Why the "lefty" is so strong despite having one leg-and why it's STILL WEIRD!

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The Lefty is a one legged, upside down suspension "fork" made by Cannondale. Through its 8 iterations, the Lefty has sported up to 160mm of travel, but in recent years has remained for XC only. The Lefty "Ocho" featured in the video has 110mm of travel and is designed specifically for cross country.
Some people won't even call the Lefty a "fork" since it looks more like a strut. But the Lefty competes toe to toe with other high end XC forks on the trail due to its stiffness and smooth operation.
Despite its cost, difficulty of service, and proprietary parts, the Lefty is cool and unique enough to still exist. I would consider building a custom XC bike just to rock one.
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1 окт 2022

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Комментарии : 2,1 тыс.

@nostaku Год назад

I've had a few Lefty forks over the years and my usual reply when people mention that it only has 1 side is that "I couldn't afford the other side" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@DinnerForkTongue Год назад

That checks out with the price 💸

@SimonBauer7 Год назад

and then it costs more than most normal forks with both legs...nice comeback though

@MikeR65 Год назад

Good one!😂

@joshsekel Год назад

I always tell people I’m missing the slow half.

@DinnerForkTongue Год назад

@@SimonBauer7 Why do you think he couldn't afford the other half?

@mfhorgan Год назад

I once ran into three guys on the trail all with lefties. I asked if they all got them on sale or something and as they pedaled away, one of them replied “yeah, half-off”

@zborp Год назад

💀

@Alex-xt9hn Год назад

It’s a good joke but it simply isn’t true lol

@trwilliams22 Год назад

Do 3 lefties make a righty?

@justinbogart278 Год назад

He was waiting like 250 miles to make that joke

@linusmushroomtips776 Год назад

man I'm dead 💀

@calvingreen1215 Год назад

It's a shame the inventor of this wasn't referenced in this video, Mike Burrows was a legend who passed away earlier this year in the middle of a cancer fight and never got the recognition he deserved, a truly missed friend. RIP

@chazmichaelmichaels88 Год назад

RIP Mr. Burrows.

@cv643d Год назад

Did he invent the Lefty?

@calvingreen1215 Год назад

@@cv643d he invented the mono blade and many other things that are common on bikes nowadays

@downallyourstreets Год назад

I love the posters looks of perplexing disbelief like a caveman looking at a cellphone: “what thing do? How thing work?” I ride but it no fall apart I no fall off” so weird!”

@mfstr Год назад

Supprised he didn't die riding a Lefty, the designers of the Lefty did not have engineering degrees.

@RAYROTHSTEIN66 Год назад

I was a Cannondale mechanic for the bike shop. That lefty was and still is one of the best engineered forks to be made.

@EmergencyInductionPort Год назад

It definitely looks like it's taken a shit load of work and effort into its design to make that actually work but not only work it works well enough to keep it on the market for so long.

@chrisrichardson8988 Год назад

I’ve had mine about 15 years. I treat it like garbage and it just keeps on going.

@LangHvitSkyKriger Год назад

@@poa2.0surface77 With that logic, why not have 4 forks, for extra strength, I've seen 2 fork designs fail and injure the rider, therefore it's unsafe right? The answer is the balance of weight vs strength, if the component is overbuilt, yea sure it's going to be way safer, but if every part is overbuilt, it would be too heavy to safely ride, in fact maybe even more dangerous as a heavy bike could crush you underneath it The line between being too light, and fragile, and being too heavy but strong is a fine balance, and it would seen that the makers and designers have that very well sorted as the Lefty is well known to be dependable and very strong. Each to their own is really the short way of saying it.

