[Closed] Cannondales / Lefty forks

Had 1 on a 2004 prophet used and abused for 5 yrs before a rubber seal went cost £2 to diy fix. Sold it and missed it so much for the next 6 yrs ive ended up with 2 a 90mm and a 140mm. I find they just work all the time given minimal maitenance. The new ones take abit of bedding in but once loosened up have the small bump sensitivity of the old one.

If lefties had been invented first, nobody would have every invented the dual leg fork. Simples.

If you've never ridden one, you really should. They're worth it.

Had a few in the 00s, but been a few years since I rode one. Their performance is great - not in question AFAIK as their stiffness and smoothness over the bumps is supreme. Used to be a huge advantage but conventional short travel forks are prob more competitive nowadays.

Drawbacks are the large expense, the complexity (relative to other forks) which makes a full service beyond most people, and that they look shite on anything other than a full-monty race bike, IMHO. They do look great in that context though.
Other side of the coin of them being relatively complicated is that they're very durable - not a common combination in bicycle engineering. Cannondale must have gotten the design spot on in this respect, as they perform for years and years if looked after.

I've never ridden a longer travel version - I think they're spec'd on jekylls these days. Be interested to see if they're as good here - the advantages of the roller bearer design may not be as obvious.

I've got an xlr waiting to go on my Ritchey. Very excited!

Lovely, plush, stiff, seem to feel like more travel than they are and lovely..........

As a big lad, I've ridden them before for several seasons and loved them. Super stiff, excellent tracking (if wheel is well built). Looks brilliant too.

Brilliant fork for XC racing, can't comment on any other usage but the evidence seems to suggest that they can take some serious descending as well.

Downsides are twofold. You'll find it hard to borrow a mates front wheel if you pringle yours and that Thule fork fitting rack won't work anymore.

You can get adaptors for use with fork fitting racks. They're very good. I had one on my previous C'Dale bike. I've got Pikes now which are alot stiffer than the Revs they replaced, but nowhere near as stiff as a Lefty. Also having ridden a Lefty for a couple of years going back to conventional forks the bushes biding on the fork sanctions is noticeable too.

Maintenance isn't too bad - the biggest PITA is having to regularly reset the bearings. Only a 5 minute job once you know what you're doing and I got into the habit of doing it after every ride, but the new Super Max Lefty's have a different bearing arrangement so don't need to have this done. Few downsides apart from the expense. They are not as tuneable as conventional forks so you're relying on the suitability of the Canondale base tune which may or may not suit you. I think in outright performance they're still not there yet - not sure why. Even the Canondale works Enduro rider uses conventional forks on his Jekyll over a Lefty. But as far as the average weekend warrior is concerned they're lighter, stiffer and work perfectly fine.

I'll be after a new bike in a couple of years and looking to fit a Lefty if I don't go for a C'Dale bike. I'm working hard on my bike skills (and savings account) to justify a Nomad and would love to marry one up with a 160mm Supermax Lefty.

Jerome isn't on a cannondale works team if that's who you mean, they are just the title sponsor of a team he put together while he already had a sram / rs sponsorship. Other members of the team do ride lefty

Yes I was eluding to Jerome, wasn't aware of the team structure. The SRAM element explains it.

There is an interview on Pinkbike a while back that explains it all.

I'd love a lefty but the price puts me off and I don't like the faff of removing the front wheel even though it's a really minor faff.

I echo the positive comments added thus far. I'm on my 2nd Lefty equipped bike and have nothing but good things to say about them.

They seem to be very much a marmite product that people get quite opinionated over, usually without having ridden one. An engineer friend of mine who I hugely respect (ex McLaren F1 team) says it's a brilliantly thought out design. Bit on the expensive side mind you.

They make complete engineering sense - a better way to make a fork that's stiff and light. Apparently the damping still isn't as good as on the longer travel Rockshox/Fox forks but Cannondale are quite new to the 6" fork category.