Been looking at a road/gravel bike for commuting and a bit of road/fireroad stuff when I’m not on the MTB.

Had a quick spin on one today at work, didn’t really consider it before…

But omg it is incredible it accelerates and rolls on the road like a good road bike but take it onto something a bit rougher and it just keeps on going just really composed and great to mess about on.

It seems much more like a really capable road bike rather than a drop bared short travel mountain bike which surprised me.

Really tempted by the 105 model…

Anyone got one yet?

Rode one but come up between sizes.

It intrigues me but the 650 wheels dont seem to give much choice in the way of tyres. For that reason i went for a cx bike.

I’m interested once Paul’s start knocking them out half price.

That will only happen if no one buys any 😉

Who’d buy a ‘dale now at RRP? Everyone *knows* Pauls will be punting a few of everything out!

Currently the only bike I would swap my Diverge for. I think it will be a good seller for them.

I do hope it does well enough for them to produce a carbon version.

I’ll wait for a carbon version. On the lines of a SuperX with Lefty (I know its been done).

I do love the idea and the look (and I like Cannondales and I’ve always wanted to own a Lefty bike at some point) but having a suspension fork for the sake of 30mm travel just seems a bit daft, is there any way of increasing the travel?

I doubt it is, as this is a slate specific 30mm lefty.

I would say try one before you decide, it would be ruined with loads of travel, you would just have a MTB with drop bars which isn’t what it is.

The 105 slate, or carbon diverge is my dilemma £2500 for both.

As a diverge owner who has ridden a Slate, if I had 2500 right now I would go for a Slate!

With some negotiation an Ultegra Slate can be had for very close to 105 Slate money.

I work for a cannondale and specialized dealer so that isn’t a problem 😉

I really didn’t want to go over £2k but the slate is very very tempting

Assuming you mean £2k before discount?

I prefer the colour of the 105 Slate. Would be tempted to go for that then upgrade to Di2 at a later date.

Jmatlock,

I’m interested why you would choose the Slate over the Diverge as I’m currently deciding on a similar purchase.

Other than the SCS rear wheel standard which is specific/peculiar (dependant on your viewpoint) to Specialized and they are expensive (IMO) compared to everything else I’ve looked at, it’s a job to find anything negative about them.

Cheers,
Steve

🙂

There is very little negative about the Diverge. I adore mine. It’s my far the best bike I have owned across lots of disciplines.

I spent a weekend with a Slate and adored it. It felt no slower on the road then my Diverge. It’s was super comfy over long distance, the fork made a huge difference.

I have thought about nothing else really since. I have to have a Slate. It just felt perfect:

jmatlock,
Curious to know – does front wheel removal require loosening the calliper or removal of the disk? Also interested in one, but concerned that transporting it with front wheel off in the back of the car could be a faff.

DrLex, I’ve not been lucky enough to ride a Slate, but do own a lefty. There is a little “faff” to taking the wheel off. Loosen both calliper bolts, swing calliper out the way, loosen the hub bolt (same key as for calliper), whip wheel off. Takes approx 25seconds. Putting it back on is the reverse and takes approx 30seconds. It’s really not that much more time/faff than a bolt through.

Thanks, UrbanHiker.

Assuming you mean £2k before discount?

I prefer the colour of the 105 Slate. Would be tempted to go for that then upgrade to Di2 at a later date.

Yes I mean £2k retail priced bikes, luckily for me not what I actually need to pay. Got C2W coming up again soon so that will give me a decent start towards it.

If I can find the extra then I will be going for the slate, otherwise I will have to settle for a alu diverge I think.

I’d love a slate but the lack of tyres would bother me. Can you change the wheels to 700cc if needs be?

I have a roubaix comp disc too, the scs hub is no issue if you change the mech hanger so you can run standard wheels

You could change to 700c wheels but what is the point? You could only run skinny tyres. There are a few 650b narrow tyres around from more niche brands and WTB are pushing “road plus” 650b 47c tyres so looks like all gravel/gnarmac bikes might be heading for a new standard…

The slick tyres it comes with are beyond useless sadly. Butter soft puncture magnets.

The first upgrade should be to a set of Schwalbe G-Ones

A pair of 41c knards would be my choice.

I think I’ve convinced myself to go for it… 105 model in my size is due in may which is exactly when my cycle scheme is up for renewal so gives me a little time to get the extra saved.

I can see the point of 650B wheels with larger tyre rather than a 700c wheel with larger tyre.

I road cross bikes as my only bike for 4 years and at one point squeezed in some 45c knobbly tyres. They made the bike feel worse as the wheels felt too big and lost the agility of smaller tyres.
Even though I ride a rigid MTB I can see that the small travel would help when running narrow tyres as I generally avoided really rough sections on my cross bike that I ride over on my 2.3 tyres mtb.

If I was spending 2.5k on a bike (and wanted gears) then the slate would be top of my list for my uses (40% road/60% off road)

Test rode one today .

I am getting one .

Awesome bike and will suit most of the riding I do.

I slung a leg over the black/purple one in medium in Bespoke in Canary Wharf. It’s a nice looking, nice fitting, nicely spec’d bike. If I hadn’t an obsession with my CXer, I’d probably consider one.

Holy thread resurrection Batman .

Finally in a position to get one ordered . Going for the Ultegra model .

Anyone got one in the last two months ?

How are you getting on ?

have you changed the gearing or tyres ?

Bump for the evening crowd

I ended up with a diverge as a much cheaper option.

Purchase back on hold .

http://road.cc/content/tech-news/187067-safety-notice-cannondale’s-slate-adventure-bike-due-tubeless-rim-problems

😯