@UnderscoreZeroLP Год назад

Butter knife might be a better word

@EmergencyInductionPort Год назад

@@poa2.0surface77 they aren't made for serious downhill mountain biking. That's like saying road bikes are crap because they'd probably break going over big jumps 🤦‍♀️

@joe__h1 Год назад

I would be so interested in a video of weird things on bicycles that have disappeared because they were too weird. 😄

@aygwm Год назад

A good number of them have been cannondale products lol

@kellykim399 Год назад

My vote is for the Softride stem that the Ritchey team rode (and won tons of races on) for so much of the early 90’s. NOT to be confused with the Girvin Flexstem, which lacked the parallelogram design (meaning the handlebars would change angle as it went through its travel, unlike the much better Softride).

@smashyrashy Год назад

There arent many

@mtnmyke Год назад

Cough cough, Trust Fork, cough cough

@Chuckolicious Год назад

@@mtnmyke Not so fast. You do know the big S bought the IP, right?

@LongPeter Год назад

Love it. I'd have one if they were even remotely cost effective. The only Cannondale product I've ever been able to afford was a track pump. Incidentally, it is also excellent and also only has one leg.

@Jokl92 Год назад

Is the lefty actually lighter than a normal fork, or why do people get it? He didn't mention that right?

@DinnerForkTongue Год назад

@@Jokl92 Pretty much same weight. That one side is severely overbuilt.

@EchoMeToo Год назад

They made it affordable by closing the US factory and moving manufacturing to oversee. :-))

@DinnerForkTongue Год назад

@@EchoMeToo Their government's fault for eschewing industrial production in favor of rentism. The Asians weren't gonna work for nickels forever.

@ova578 Год назад

@@DinnerForkTongue technically it’s not overbuilt it is built just strong enough. Overbuilt implied that they could tone it down and it would still be strong enough, which is not the case

@michaelvaracins2858 Год назад

Great video. I was fortunate enough to be part of the engineering team back at the peak of cannondale's innovative years. The group of engineers working at the time were some of the most dedicated cycling fanatics with a long leash to come up with boundary pushing designs. The amount of engineering brain power behind the lefty was staggering and over 20 years later it remains one of the most memorable parts of my life. It makes me happy to see it still thriving and bringing riding joy to others. You all can ride it confidently knowing it came to life by a group of people who enjoyed riding it as much as they did building it, and by a group of people who would all share a beer after a hard ride while discussing what could be done even better. Ride on and enjoy it.

@aeD4RK Год назад

Whew,that's an amazing tale you got to tell your grandkids! 😄

@600wheel Год назад

That’s why there are so many Cannondale buried from embarrassment

@downallyourstreets Год назад

I’m sorry you are embarrassed Pillipe! Schmuck!

@ChrisKiller Год назад

bring back the Supermax

@garyviljoen9867 6 месяцев назад

I love mine and won’t swap it for anything

@AB-NZ Год назад

Lefty forks are really common compared to the Righty. Don’t see many of them out there.

@onorevolenullazzo4210 Год назад

Why they're more common than the righty?

@KizzleCozzle Год назад

@@onorevolenullazzo4210 lmao

@onorevolenullazzo4210 Год назад

@@KizzleCozzle compa

@jan_Masewin Год назад

they’re the only ones left

@onorevolenullazzo4210 Год назад

@@jan_Masewin...

@alreedyalrighty588 Год назад

I used to make the aluminum tubes for the head shock and helped develop the sizing for the needle bearing grooves

@PedroAndradex Год назад

Wow, interesting! How long did take to develop the Lefty Ocho? What was the most difficult part of the project?

@iammoserdealwithit7097 Год назад

alu min ium

@sik59rt Год назад

The grooves that the bearings always fell out of?

@Chuckolicious Год назад

I had the original Super V 1000. Blew literally 5 Headshocks and finally ditched the thing for one of the first Foes LTS frames and threw a Judy SL on it. Gold and wiggly, but at least it didn't blow.

@sik59rt Год назад

@@Chuckolicious wasn’t the Judy sl just an elastomer and spring?

@BlownMacTruck Год назад

The Lefty is awesome (so was the HeadShok) and I'm going to go out on a limb and say the fork is iconic at this point. It's one of those components that says "screw you I don't care how much you cost, give me the performance".

