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  • Cannondale Topstone – rigid vs lefty?
  • zilog6128
    Full Member

    Anyone ridden both? All the reviews suggest the Lefty is great, and doesn’t really impact on tarmac ability at all, so is the one to go for – cost/maintenance issues aside! (I already have a FS with a Lefty so aware of the servicing requirements/expense etc!)

    Probably just dreaming at the moment unless I spot a clearance bargain mind! Although s/h is an option… can anyone comment on the real-life differences between the 2021/2022 frames? I know they’ve made a few geometry tweaks & gotten rid of some proprietary stuff (rear wheel & BB, although my existing MTB has those and I don’t consider them a huge issue!) In some ways prefer the spec of the 2021 bike – it comes with 650b wheels rather than 700 (although the newer bike actually has more clearance for a bigger tyre with 650b, but you’d have to buy a new wheelset first)

    whatyadoinsucka
    Free Member

    i had a 700c 38mm tyre topstone 105 carbon 2019/20 (?) and was a great fast bike, and ok offroad,

    my friend rides a lefty carbon topstone 650b and treats it like a summer mountain bike, very very capable offroad.

    on road he’s no slower than mine, but fitter.

    alan1977
    Free Member

    I’ve got a Nukeproof Digger with a Rudy up front

    It’s very capable, it really shines on blue trails, I’m not sure that with a rigid fork id be quite so confident.. the few 100g weight penalty is quickly offset. I’d be just as happy to throw road wheels and tyres on it and ride it as is. On the road id say the tyres and aero compromises of me in baggies are the biggest deal over the slight weight.

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    iainc
    Full Member

    I have a 650b Lefty and the point above around treating it as a summer mountain bike sums it up for me.  In fact I am selling my 29er HT as I don’t see me using it really at all (I do have a FS eMTB).  It is a bit compromised on road if riding with others, though that could be easily accommodated by better fitness for me. I have recently got a Spesh Diverge which is my fitness compensator for those rides .. 🙂

    zilog6128
    Full Member

    Thanks all. Main priority is maximum fun for (tame) local single-track but also fairly fast/efficient for fairly long gravel or road linking sections.

    Not too fussed about keeping up with others as I do a lot of riding solo & would keep my existing bike anyway for group rides which would be more road-focussed anyway.


    @iainc
    thanks yeah have searched & seen your previous posts on the Topstone! Think you also had the same bike previously as I have now (CdF – which is a great all-rounder but not really suited to trail-riding). I take it you have the pre-2022 frame then? What tyre size do you run, & have you found it lacking in clearance at all? Also do you run front and/or rear guards (looks like you need a 3rd party adapter for front although some frames come with a rear mount)?

    iainc
    Full Member

    Yes, the previous model, I have 650 x 47 on it and clearance is good, though I don’t run guards on it. It is miles away in ride feel from my Croix de Fer, and the Fugio I had too.

    zilog6128
    Full Member

    @ianc very nice. Ever been tempted to put a dropper on it (like the latest version comes with)?

    iainc
    Full Member

    ^^^ no, I had a dropper on my Fugio and didn’t like it much – i didn’t find it that useful on the trails I ride, and it was a pain for attaching bikepacking bags

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    I was weighing this up only a couple of weeks ago.

    I’d been riding my old “gravel” bike on both 700×40 and 650×47 wheels. The 700s were definitely “faster” for any tarmac segments and the 650s definitely “more capable” on rougher segments, so much so that I decided 650×47 and front suspension was an unnecessary provision. Add in the extra weight of the lefty, the servicing requirements and the lack of fork cage mounts and it was a fairly easy decision. The fact that the rigid model was around £800 cheaper also gave me a budget for upgrading the wheels.

    I’ve kept my old VN Amazon for when I might want the “faster” option again and I also have a Ti B+/29er for longer rougher rides that are really into MTB territory. If I didn’t have those options available to me, my decision might have been different.

    jameso
    Full Member

    The Topstone with a Lefty is a riot for a drop bar bike. Amazes me how much 30mm of travel can do for the ride, it’s subtle but very effective. Lock it out and it feels very precise. The only reason I haven’t bought one is it can’t take guards and a dynamo and it was the otherwise wide-ranging ability of the bike that appealed to me.

    iainc
    Full Member

    Agree on how much fun it is with the little bit of suspension. A few of us did some of the Kintyre Way last weekend and I chose to take my new Diverge rather than the Topstone Lefty. It was the right call for the terrain, but on the singletrack sections the Spesh Futureshock was noticeably out of its depth compared to how the Topstone feels on similar ‘MTB’ terrain.

    rumbledethumps
    Free Member

    Can’t speak for the topstone but owned a lefty Slate for 6 years. It was brilliant with the 30mm travel. Opened up a world of options over a rigid fork and you can pretty much bung what you like width wise up front. I ran a 50c width tyre on the front and a 38 on the back. Only ever had to run the £12 RSP service oil kit through the fork a few times. Tough as old boots! Future classics.

    jameso
    Full Member

    ^ The Slate was the same kind of fun – it was mostly in the fork for me. I’m a fan of rigid bikes or at most passive/flex suspension for drop bars or gravel type terrain but had to rethink after riding the Slate. The Lefty does things other trad fork designs can’t and it really suits short travel. I just didn’t think 30mm was likely to be worth having until after riding it (edit, which is a daft thing to say really since you’d not get that much from flex, plus it’s well damped. so it just comes down to cost/faff vs benefits).

    aberdeenlune
    Free Member

    Yes I would agree the Lefty fork is brilliant. I ride a Slate and love the little bit of suspension. Never thought about putting a big tyre on the front. Sounds a great idea will have a look for a 50mm 650B tubeless tyre to try that, thanks @rumbledthumps.

    dyna-ti
    Full Member

    Lefty.
    Because lefties are cool.

    damascus
    Free Member

    I just didn’t think 30mm was likely to be worth having until after riding it

    How does the fork compare to a flexi stem e.g red shift with upto 20mm travel. I feel like I’m 15 again and back in the 90s!

    Add in the extra weight of the lefty, the servicing requirements and the lack of fork cage mounts and it was a fairly easy decision. The fact that the rigid model was around £800 cheaper also gave me a budget for upgrading the wheels.

    Thats how I see it too.

    zilog6128
    Full Member

    How does the fork compare to a flexi stem e.g red shift with upto 20mm travel.

    having ridden neither, I’d guess that the flexi stem just adds comfort whereas the lefty also gives more traction off-road. So maybe depends how gnarly you want to get 😃

    iainc
    Full Member

    Can’t comment on flexi stem, but refer my earlier comment re Lefty re Futureshock:

    singletrack sections the Spesh Futureshock was noticeably out of its depth compared to how the Topstone feels on similar ‘MTB’ terrain.

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