With the car jacked up, a beer on the roof and oil-smeared hands fiddling around in the engine compartment - some people spent more time tuning their cars than driving them. Car tuning became a cult during the noughties before becoming a laughing stock at the start of this decade. Why? Because the automotive industry made wild tinkering superfluous with sophisticated factory-fitted sports packages. And hand on heart: there is hardly anything on a current Golf GTI that could be improved in the backyard. So: goodbye oil-smeared hands, the tuning scene is dead. It's a shame, but we bikers are threatened with the same fate.
Even tech-savvy bikers know the satisfying feeling of using their own hands to customise a standard bike into an object of desire. In the past, the interventions have become increasingly radical. Ergonomic grips, colourful shift cables and anodised hubs have long since stopped attracting respectful glances on the trail. Real mechanics tinker with the suspension, tune the shocks or even replace the entire suspension fork. In contrast to cars, however, the suspension is not lowered during this procedure, but always jacked up. More suspension travel makes for more riding fun on the trail, while the longer installation dimension flattens the steering angle and makes the geometry more downhill orientated. The latest trick of the technology nerds. But the standard bikes are becoming more and more sophisticated, optimised down to the last detail - at least in the high-end league. Even in the last tuning tests in BIKE, the manufacturers hardly deviated from the standard equipment. And now Cannondale and Rocky Mountain are even drying up the last diaspora of garage tuning: The formerly thoroughbred racing files Scalpel and Element are already implanted with trail genes in the standard version. But does the extra suspension travel really turn a race bike into a trail predator?
Traditionally, the Rocky Mountain Element and the Cannondale Scalpel roll off the production line as flawless marathon fullys. Narrow tyres, 100 millimetres of suspension travel and ruthless race geometries make the stiff carbon chassis hot podium contenders on any race track. But not every biker who values efficiency in their sports equipment actually races with it. That's why the two cult companies from overseas are now also supplying their racing bikes with equipment optimised for trails. 25 millimetres more suspension travel at the front and rear, telescopic seatposts and wider tyres give both bikes significantly more confidence on demanding single trails. This becomes immediately clear on the first few metres of off-road riding. In our test, the Cannondale with its 60 millimetre short stem and ergonomic 770 millimetre wide handlebars, successful suspension and grippy tyres did not shy away even from the murderous Dalco trail on Lake Garda (see page 22). Shaky jitters on demanding trails are a thing of the past. The Scalpel is easy to pedal uphill, the rear suspension bobs slightly but always remains active. Cannondale's tuning intention works, the Scalpel-Si is a trail predator with still good propulsion on long rides, but even the factory tuning can't combine the best of both worlds.
Despite their lightweight frames, both rivals naturally weigh more than their original versions. With twelve kilos, handlebar lockout for the shock and a good rolling rear tyre, the Rocky qualified for the start of the Riva Marathon during the test, but could no longer keep up with the thoroughbred race bikes. The extra weight takes its toll, especially on the steep sections of the marathon course. And because the front is higher, the front wheel occasionally comes towards you. You conquer the climb in touring mode rather than racing mode. The thoroughbred racers fly past you uphill, but with the Rocky under your bum, you can still stay relaxed. You always meet twice in life.
As soon as the trail slopes back down towards the valley after the refreshment station, the benefits of the tuning programme come into their own. Once the saddle is lowered, you can make up for lost ground with the Element in no time at all. Even if the Rocky is not quite as confident on the descents as the Cannondale, it is clearly superior to the thoroughbred marathon bikes. The rough trails of Lake Garda with their loose gravel can't stop the Element from catching up. However, with only 109 millimetres of travel (see details), the rear end bottoms out much sooner than the well-functioning Fox fork. We definitely recommend the Ride 9 setting with 124 millimetres of travel, although this makes the head angle steeper. This makes the Rocky ride much more harmonious and, due to the higher bottom bracket, it doesn't hit the pedals as often. The summary after the marathon: Despite its limitations, the Rocky performed well. The Cannondale was denied the starting number mainly because of the extra half a kilo of weight compared to the Rocky. On technical singletrails, however, it is superior to its duel partner. Both bikes work very well in the tuned version. The optimised equipment is harmonious and fun even on rough single trails. So the hours spent tinkering in the bike shop are actually numbered, but if you spend over 5000 euros on the bikes, you're sure to still get a beer at your trusted dealer. Even if there's nothing left to tune.
CONCLUSION by Ludwig Döhl, BIKE test editor:
The trail tuning of the former marathon bikes works very well. The Rocky Mountain Element hardly loses any of its race genes, even in the trail version, while the Cannondale Scalpel-Si SE mutates into a thoroughbred trail bike. The test victory on points goes to the more downhill-orientated Cannondale due to its lifetime guarantee.
CANNONDALE SCALPEL-Si SE 1 - model year 2018
Price / wheel size 5499 Euro / 29 inch
Available in the specialised trade - the 2019 model is available at Fahrrad-XXL for 4599 euros
Front / rear suspension travel 124 mm / 124 mm
Material / Sizes Carbon / S / M / L / XL
Weight o. P. / Frame o. D. 12.5 kg / 2173 g
Fork / damper Lefty 2.0 Alloy OPI / Fox DPS Float Performance Elite
Cranks / gears Truvativ Stylo / Sram XO1/GX Eagle 1x12
Gear ratio / handlebar width 32; 10-50 / 770 mm
Brake system / Disc Shimano XT / 180 mm / 180 mm
Telescopic support / stroke / ø Raceface Turbine / 150 mm / 31.6 mm
Impellers Stan's No Tubes ZTR Arch rims; Cannondale Lefty / DT Swiss HG hubs; Maxxis Ardent Exo 29 x 2.4/2.25 tyres
Reach / Stack / BB-Offset 444 mm / 609 mm / -21 mm
BIKE JUDGEMENT VERY GOOD*
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELEMENT C70 - model year 2018
Price / wheel size 6000 Euro / 29 inch
Available in the specialised trade - the 2019 model of the Element C50 is available at Fahrrad-XXL for 4300 euros
Front / rear suspension travel 124 mm / 109-124 mm
Material / Sizes Carbon / S / M / L / XL / XXL
Weight o. P. / Frame o. D. 12.02 kg / 2124 g
Fork / damper Fox 34 Float Performance Elite / Fox Float DPS Perfomance Elite
Cranks / gears Truvativ Stylo / Sram XO1/GX Eagle 1x12
Gear ratio / handlebar width 32; 10-50 / 760 mm
Brake system / Disc Shimano XT /180 mm / 180 mm
Telescopic support / stroke / ø Fox Transfer / 150 mm / 30.9 mm
Impellers Stan's No Tubes ZTR Crest rims; DT Swiss 370 hubs; Maxxis Forekaster/Ikon Exo 29 x 2.35/2.2 tyres
Reach / Stack / BB-Offset 436 mm / 635 mm / -43 mm
BIKE JUDGEMENT VERY GOOD*
*The BIKE judgement reflects the laboratory measurements and the subjective impression of the test riders.
The BIKE judgement is independent of price. BIKE judgements: super (250-205 P.), very good (204.75-170 P.), good (169.75-140 P.),
satisfactory (139.75-100 P.), with weaknesses, unsatisfactory.
The weighting of the points in the individual evaluation criteria varies depending on the bike category.
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