@usmc29er44 Год назад

People sleep on the Headshok, good stuff

@vinny61389 Год назад

I had a friend who had one of those weird mono shocks that were just below the steerer tube. It was also the first bike I saw that had 9 speeds in the rear instead of what I was used to (6). Blew my mind in the 90s.

@davidbray5982 Год назад

Your friends parents must have been minted

@subliminalvibes Год назад

Same! It was my mate Jeff from London. Mad £5,000 Cannondale. This was fifteen years ago and he'd already had it a few years. It was the floatiest, dreamiest FS MTB I've ever ridden here in Australia.

@TinyT0ny Год назад

talking bout the "fatty" :)

@UltaPowderfinger Год назад

Cannondale had a contest for a "HeadShok" dude in the 90's I thought I looked like the logo they had back then so was going to submit a few photos to the contest but never did. Then it went away. :\

@Mr89siR Год назад

My first non entry level mtb was a carbon f29 lefty. i now ride a full suspension trail bike but use the lefty as gravel/city bike but I still love it and will never part with it. It's way too smooth and I'm still impressed every ride.

@SenneMeuleman Год назад

@onei jike you should ask for a 1 pedal option to lose some weight on the bike aswell :)

@downallyourstreets Год назад

You smart caveman Senne smart and clever: one pedal huh huh!

@SenneMeuleman Год назад

@@downallyourstreets it was a guy who lost his leg i think, so i responded that he also needs 1 pedal

@honours1980 Год назад

I've always been fascinated with these! They look great, just like motorcycle single swing arms!

@megabeatmanmania Год назад

Genuinely intrigued...I'll come back to this video thank you. 🙇‍♂️

@AquaMortem Год назад

I lost my left leg, so this seems like the perfect fork for me!

@rufusconnolly8489 Год назад

I love your reply XD if we were friends I'd buy you a GPS tracker so you couldn't misplace your other one hehe

@laurentp89 Год назад

Yeah @AquaMortem, you should really not be leaving those just anywhere

@user-sy8ql8in6h Год назад

Joke from hell

@dz9459 Год назад

@@laurentp89 idk seems like a common occurrence

@zwenkwiel816 Год назад

I dno, think it'll make you walk funny, unless your right leg is like really short or something

@hammerheartdan6311 Год назад

Decades ago, I’ve read an article about the lefty in an mtb magazine (i think mountain bike action?), their argument was “it cant be a gimmick if it works well”

@armadillito Год назад

A good gimmick is just a USP

@felixjones9198 Год назад

Sounds fair enough!

@fragtall Год назад

it works until it doesn't... this product still doesn't make any sense with the pricing and it doesn't seems to be strong enough. I understand why posers get it tho "looks weird and quirky"

@downallyourstreets Год назад

Posers like Jeremiah Bishop that could outrace you in his sleep on a lefty, and don’t ride it for looks either. The Lefty is an ugly fork, not even a real fork, more of a strut really, but its performance benefits blow other forks off the trail with less unsparing weight as well! They are the apple phones of front suspension weird now will take over the future as the morons age out!

@BlazeOffRoad Год назад

I had a lefty and LOVED it! I was very hesitant but after research I ended up buying it and rode it enought to go through two rebuilds on it. Three or so years and a more than a few thousand miles.

@peach495 Год назад

I've got one from 2014. It's an excellent bike. I was apprehensive at first. Then I noticed many airplanes have this configuration on the single front wheel. My thinking then was the engineering was sound & it's not weaker than a duel post.

@ashurany Год назад

I don't have a lefty but that was my thinking at first--as I'm sure it has been for many. Good point about airplanes. Anyway, I'm sure the engineering is sound, if because any such problems would have been public long ago.

@redwood_shores Год назад

Don't forget you can find this stuff in every car. Actually 4x of the stuff.

@chrisakaschulbus4903 Год назад

@@redwood_shores Jokes on you, my car doesn't have wheels.

@Dieterbe Год назад

I love it when Seth loosens up and cracks jokes. This video was fun and informative!

