Lauf Seigla v Cannondale Topstone Lefty. Anyone got one?

Have you tried a Redshift stem?

They make a lot of difference for something with such a small travel range...

Probably summed up as:

Lauf - very flexy, but reliable upto a point.

Lefty - very stiff, but the new ones that run on bushings aren't as bulletproof as the old needle bearing versions.

I'm contemplating the redshift stem. Won't do much for grip/control over rough ground, but will be comfortable and there's not much to go wrong. If I had to get a new bike, I'm a cannondale fanboy, and the lefty topstone looks like the best solution to the problem of making gravel bikes comfortable. The only downside is the tyre clearance, they seem firmly in the camp of race bikes with fast tyres, rather than rough-stuff touring bikes with 50mm+ clearance. so it depends a bit on which you prefer, energy sapping or slightly less direct feeling suspension or energy sapping slightly less direct feeling heavy wheels/fat tyres.

I've ridden a Slate and loved it, then got a couple of hours on the Topstone Lefty recently and thought it was even better. There's not much travel but it's a very stiff, accurate fork and it's well damped. Locking it out made the bike suprisingly less capable off-road - it's subtle but it's a notable change. Handling was good too, felt agile but just on the right side of it. Not twitchy. Very at home in the woods, more so than the vast majority of bikes that I could also ride all day on tarmac on.
It's only the lack of guards and dynamo hub compatibility that's stopped me buying one, some of the practicalities that I'd want on a bike with so much long ride potential (a bit niche end result, I know..)

Lauf – very flexy, but reliable upto a point.

Have you ridden one?

Thanks for the thoughts. Never considered the front mudguard on the lefty. It’s going to be an all year round commuter as well as for longer rides ( commute is 10 miles each way 60/40 trail/road). I used to have a lefty and think I had a mudguard that went into bottom of steerer but that was the double clamp fork. I’m using mudhugger gravel guards at mo with 45 riddler tyres. I’ve had some 2.0 thunderburts in the Arkose with plenty of clearance and like the idea of maybe using some Maxxis Ikons for some extra cushioning but I suppose if I picked the topstone the rear seems to be more of a suspension than just frame movement which it seems is how the seigla cushions the ride. So maybe the topstone wouldn’t need wider tyres than the 45mm max tyre.

I’m not sure how much the Topstone really moves on the backend. But it’s pretty direct pedalling and decidedly comfy in the rough stuff (think cobbles, not babies heads)

I doubt either bike's rear end replaces what a larger tyre can do. Large tyres take out the small high frequency stuff, a semi softtail design might just feel less jarring over bigger bumps. I thought the Topstone frame felt like the comfort of a flexy seatpost without the slightly annoying feeling of movement Vs the pedals that very long flexy seatposts have.

Jameso how do think the ride of the topstone compared to the Arkose?.

The big benefit of the Lauf is that it's maintainance free. On a bike that you may cover a lot of miles on this is a big consideration, more so than an mtb. The modern Lefty's perform great, but realistically budget £500 of servicing costs very 2000 miles or so, and sadly that's no exaggeration... this will cover 1 expensive routine service, and the second one when they inform you your lower leg is toast...and repeat forever more. On my 4th lower on mine. On a gravel bike a lauf - or big tyres, a boingy stem and some padded gloves are probably a better long term proposition.

Lauf – very flexy, but reliable upto a point

Up to a point? A point far, far away in the distant future perhaps. That's the point.

Jameso how do think the ride of the topstone compared to the Arkose?.

Similar in that both make a competent road bike as well as light off-roader, neither are trying to be a 21lb drop bar MTB with slack angles or unusual fit. Both longer in reach, shorter in stem than some but not particularly so. The steering response and fit were very similar. The Arkose was never the stiffest/harshest Al frame but the Lefty and to some extent the Kingpin on the Topstone does make a useful difference in control and comfort ie staying in control hitting rooty sections on the drops on the Topstone. I've not ridden the carbon fork + Al frame Topstone though, I'd take a guess they'd be a fairy close match with the Cannondale probably being the stiffer frame overall (vs the current Arkose frame).

I'm surprised that the lauf fork is very flexy. I must have a dud. It works as suspension does. Barely notice it on the road takes buzz out of rough tarmac and works well on forest roads.

I found my lauf noticeably flexy - I hadn't use my gravel bike for a while (been on the rigid fatbike all summer) threw a leg over the gravel bike and the lauf felt like a noodle. So much so I sold it and went full rigid within a week. However I wasn't doing long multi day rides.

Personally I'd rather have bigger tyres and good bar tape and  a dropped than an other sus fork on a gravel bike. I felt the bike was still under with the fork and the dropper made a much larger control impact on the rough stuff. A big front tyre and esi tape seem to take the vast majority of road buzz away.

Thanks folks. Some good insights and plenty to think about. I never considered the servicing/reliability of the lefty fork. I did used to service my own lefty and once did a full strip down/rebuild but not sure I’m up for that anymore. Leaning towards the Seigla at the moment but open to suggestions.

Have you ridden one?

Yup, well the fat version, reminded me of those Maverick SC32's, it wasn't noddly enough to be immediately objectionable whilst riding, but really noticeable when swapping back to a conventional fork.

Up to a point? A point far, far away in the distant future perhaps. That’s the point.

I've seen one broken one in person at Swinley, so they're not indestructible.