Cannondale Scalpel Review | The 2021 Scalpel Flexes All-New Carbon Muscles 

Thanks Jonathan! [Wil]

Thank you Victor - cheers for watching and for the feedback mate! [Wil]

Cheers mate! We went pretty in-depth with this one, so I'm stoked to hear you dig it! [Wil]

Cheers mate, thanks for watching! [Wil]

Cheers Adam! Thanks for watching mate, and for the feedback - it's very much appreciated! [Wil]

Oh no way - an original 2002 Scalpel Team, cool! And thanks for the kind words mate, glad you enjoyed the review! [Wil]

Thanks very much Joe! Appreciate you passing on the feedback mate, and glad you enjoyed the video! [Wil]

Yiew thanks Caleb! We'll keep doing them if you keep diggin' em! [Wil]

Thanks for the feedback mate, much appreciated! [Wil]

My pleasure mate - thanks for watching, and I'm stoked you enjoyed it! [Wil]

Our pleasure Sergio, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the positive feedback! [Wil]

My pleasure Maksim, and good to hear you found it useful! [Wil]

Thanks Jose, and cheers for watching! Regarding pedal efficiency and the Scalpel's suspension performance; the design doesn't have the same snappiness at the pedals compared to some other XC bikes on the market. You can reduce this by increasing the shock pressure (an extra 10psi is quite noticeable), which helps to firm up the feel at the pedals. However, the active suspension design makes the Scalpel more comfortable and compliant on rough trails. Even while pedalling or under hard braking, the suspension is more free to absorb impacts, and on rough trails that can help your momentum. For me, I preferred setting the suspension on the softer side for maximum traction, and I used the lockout regularly on smooth climbs. However, if you are racing on smoother trails, adding some air pressure is an easy way to improve the pedal efficiency, so it's quite easy to tune. Hope that helps Jose! [Wil]

Yo Matt! Some of the GoPro footage is from Woodend, while the rest of the video was shot earlier this week at Buxton MTB Park. Lovely spot, very lush this time of year, and we thankfully managed to dodge the huge rainstorm that came in later that evening! [Wil]

Flow Mountain Bike hey thanks Will. Legend for sharing. Hoping to get to these spots soon.

My pleasure Rafael - thanks for watching and for the feedback! You'll find a lot of the answers to your questions, and a load more info about our experience with the Scalpel in the full review: flowmountainbike.com/tests/2021-cannondale-scalpel-carbon-review/ As much as I wanted to cover everything in this video, there is A LOT to talk about with the Scalpel, and already the video was getting quite long :-) I can tell you that the BB is a PF30-83, and that is matched with a Hollowgram crankset with a BB30 spindle. Q-Factor is 179mm for this crankset, and it weighs 535g including the 34T OPI chainring. I think I explained in the video where the play in the suspension was coming from, but if you missed that bit, it's basically due to a slightly undersized (0.02mm or something like that) pivot pin for the lower shock mount. I've been testing this bike for about a month before the launch, and it turns out the pivot pin on our bike is not the same as what production bikes come with. We have a replacement pivot pin on the way (a slightly larger diameter), which is meant to solve the problem. I'll provide an update in the review on the website once that replacement hardware arrives. No - that play isn't happening at the headset or BB. It's specifically occurring at the lower shock mount, and it is purely due to the diameter of the lower pivot pin. Hope that helps explain and answer your questions, though make sure you check out the full review for a full rundown of our experience testing the Scalpel. [Wil]

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid thank you so much for such a complete reply. I think many cannondale customers have suffered from the mixed feeling that the brand brings with innovations and some good bikes. However they have some awful bb tolerances and recurrent issues with headsets and bb bearings. This is exacerbated by the confusing standards of fittings and a relatively poor customer service for such a premium product. I think only time will tell if the issue pivot pin was a tolerance problem or simply a mistake as they said. Once again, thank you for your reply.

i had the same dilema. i just ordered the scalpel carbon 2 after i tested it.great bike!

@@ps3narciso i have ordered also the scalpel hi-mod, you had the ability to test, during in the pandemic situation no chance at all to test. I am wondering about your experience

@@bendekimpe35 i tested the carbon 2 version but also scalpel se1. i liked it more the one with the lefty. on the descents it gives you loads of confidence. the other one it felt strange for me or maybe i am not that much into that downcountry thing. with the 100mm version you go fast without realising that you are.it climbs also well, the only con that i can find it’s the way it turns, you have to be direct and precise, more physical.and also the price politics of cannondale it’s something that i don’t approve: in italy we got 2 price increases since the beginning of the year

@@ps3narciso i have seen an increasement of 900 euros for my bike in 2021, lucky i have ordered in 2020. Now i am riding specialized epic the same behaviour regarding price level

Thanks very much Corey, glad you enjoyed it mate! [Wil]

Thanks for watching mate, glad you enjoyed it! [Wil]

Oh I'm sure :-) On every test bike I'll strip down the wheels to confirm the weight of the tyres (661g for the Racing Ray & 674g for the Racing Ralph) the cassette (472g) and the weight of the wheels (762g front and 928g rear = 1690g in total, with valves and tape). In the case of our Scalpel Carbon 2, I also took off the Lefty and weighed that (1731g), and I checked the Hollowgram crankset too (535g with arms, BB30 axle & 34T chainring). It is an XC bike after all, so I figured there'd be folks out there who would want to know some of those numbers. Hopefully some find it as useful as I did! [Wil]

more like 2021 ;)

Hi there Mark! Yep, pushing the lever locks out both the fork and shock. Worth noting is that the suspension doesn’t fully lock - there’s still a few millimetres of squish, and the blowoff circuits mean both the fork and shock will compress if you hit something really hard. Hope that helps! [Wil]

Thanks mate!