@mohenriksen321 Год назад

As a mechanic ive seen a few of these pass through my workstand, qlways freaks colleagues out when they see it. FYI The previous leftys you didnt have to completely unbolt the caliper but it wasnt tool free, it looked like an IS mount but with lawyer lips, so youd unwind the bolts 3 or 4 turns and slide the caliper and mount out the back. this allowed you to remove the mount without realigning the caliper much like the modern solution but with less one of a kind, breakable mechanisms 😉

@themeatpopsicle Год назад

There was a cam system actuated by 5mm between the keyhole version and the current version. I prefer the one that took a tool, honestly.

@dkd123 Год назад

I had one ride last year where I saw two bikes with Leftys. Felt like a blessed day.

@tyjexia Год назад

I picked up a 2006 Cannondale Rush with a lefty fork. I'm not a small person but the fork and the rear suspension work great! It also has the integrated shifter/brake levers, which took some getting use to.

@radarmusen Год назад

That gave me a good answer to all my questions about how it not was braking or was flimsy in the turn.

@jbratt Год назад

I heard a story about a guy that was visiting family or friends. It happened that there was a gravel race in the area. He didn’t have his bike but there happened to be an old lefty mountain bike in the garage. He borrowed it. Turned out it rained and the race was really muddy. The mud clearance was so good on the lefty he won the race easily.

@ryanmiskin Год назад

And that man... Albert Einstein.

@stirfryjedi Год назад

Then he rode that bike from the finish line, all the way home to Alabama and started the world-famous Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

@nickwarman685 Год назад

I have drooled over these ever since they came out when I was a kid. Never got around to getting one but seeing one out in the wild is still a nostalgia trigger 👍

@joelankeny6277 Год назад

Same here. I remember drooling over this fork in Mountain Bike Action magazine when the lefty first came out.

@user-qb7vv6lf1y Год назад

Thanks for commenting you have been selected among my bicycle winners🎁🎁m

@RyanMinney Год назад

I worked for a cannondale shop in the 90’s. The lefty was created because even though headshox were superior to normal suspension they were insanely heavy. So the lefty was born a normal weight headshox. They are insanely smooth and require little to no maintenance It’s the best designed front suspension ever.

@Blox117 Год назад

just get a unicycle

@robertm.6583 Год назад

Mine broke twice and I didn't abuse it. It is a piece of junk as far as I'm concerned

@RyanMinney Год назад

@@robertm.6583 working in a bike shop it was always amazing the amount of peoples front wheels that just “Fall off”.

@maxdewaele9660 Год назад

@@RyanMinney or "i didnt even crash it or anything" meanwhile the frame and wheels are bent

@RyanMinney Год назад

@@maxdewaele9660 “I was just riding down the street…”

@bigroosterman12 Год назад

I got a 2004 Cannondale Jekyll with a lefty. Had to ship it across the country to get it rebuilt because hardly anyone will work on it. But it was so worth it. Such a cool shock

@1ducatinut Год назад

Love my Lefty, I also do my own servicing and have heard my share of “Do you know your missing one side” Mine being a SuperMax is also made of carbon fiber so it’s lighter and stiffer than most forks on the market.

@sinclairal Год назад

My Cannondale has the Lefty Ocho. I literally LOVE it. For all the reasons mentioned here. Light, Responsive, and Stiff. It rides like a butter dream. I actually find it hard to ride "normal" forks now because of the flex they have. The 2 sides flex and cause stiction.

@FlyingAceAV8B Год назад

I have the original lefty on my prophet and I love it. I will never sell that bike. I even spent a grand recently updating it to “modern standard” and even found someone capable of re-sealing the lefty after cannondale told me they couldn’t do it. This bike is going to be worth billionssssss one day!!!

@darealpython 9 месяцев назад

I have 6 Lefty ocho/oliver in the family! been a fan for 22+ years!!! fixation was instant and forever! it is by far the best suspension solution EVER!!!

