have a lefty max, and just rode the length of the
UK on it, so it will be spot on for commuting. Just be aware though, that
Water can ingress through the vents in the upper leg, so winter and salt
Roads would kill it in short order. Still a fantastic piece of kit though.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.mtbr.com%2Fcannondale%2Flefty-max-rebuild-illustrated-221683.html&ei=Mtg9UPSjFqSM0wWWgYGAAQ&usg=AFQjCNEg4g7cTzs6Gykv18Z3Bhf1b5z5DQ

Try this forum for a rebuild, it is spot on a WILL save you hrs of frustration

Well my first commute on the Bad Boy and I got to work 10mins quicker with a sore ass!

I’m haven’t ridden a ridged for around 20 years, so I’m feeling every bump. It’s supper quick of the lights, but then anything with 700cc would be quicker that the Spec Epic I was riding. I had a couple of scary moments on metal work in the road, and I’m quite wobbly in slow moving traffic, but that will change with practice.

I couldn’t handle the saddle that came with the bike, so I have swapped it with the specialized body geometry saddle, I’ve also swapped the seat post with the setback Thomson Elite seat post the Bad Boy seemed a little cramped as I’m a lanky 6’2″ both were pillaged from my Epic.

A quick test ride with the new seat/post combo prove a huge improvement to the overall feel of the bike.

Thanks for the tips sangobegger, I’ll check it out.