Ive always fancied a lefty. And now the chance might have come up to get one (still attached to a cannondale)
The stem is probably gonna be too flat for me so the obvious thing is a more positive rise, but it looks like some sort of special stem.
Am I right in thinking I'll need something special? Or is there a solution not involving cannondale and or lots of money?
Ta
I think what you are referring to is a Cannondale OPI stem, where the steerer screws in from beneath. Not many left and always was a limited choice. Steerer kits were available to convert to tapered but these have pretty much dried up as well. If you really want it, you may have to put a high rise bar on it and live with the challenging aesthetics. <br /><br />
I love a lefty and run one with a steerer kit on my steel hardtail. One thing to bear in mind is that the top part of the crown gives extra height over a conventional front end and the negative stem is just bringing tge bars down to a normal position. I’m no flexible racing snake but both lefty bikes I’ve had, the stem has been negative rise.
Just put some higher rise bars on it instead?
I converted a lefty a few years ago. You’ll need a different steerer. I think mine came from Germany. Not cheap but enables use of standard stems. Leonardi were the manufacturer. There was a company in the US that made one too. Dr Cannondale or R2 were the place for all things lefty.
I've got a Project321 steerer on mine, so I can fit it to my Felt with a normal stem. The supply has dried up, but enough Leftys die so a search for second-hand may work. Good luck, and if you do succeed do a lower's lube service every 30 minutes or so 😉
Does it not depend on the age of said Lefty? IIRC current Lefty Ochos (and possibly Lefty Max) use standard stems
I still have a lefty on a 2004 Jekyll. It came with a looong stem but Hope did one that I bought, then I bought an even shorter one from Reverse Components. It’s about a 1.5834562575” steerer, so not standard. If the Hope one might be of interest to you , let me know.
The current stem looks like a smooth elbow from the steerer, no bolts are initially obvious like a conventional stem. It looks kind of integrated
The riser bar option is something I considered too so may have to explore that. Good call on the headtube height, I hadn't realised that but yes it does look pretty high
Also thanks rockhopper, may be in touch!
Rockhopper’s one won’t fit. Too early for OPI, it’ll just be the one for old standard lefty/headshock diameter. <br />Probably not the exact year but look on page 12 of this manual for an exploded diagram. <br /><br />
Depends on the model. Older models were Cannondale-only, though Hope did an alternative, but it was pretty long. Lefty Supermax takes a 1.5 stem, though.