@malayneum Год назад

cannondale dealer in my place even advised me not to service the ocho unless there is major issue with it. but after a year i still love it. its super stiff. and the stare and comments you got from others are priceless. 😁

@mattman3495 Год назад

I don't do pedal bikes anymore because the knees are gone, I'm just a old retired Enduro racer who rides street motorcycles. I still wrench on bicycles for friends and family. I'm always learning something from your channel, Thanks for the content.

@WorldwideDarts Год назад

Ever thought about an ebike?

@mattman3495 Год назад

@@WorldwideDarts no, I need a 500 mile range minimum for my type of riding.

@getstrongby4038 Год назад

@@mattman3495 but you can't do 500 miles though

@ryzen4368 Год назад

would you rather 0 miles range or 100 miles range? lol

@mattman3495 Год назад

@@getstrongby4038 I do 300 to 500 mile day trips a couple times a week.

@zoppotromp1958 Год назад

physically genius, especially the older dual crowns. miss it in my modern bikes.

@MrPtittomtom Год назад

Lefty remain my « dream fork » but I’m not a surgeon and I never cross the line to start with Cannondale for all the reason you mentionned. And to be really honest, Lefty remain amazing but I was never amazed by the Cannondale frames attached to it. Good review !

@peacefroglorax875 Год назад

I was a bike tech at a cannondale shop a decade or so ago, and saved up about 6 months to order my first "nice" mountain bike. It had to be Cannondale since that's where I worked, and it was an aluminum hardtail with a lefty. So the other way to get one without being rich is to work in a bike shop.

@punkazecke3881 Год назад

nah man fox factory 40. I will never buy it because it's absurd, but still awsome

@HelloThere-mm2vu Год назад

I rode a lefty for 5 years racing XC starting in NICA and now in UCI. I also ride it in Pisgah often and it did very well. It actually performs amazingly, but I feel that its lifespan was really short. I typically had to take it to get serviced by Cannondale, so I ended up owning 2 forks and swapping them out. It performs great, but nobody can service it in just a day, it has to be sent off :/

@CinimodMG Год назад

I miss my lefty! Still have an old Cannondale with a Headshok though.

@davidherman7455 Год назад

My bike is a Cannondale bad habit I got practically unused because it is an XL from a demo fleet. I paid less than 1/3 the MSRP for the whole bike. It is super smooth and the bike itself isn’t all that light to begin with so the extra weight doesn’t matter to me. I LOVE it.

@alexbarker7511 Год назад

I finally saw one of these at the shop I work at. It was just sitting out there with its dual crowns.

@2WheelsGood.01 Год назад

If people only knew commercial airplane wheel carriages are one sided and Ducatis (and other brands) have single sided swingarms. Far more torque and impact in those applications. I absolutely love the way Lefties look and feel. I worked at one of the biggest Cannondale dealers in the US as a mechanic.

@fallenover6977 Год назад

I’ve used them in demo days and they feel amazing, the weight gains are pretty insane too, if I was more into xc and it was cheaper I’d consider getting one

@DrewskiTheLegend Год назад

It rides pretty nice. I raced a few days of a 4 day XC race a few weeks ago on a Scalpel Si. I was pleasantly surprised how stiff the dual crown version of the fork was, and how capable it was while descending. I don’t know that I would own one. I’m a mechanic who does almost all of my maintenance myself and I know better than to buy something that requires above average maintenance and proprietary parts. It did exceed my expectations though. It was a much better fork than I expected.

@avlehtine Год назад

The needle bearings on the Lefty do not replace the seal (otherwise they would be full of crap after a ride), but one of the bushings. Both this and the advantages of a USD system could be integrated into a two-legged fork.

@chrisfournier6144 Год назад

I’ve really enjoyed my 2016 on the trails. The lefty is just one component on a great bike!

@theroadjournal Год назад

very informative as always! keep em coming! 😍

@andrewarp1038 Год назад

Love the videos Seth. You’re by far my favorite MTB channel on here love the content. Just got my hands on a jersey for my birthday and can’t wait to get out wearing it.

