Cannondale goes even lighter with Lefty Ocho fork and F-Si race hardtail

Cannondale Factory Racing Team will be turning more heads than usual at this weekends XC World Cup in Albstadt, Germany when they roll up to the start on new Lefty Ocho equipped F-Si race hard tails.

The Wilton, Conn. company known for pushing the limits of bicycle design in unexpected directions has taken its standout single-sided Lefty fork to another level, introducing the single-crown Lefty Ocho. Not just a new look, the ultralight Lefty Ocho XC fork sheds a full 250 g off previous versions of Cannondale’s signature XC model.

Add the Lefty Ocho weight savings to another 80 g shaved of the svelte F-Si hardtail frame and the new top end race bike from Cannondale will be an ideal set-up for the longer climbs of the Albstadt World Cup. That single sided Lefty Ocho should help the Cannondale Factory Racing Team shed mud too, should conditions stay as sloppy as they have been in practice.

Lighter, leaner: the all new Lefty Ocho

Cannondale has always prided itself on a willingness to ride into uncharted territory with its mountain bike designs, and its Lefty fork remains unique in the market even 18 years since the single sided fork was first introduced. With the announcement of the Lefty Ocho, the seventh generation in the Lefty lineage, Cannondale shows the company is still willing to push the boundaries of what is possible if you throw away preconceived notions of what can, or cannot work in bike design.

Lefty Ocho, the world’s first single-crown, single-sided suspension fork, refocuses the Lefty line on pure XC racing, dropping 250 g off previous iterations in the process. It’s not just the crown that’s been completely redesigned to make new Lefty Ocho ready to race this weekend’s World Cup. The forks new, three-sided Delta Cage needle-bearing telescope, fewer required seals and bushings to slow suspension movement, and a new, more supple Chamber Damper, make sure Lefty Ocho is race ready inside and out.

With all the changes to the Lefty, Cannondale is claiming Ocho is the smoothest, stiffest and most advanced ultralight XC fork it has ever made.

The new Lefty Ocho will work with 27.5″ and 29″ wheels, and is available in carbon and alloy versions. The race-ready XC fork will arrive on the new Cannondale F-Si in seven of the available builds.

 

All-New F-Si

Cannondale’s redesigned its race hardtail F-Si platform to match the new-look Ocho fork, with both frame and fork squarely taking aim at the top step of the World Cup podium.

With XC’s continued evolution bringing shorter, more technically demanding courses to the circuit, Cannondale has updated the F-Si to make sure it stays at the front of the pack in handling the new-look World Cup tracks. Shorter Ai chainstay’s, a slacker, 69-degree head angle, and clearance for 2.35″ tires create a XC race frame that is ready to take on the worst any track can throw at it.

Cannondale has taken its OutFront geometry and Ai rear triangle and pushed the frame even further, improving tire clearance and creating better handling when the track points back down. Off-set Ai chainstays create room for more tire, while the shorter 427 mm length improves handling and and climbing traction.

Since a race XC bike is always focused on getting up the climbs as fast as possible, the F-Si Hi-MOD frame is 80 grams lighter than its predecessor. At just 900 grams, it is the lightest mountain bike frame Cannondale has ever made.

As World Cup racing evolves, Cannondale is laser focused on making the F-Si an XC obsessed race bike set to stand on the front line of any start grid.

2018 Cannondale F-Si Carbon

 

Cannondale’s Lefty Ocho and F-Si