Cannondale Lefty Ultra Carbon W/PBR Fork Review - BikeRadar

They sound great, until you realise the fatal design floor that I assume these latest forks still have - nice 'breather' holes that ultimately suck in water and mud... I like the idea, I like the look, I used to like the ride but they weren't worth the babying they needed. My experience is with the older models but if they're going to put a hole or two in your fork(/strut) then crud will get in. Especially if say, for example, you like to actually go offroad.

You say it's expensive, but how much is it!?

njee20,

The US pricing (US$1,299) is listed at top right in the 'specifications' section but it looks like we weren't able to nail down a UK price before publication. I'll see what I can find out for you.

sorry manitou - what breather holes are you talking about? I've owned my Speed dlr without problem and crud-free for four years; no evidence of it filling up with water and/or mud and, yes, I go off road with it.

I've never seen any mention ever of the problem you say is the 'fatal floor''.

What makes me laugh a bit is how these forks are still seen as a novelty and reviewers still seem to need to justify just how well they work - it's hilarious because people have been saying how stiff and straight tracking the lefty is ever since it was released - just goes to show how conservative the bike world can be I suppose.

Scalpelist,

Personally, I feel the biggest issues holding back the Lefty design are its cost for one but also the fact that it's only been recently that you could (easily) install one on a standard head tube. Sure, third party companies have offered retrofit kits in the past but Cannondale has had their own this past year.

As a result, comparatively few people have ever ridden one so it's important to highlight the fundamental differences to the general audience.

Got one of these on order (from the 'States) along with a Project 321 adapter & wheel build. It'll be spaced down to 90mm for use on a new 29er hardtail I have coming soon. I did a whole load of research before settling for a Lefty (I'm certainly no C'dale fanboy). I'll report back when I have some trail time on it.

1000euros?It may be good,may be the top but you can get something at least as good for half the price(Fox F100FIT or SID).

Now if i were a professional XC athlete with 10 sponsors and a team of mechanics i would probably like to ride one but for a guy who uses his bike like a hobby it just doesn't worth the sacrifices,both in time and in money.

It is just ridiculously over priced like all Cannondales

How opportune... Looks like the AngryAsian and I think alike... I predict we'll be seeing a lot more of the Lefty.... read my blog review here....

http://dugdagoat.blogspot.com/2010/07/drank-kool-aid-and-liked-it.html

Hey Scalpelist,

Yes all lefty's (as far as I know) have breather holes - under the rubber boots/air filter. My point is that in my experience they are a key weak point - the fatal floor - as regardless how great they handle (and look), these holes (in my experience) always end up letting crud be pulled inside the strut. So my point is that although a requirement of the design they expose a weakness in a critical area that can at some stage lead to expensive and time consuming work that standard forks (DT Swiss which I also use) don't.. i.e the lack of robustness in this area is a critically limiting factor. The lefty's upsides are marred by the babying they need.

From the DLR manual:

"The air filter assembly is located over breather air holes in the

outer tube. The air filter assembly stops the passage of dirt

and water which would damage the internal fork components"

Guess what - the air filters wear/get old/don't work very well to start with/can't deal with compression and extension of the strut whilst it is submerged in water.

I don't go snorkling with my bike or anything but a trip across a very wet south downs with very deep puddles and some streams was one event that left my lefty a stiffy.. so to speak.

In summary - the lefty is as good as its weakest part, in my opinion the weakest part is that the longevity and performance of the fork is massively compromised by having to rely on small 'air filters' to prevent crud and water getting sucked through the holes in your lefty. On top of which these filters aren't at the top of the lefty - out of harms way - theyre down in the danger zone.

So there you go - maybe I'm the only lefty rider to have experienced it, but after about 4 rebuilds and a seized lefty sitting in the shed I'd never buy another

Do you mean 'fatal flaw'? that reminds me of my old roommate that said "vanilla folder".

Yea the Lefty isn't perfect. It does tilt out of plane upon compression and every one I've owned requires constant resetting of the bearings because they migrate so quickly...this is a major pain and would make me consider another fork if I was doing long events because the topout that occurs as the consequence of not resetting affects ride quality.

But, if you are getting grime in your air bleed holes, you must be in some serious deep water. You are supposed to clean and relube the foam (just behind the airholes) that protects the bearings with air filter oil. It works and it keeps dust from getting through. If you are getting water in your bearings, you might want to check to see you don't have a hole in the rubber boot...especially if you ride with cactus.

Thanks for the very informative and accurate review.

What adapter did you use for the 1-1/2" bearing?