@mrjaxy6125 Год назад

Amazing video😃 Keep up the good work

@wpok101 21 день назад

I remember the older guy down the road as I was a kid had one and it was the coolest thing in like 02 or 03 and still to this day its so special.

@paulfletcher3998 Год назад

The late great Mike Burrows who designed Chris Boardman's Olympic gold winning Lotus 108 bike was a big fan of side mounted wheels. Mainly because of weight savings reasons I believe. Anybody who hasn't ridden one of his machines I'd highly recommend it. He just did things differently. I've had 2 of his Windcheetah trikes and they were great. Super fast and at the moment I have one of his Ratracer SL recumbents. It's a front wheel drive hub geared recumbent so it's not for everyone but I love it. It's so much fun! The Ratracer's rear wheel is side mounted. Which makes it super light because the whole frame is just one metal tube.

@beandip007 Год назад

I love my 20 year old lefty, although I would love to see how you can modernize it.

@nadaname391 Год назад

My wife and I had Vespa GTS scooters and the first thing I noticed when deciding what brand to buy, was the front suspension system (which is similar) until I talked to many folks who had them and the Vespa history as to how they came about. We've never had one issue with our Vespa's.

@sd3457 Год назад

Plenty of classic scooter racers swap them out for double-sided Lambretta forks.

@downallyourstreets Год назад

Cuz they are wimps and lose most of their races. Why do people spend more money to lose?

@Paul_M109 11 месяцев назад

I remember I was a kid when this came out. Around 6th grade. At that time I lived in the bike shop down the street from my house, loved BMX. Was the wildest thing back then seeing new bikes in the shop with this fork.

@Ryan_Harkin 10 месяцев назад

My Cannodale Trigger Carbon Pro is the best "over mountain" as Cannodale call it, bike I've ever used. The duel chamber Fox Dyad RT2 rear shock is pretty sweet too. Being able to remotely switch fron 90mm travel to 140mm is a nice feature.

@bossdude911 Год назад

Since these became single crown, I’ve always wanted to see someone set one up to barspin… Seth seems like just the man to do it!

@user-qb7vv6lf1y Год назад

Thanks for commenting you have been selected among my bicycle winners🎁

@newoldsteel Год назад

honestly I've always been curious about this but glad that you covered it as it was super informative and entertaining! You're always delivering a great video!

@charlemagno Год назад

There was a time when my riding group were mostly on lefties. We were servicing them ourselves since no shop does it in our country. It’s a great fork design and I’ve had my best rides with it.

@blam3329 Год назад

I was fortunate enough to find a pull-off from a Bad Boy years ago for a badass road bike project. That particular fork was rigid and just tall enough for a 700x25. Had to have the front wheel laced for the lefty hub, but the local bike shop had a guy. Turned a LOT of heads.

@joren7653 Год назад

Really adds something to the channel that its now possible to review different kinds of bike brands👍👍

@keithplumley2054 Год назад

I'm happy to see you finally giving Cannondale some love.

@boooyah05 Год назад

Thanks for breaking it down for us

@adleiesposito3902 Год назад

Cheers from Brazil! Great content.

@th3gughy Год назад

Man I love a lefty! I've never had the chance to try one, but the engineering and ingenuity behind it is brilliant.. I'm always happy to see one, but I agree with the main issue: the price probably makes it unaffordable to the most.. but, ehy, it works for Cannondale so it works for me! Still love its unique and quirk look !!

@peach495 Год назад

I got my 2014 half way through 2015 for $1,400, including the warranty.

@user-qb7vv6lf1y Год назад

Thanks for commenting you have been selected among my bicycle winners🎁

@Dunwelll Год назад

So far, I'm most impressed with the easy tailgate mounting.

@Qui-gon-gin Год назад

I own a Cannondale super V with an 80mm Headshock, although it isn't a lefty it is extremely similar. Its impossible to deny the stiffness and lightness of it as well as its remarkable response to smaller impacts. The only issue I have with it is that every time a part needs replacing it gets more expensive.