Hey there Brady! Is the noise from your rear shock the same as what we discussed in the video (14:52)? The lower shock pivot pin on our test bike was slightly undersized, which resulted in a knock that could be felt and heard on the trail. We ended up getting a replacement pivot pin, and you can see the update regarding that in the review: flowmountainbike.com/tests/2021-cannondale-scalpel-carbon-review/ As for bottoming out the shock, it is a progressive design, and I found it difficult to bottom it out too - which I found is a good thing compared to other XC bikes that can really crunch quite hard when you bottom them out. I also found I preferred less air pressure for my weight (180psi instead of 200psi as recommended). Don't worry too much about the figure itself - the main thing you want to do is to make sure you've got around 10-11mm of sag on the shock. [Wil]

Hey there Grant! That's a great question - both are lightweight XC bikes, and both have a more 'active' approach to rear suspension performance, compared to bikes like the Epic and Supercaliber that are designed to be much firmer most of the time. In direct comparison, I would say that the Scalpel is a better race bike. It has more up-to-date geometry, particularly the slacker and longer front end, though the long offset keeps the steering very sharp and responsive. The Lefty Ocho is also an incredible fork - I've been really impressed by how well it tracks and continues to respond under load. Likewise, the back end offers more lateral rigidity than the Anthem. Other things to factor in is that the Scalpel has a more dropper-friendly seat tube size of 31.6mm (Anthem is 27.2mm), and it will also fit two water bottles inside the mainframe on the M-XL frame sizes. Hope that helps mate, but just shout out if you've got any other questions mate! [Wil]

Hey Adam! Anti-squat is basically the rear suspension's propensity to stiffen up under pedalling. The more anti-squat there is in the linkage, the more the shock stiffens up when you're on the gas. Too much anti-squat however, means there'll be more feedback through the pedals when you encounter bumps on the trail, reducing the suspension's effectiveness at absorbing those impacts. How much anti-squat a bike has is defined by the arrangement of its linkage and pivot points, and how the rear axle moves relative to the bottom bracket. On the Scalpel, Cannondale's designers gave it a little less anti-squat than what you'd typically find on an XC bike, with the goal of making sure the suspension is active and effective, resulting in more traction and a smoother ride, particularly when you're pedalling over rough trails. I really like the way the suspension performs on this bike, even if it isn't quite as racy and firm as some others. You can certainly firm up the back end by running a higher pressure in the shock, though of course you'll lose some of the suppleness and traction that makes this bike perform so well on technical trails. Hope that helps explain! [Wil]

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid Wil thank you so much for taking the time to reply so thoroughly. I'm just at the trail head so great timing to think about this. Much appreciated 🙏

According to Cannondale, the stiffness and strength values are the same between the regular carbon frames and the Hi-Mod frames, and the main difference is simply weight. So in theory at least, durability should be similar between the two. Hope that helps! [Wil]

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid thanks!

Good question Lee! There are a couple of reasons why XC bikes don't need to be as steep in the seat tube angle. For a start, they have less travel in the first place, and therefore less sag. They also tend to pedal more efficiently. So when you're going uphill, the shock doesn't sag into its travel as much, so the seat tube doesn't slacken out as much as it would on a long travel trail/enduro bike. So while the 'static' seat angle is slacker on paper, the 'dynamic' seat angle might not be as different. The other reason comes down to the riding position. Steep seat angles are great for going uphill, but on the flats and more rolling terrain, they can push more of your bodyweight onto the grips, causing more fatigue on your wrists, arms, shoulders and upper back - not good things for a bike that you want to ride big distances on. Lastly, steep seat angles generally require longer reach measurements, so that the cockpit doesn't get too cramped when you have the saddle at full height. However, a longer reach = a longer wheelbase, and there's only so long you want to go on an XC bike, which needs to be sharp and nimble through tight singletrack. Going back to the Scalpel I've been testing, I found the cockpit measurements and seat angle to be spot-on, and I certainly wouldn't want it to be any steeper than it is. Hope that helps explain mate! [Wil]

Flow Mountain Bike that was a great response and cleared it up for me thanks very much!

It's the exact same spec as this 😂😂😂

Hello there mate! Good news - we've tested the Orbea Oiz M Team, and in the review there's a detailed comparison with the competition, including the Cannondale Scalpel: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LqM55fRSQrM.html [Wil]

You are the best thanks a lot.

