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Key point: Although Cannondale Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 has small wheels, fat tires and full suspension, it is a surprisingly agile and lively bike on dirt and roads.
Despite the 47mm wide tires on the 650b wheels and the 30mm suspension on the front and rear wheels, this burly bike still showed agility and vividness on the road and dirt. It is equipped with Lefty Oliver forks and has the same frame as the other Topstone Carbon bikes in the series. The car sells an after-sale suspension without the complexity of weight and vibration and linkage. The four-axis pivot in the seat tube makes the entire rear of the frame (the rear brace, seat tube, and even the rear of the top tube) bend like a series of connected leaf springs, providing comfort on rugged retaining terrain​​​ Sex and traction while maintaining pedaling efficiency.
Sam Ebert of the Cannondale product team said that the single-pivot design is an improvement on compliance, which has been designed into other Cannondale frameworks. This type of suspension is popular on mountain bikes for short trips, and durable road and hard-tail mountain bikes have had measurable compliance in the rear triangle area for several years. However, when Topstone Carbon was launched in the summer of 2019, it was the first time we saw these two concepts merged together.
There is an important difference. Normally, travel is measured on the rear wheels. For the Topstone Carbon (and Lefty) frame, only 25% of the travel occurs on the axle. The rest is measured at the saddle. However, because each size uses a slightly different tube shape and carbon fiber laminate to achieve the same driving quality, the precise stroke varies with the size.
Why measure the stroke on the saddle? This is the magic of this frame design. The suspension is only effective when seated. When standing on the pedals, the only obvious flexibility comes from the tires, and there are very few bends in the chain. This means that when accelerating from the saddle, the ride feels extremely active and efficient, while sitting down feels comfortable and smooth. It can provide amazing rear-wheel traction on steep mountain slopes and rugged terrain without rebounding and undulating due to the plush suspension. Despite the high efficiency of the frame, the Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 is still on the more adventurous end of the gravel bike. If you are looking for a faster bike, then Topstone Carbon is its faster and more race-oriented product, which uses 700c wheels and rigid front forks.
Although the off-road mark is impressive, it lacks enough equipment to add equipment, making it less suitable for multi-day expeditions than other bikes I have ridden. The eyelet bracket of the Salsa Warroad is covered with all the equipment you might need, while Topstone Carbon Lefty 3 can only carry three water bottles on the frame and an upper tube bag. The rear triangle will use mudguards, but not pan frames. However, it is compatible with a dropper column with 27.2mm internal wiring.
To some extent, this limits the main use of this bike to single-day adventures and light bike trips. But in this field, this bike has amazing versatility due to its ability to transition between sidewalks and dirt.
Style gravel material carbon wheel size 650b fork 30mm left-handed OliverTravel 30mm transmission system Shimano GRX 600 shift lever, GRX 800 rear derailleur crank Cannondale 1 chain link 40t cassette tape 11-42 brake Shimano GRX 400 hydraulic disc WWT STTB i23 TCS, no Inner tube preparation tire WTB Venture 47 TCS TCS Light (rear) saddle Fizik New Aliante R5 seatpost Cannondale 2, carbon fiber handlebar Cannondale 3, aluminum, 16 degree flare Stem Cannondale 2, aluminum tire clearance 650b x 47mm