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At the Sea Otter Festival 2019 provided Niner caused a stir with a full-suspension gravel bike. The MCR 9 RDO - as the gravel full suspension bike with 50 millimetres of travel is called - promptly won a Eurobike Award at Eurobike 2019. Now Cannondale is also opening the door to this bike niche and is launching its Topstone gravel bike with a suspension fork for the first time. But not with just any fork, but with a single-arm Lefty. The Cannondale engineers have given the so-called Lefty Oliver just 30 millimetres of suspension travel. It doesn't sound like much, but that's a world of difference compared to rigid carbon forks. In addition to Niner, there are also other manufacturers such as Run or Specialized, who breathe an extra dose of comfort into their "gravel track racing bikes". The best example is the brand new Diverge from Specialised with its Future-Shock 2.0 suspension element located under the stem, which offers up to 20 millimetres of suspension travel on the handlebars. But Cannondale is now going one step further by giving the Topstone gravel bike a proper suspension fork. And we know from the mountain bike sector that the Lefty Ocho is a really good suspension fork. The fact that it is very stiff and responds as smooth as butter was proven in the last BIKE suspension fork test proven once again. Cannondale has significantly extended the rebound adjustment range for the Lefty Oliver (1340 grams). In addition, the Mini-Lefty comes with a lockout and tool-free brake mount, which makes removing the front wheel quick and easy.
27.5-inch wheels with 47 millimetre wide tyres
In addition to the suspension travel of the fork, there are other components designed to improve comfort. With a tyre width of 47 millimetres, the Topstone Lefty pushes forward into mountain bike conventions. The rear triangle should also have plenty of flex. Thanks to a pivot point built into the seat tube, it should be able to reach "seating comfort spheres" like softtails - such as a BMC Teamelite or Trek Procaliber. With this combination of front and rear suspension, Cannondale aims to noticeably dampen bumps and vibrations without simultaneously increasing the weight with dampers, rockers or linkages.
Cannondale is launching two models of the Topstone with Lefty fork. The top model with electronic Sram Force groupset, carbon Lefty Oliver and carbon wheels costs a hefty 7500 euros. The second gravel bike with Lefty fork (1610 grams as aluminium version) is the Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 for 3799 euros. It comes with 1x11 Shimano GRX gears (40; 11-42), 47 millimetre wide WTB tyres and hydraulic GRX disc brakes. Two other details show that the Topstone is getting ever closer to modern mountain bikes: firstly, there is a chain guide above the chainring, and secondly, the carbon frame can also be retrofitted with lowerable seat posts (27.2 mm).