Certainly does mate! No issues with the sizing on the Medium size Scalpel for me at 175cm tall. [Wil]

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid thanks a lot

I'm 175cm tall and testing a Medium size in the Scalpel! [Wil]

What weight are you after Elias? Most should be listed in the review. [Wil]

Good question! I’m 175cm tall and have been testing a Medium. At your height of 167cm, the Small is likely going to give you a more comfortable reach. If you went for the Medium, you might find the cockpit to be too tall - especially for an XC race bike. [Wil]

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid The best review, ever! Now my 5 seconds: I'm 179 with long legs and arms. Should I go with L or M? I was on M sized Cannondales all my life, last one the 2015 F-Si, but with 100 stem... Large Scalpel would fit me for racing marathons and trail riding, what do you think?

@@matejkainz - Thanks mate! At your height, the Large will definitely suit you best mate. If you've got long limbs, the Medium size will be too cramped in the cockpit, and you might not be able to get the seatpost high enough for your legs. Hope that helps! [Wil]

Yo Michael! It’s mentioned in both the video and in the full review on flowmountainbike.com, but if you missed it, the weight is 11.06kg for our Medium test bike. [Wil]

That would look mad! I'm sure Cannondale has prototyped this idea with a crazy concept bike in the past at some point? I'm guessing it would be waaay too heavy and waaay too complicated for a mountain bike. Have you seen English Cycles' Project Right bike? That thing is a singlespeed road bike, but it is bloody beautiful; www.englishcycles.com/custombikes/project-right/ [Wil]

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid oh sick I'm glad someone has done it, i'll have to see if there's a full suss version, I bet incorporating a shock would be a pretty big hurdle. Might have to whip out the ol' microsoft paint and have a play: Lefty LINKAGE fork, asym frame wrapping around shock flowing into Righty rear.. hub rear brake? what a monstrosity. oh and cheers for your Norco Sight review just picked up an A1

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid Check out the videos about the Millyard Racing MR002, which does just this, and thus has no exposed rear derailleur to break off, can be shifted under full load, no load, or pedaling backward, and 100% encases the chain, which is always clean and lubed. Amazing stuff made in a guy's garage. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-S39oR_7Vwf8.html

That green was pretty hot eh? I actually love the fade paint job that Cannondale has given the new Scalpel - feels like a nice homage to the original 2001 version. I do think it needs a big wraparound 'Cannondale' logo on the downtube though! [Wil]

G'day Jack!

Hello there! The A.I offset is indeed 3mm on the new Scalpel. You might be thinking of the old Scalpel? That bike did have a 6mm A.I offset. The reason for this is that the new frame moves from a 142x12mm hub to a Boost 148x12mm rear hub. Because a standard Boost setup offsets the drivetrain by 3mm already, the A.I offset only needs to offset a further 3mm to make it 6mm in total. In doing so, Cannondale has maintained the 55mm chainline (like the old Scalpel), which gives more clearance around the chainring. However, it means that the new frame is now compatible with a 29er Boost rear wheel - though you will need to re-dish the rim back to the non-drive side by 3mm to keep everything in-line. I did mention that in the video, and there's also more info about how the A.I offset works in the full review if you get the chance to check it out: flowmountainbike.com/tests/2021-cannondale-scalpel-carbon-review/ Hope that helps explain! [Wil]

oooo you got told :D

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid No, it's 6mm

The weight of 1690 grams isnt correct. The correct weight for aset of hollowgram 25 superlight weels is 1480 grams

Giant bikes warranty is outstandingly good I wouldn't put this here if it wasn't buy giant with confidence

V

That'o odd... I found crack on my old alu scalpel (Team 2005) back in 2013 and Cannondale got me a brand new Carbon Scalpel Team 2013 model. No big questions asked... :)

@@matejkainz I suppose Cannondale has changed it's approach to Lifetime warranty since 2013; try getting you that Scalpel replaced under warranty today and you might have a different experience. I was not looking for a free bike under the warranty - I would have paid a wholesale price for the bike - for which they would have made money on the deal. But, no they best offer they gave was 20% off retail. It really sucked. My bike had a hairline crack in a thin part of the frame - it did not form from user abuse.

Mmm, they are very different bikes really. The Scalpel is a purebred 100mm travel XC race bike, whereas the Whyte S-120 is a burly trail bike. Maybe the Scalpel SE is more comparable, but even then I think the execution is different between the two bikes, with the Whyte having a chunkier chassis and vastly slacker and longer geometry. I haven't ridden the Scalpel SE yet, but I'm toying with the idea of fitting a 120mm fork to the Scalpel Carbon 2 I have here, and potentially a longer 190x45mm shock to pump up the rear travel too. Could be an interesting experiment for sure! [Wil]

@@FlowMountainBikeRU-vid yet both bikes are 120. I bet majority of users would choose burlier bike!

Glad you enjoyed the video cobbs! Oh, and dumb fragile XC bikes are ace by the way :-) Definitely a lot more fun than they used to be! [Wil]

Flow Mountain Bike It seems, that’s one of the many things I learned from you review!

@Pete is never wrong gutted!!!

@Pete is never wrong better than dumb.

Add