Cannondale’s Habit has been given the enduro treatment as the US brand unveiled a new long-travel version of its longstanding trail bike.
The new Bad Habit appears to be the bike I've been craving. There are no wild standards and no headset cable routing; the seat tube and standover are super-low, while the wheels are mixed-size only and the geometry prioritises fun over everything else.
The Habit has a carbon frame and 155mm of travel, there are no flip chips and there's proportional geometry, with chainstay lengths growing on the larger sizes.
Simple and traditional standards
Cannondale set out to simplify the Habit as much as possible, as well as giving it more travel and mullet-only kinematics.
In a move that will please traditionalists, the Bad Habit has a BSA threaded bottom bracket, internal cable routing and a full-length (34.9mm-diameter) seat tube.
However, the bike is modern, with an Acros cable-routing-compatible headset, which can take reach-adjustable +/- 6mm headset cups (not included).
The frame is designed around a super-low top tube and seat tube, which enables the use of long dropper posts (210mm on the small and 240mm on all other sizes). This means that, even for shorter riders, there will be ample clearance between your body and the bike for the most aggressive riding.
Enduro World Cup pedigree
Team riders Ella Conolly and Iago Garay have been racing a prototype of the Bad Habit during the 2025 Enduro World Cup season. As such, the new bike is expected to replace Cannondale’s Jekyll 170mm-travel 29er platform as the enduro race bike in the line-up.
Cannondale's designers say keeping the frame light was a priority, but stress the Bad Habit's frame has been built to the same crash-testing standards as the Jekyll. Cannondale says the weight of full builds comes in around the 32-34lb (14.5-15.4kg) mark.
Cannondale says both the Jekyll and the Habit LT will “remain in the inventory”, but intriguingly hints that something new, designed to replace the Jekyll, could be “on the horizon”.
Four-bar suspension
As with the current Habit, Horst-link suspension with a shock-shuttle link is used, allowing for an uninterrupted seat tube, and enabling Cannondale’s designers to tune the axle path, anti-rise and shock progression ratio as they wished.
The shock-actuation ratio has been designed to suit both coil and large-volume air shocks, with Cannondale engineers describing the kinematics as having a linear rising rate.
With 155mm of rear travel, the bike sits between Cannondale’s existing offerings; 15mm shy of the current Jekyll with its 170mm travel and 15mm more than the Habit LT.
Mixed wheel size
Unlike the Habit and the Jekyll, the Bad Habit is available only as a mixed wheel size (mullet) and with no flip chips. Cannondale claims it is “one of the best cornering bikes we’ve ever made”.
Cannondale’s proprietary Ai dished rear-wheel spacing is not used on the Bad Habit, so the bike will fit any 27.5in Boost rear wheel.
Cannondale Bad Habit geometry and sizing
Four sizes are available: S, M, L and XL, with a relatively short reach of 430mm (small), 455mm (medium), 480mm (large) and 515mm (XL).
Cannondale says the carbon layup is bespoke to each frame size.
To keep the bike feeling natural, the reach and chainstay length are proportional; as the front-centre reach measurement grows, so does the chainstay measurement – 430mm on the small and medium, and 435mm on the large and XL.
However, each bike uses the same physical chainstays, which is good news if a replacement is needed. Instead, Cannondale increases the chainstay length by moving the main pivot rearward. This is why there's only 5mm variation in chainstay length between the size options.
We’ve seen a similar method of creating proportional geometry on bikes such as the Forbidden Druid and Mondraker Zendit.
The length of the cranks and dropper post changes with the different sizes on offer, too. Small and medium Bad Habits get 160mm cranks, whereas the large and XL bikes have 165mm cranks.
The dropper posts specced are long-travel, with 210mm on the small and 240mm on all other sizes.
Cannondale Bad Habit special features
Cannondale says this is its first MTB with the StashPort down-tube storage. All Bad Habits come with two StashPort bags to go inside the storage box.
There is also a bespoke chainstay protector with air pockets designed to minimise noise from chain slap.
The frame uses internal cable routing, and I’m pleased: it’s refreshing to see a new bike without the divisive new headset cable routing standard, where the cables travel through the upper headset bearing.
However, do not fear if you’re a fan of headset cable routing, because the Acros headset included with the bike is compatible.
If you are between the Bad Habit sizes on offer, +6mm or -6mm reach-adjustment headset cups are an option (not included). There are pins to align them so they’re specific.
Cannondale says there is “not a lot of proprietary anything; it’s easy to fix and easy to own”.
Cannondale Bad Habit build options
There are two builds on offer, as well as a frame-only option.
The Bad Habit 1 gets a RockShox Lyrik Ultimate fork with 160mm travel; Cannondale says the Zeb is “too burly”, so it opted for the lighter Lyrik.
At the back, a RockShox Vivid Ultimate shock provides the 155mm of travel. Reserve provides aluminium rims laced to DT Swiss hubs.
The drivetrain is SRAM Eagle AXS with an XO derailleur and GX parts. Cannondale claims a weight of 34.4lb (15.6kg).
The lower-spec Bad Habit 2 gets a RockShox Lyrik Select+ fork and Vivid Select+ shock.
Bolted to the SRAM UDH is the mechanical SRAM Eagle 90 derailleur and a mix of Eagle 90 and Eagle 70 components.
WTB provides its i30 wheels, with Zipp rear and Formula front hubs. They’re wrapped in Kryptotal Enduro Soft tyres
There is also a frame-only option in Cannondale’s Thermo Inferno colourway, which comes with a Vivid Ultimate shock.
Cannondale Bad Habit pricing and availability
- Bad Habit 1: £7,795 | €7,999
- Bad Habit 2: £5,995 | €4,999
- Bad Habit frameset: £3,750 | €3,499
USA pricing is TBC.