@felipeprenholato2301 Год назад

I think that price vs usability range make it a niche product (exactly how u said), and that don't make it spread into the market. I would love to see one Lefty prepared for bikepacking someday.

@shawnpowellrealestateutah8291 Год назад

I have a Scalpel with a carbon super Lefty 130. That bike will pretty much out handle any other XC bike and descends scary fast. Not for everyone, but perfect for some 😅

@pympin87 Год назад

i kinda want to see what would happen if they re-released the downhill version of the lefty that had both legs

@borthwey Год назад

I want to see a downhill or enduro version of the XC lefty. Just beefed up and scaled up. It could only be limited by the reduced space for the spring and damper.

@user-yu1qq2dd3s Год назад

@infomercial enjoyer :D

@jessvarey2597 Год назад

I just bought the new Cannondale Scalpel HT. It’s such a sick bike. Super versatile. The lefty versions have a 66.5deg head angle so it does rowdy trails AND bike packing super nice. 🙌🏻

@rajgill7576 Год назад

I've got a 2005 cannondale scalpel si that rides like it's brand new. I love the thing even though I hardly use it. Special every time I do

@alexdi1367 Год назад

A key advantage is that there's no stiction when loaded from the side. A telescoping fork is smooth enough in a parking lot test, but it binds with off-axis loading. The Lefty is just as smooth in the middle of a turn as it is on level ground.

@fluffycat087 Год назад

Oh yeah that's why all main motorcycle manufacturers use lefty forks on their bikes. It's all clear now.

@romka_ind Год назад

Not an advantage but 23 year old marketing flop.

@inot2381 Год назад

i have a 2016 cannondale jekyll with a carbon lefty and 160mm of travel an it is the absolut best fork i have ever tried and i also find it sad that only very few companies still do such cool and wild stuff like cannondale with their suspension. it is also sad that the new jekyll has lost all its character is basically just a downhill bike compared to the old ones which were winning ews bikes

@fragtall Год назад

you still didnt break it? not even a little bend? do you ride or do you pose?

@inot2381 Год назад

@@fragtall No, why should i pose with a almost 7 year old bike? But i have taken it down my local ixs downhill track as well as a few alpine bike parks and i do regular enduro rides. I also do not think that bending is much of an option for a carbon fork... but i need to say that i have the old version of the lefty with the double crown.

@gerrygamez Год назад

I own two Cannondale bikes with Lefty forks (Flash MTB and Bad Boy Trekking/City) and I kinda like the looks and comments I get :D And as you said, the suspension is so damn good. Also servicing isn't that bad. You just need the right tools (which Cannondale won't give out to consumers tho...).

@scriptosaurusrex Год назад

Canondale have a knack to develop just the coolest things. I remember when we were kids, even though none of us at that point were actual mountain bikers, we all wanted a canondale with a headshock. Just because it looked cool (speak, unusual). Someone, I think, had a red one with the shock cover in yellow, and I remember us all thinking it was such a mean machine. The lefty no doubt does the same. Sure, it's actually good, but more than that, it is just recognisable.

@KC9UDX 11 месяцев назад

The only Cannondale product I had was a Velcro water bottle holder. It was awesome.

@leonv1553 Год назад

Hello BPE. Great talk on the Lefty. Always loved that design, always gotta do a double take. Hey what's missing here, just doesn't look right. Sure works right though. Ages ago I was shopping for an all-mountain bike that was WAY better than my riding. I went for a good 2 hour flog on a Cannonade Lefty something. It covered a variety of easyish trails faster than any other bike I knew. All good? No. I rode it so much faster than normal for me, it's usual pace, it resulted in a bit of a heart attack. lol true story. In the end the magic Gary Fisher Roscoe steering and rear suspension won the comparo. Still love it. Easy to service and fix too.

@crimvaxine5802 Год назад

needed this cause the confusion on my face was adamant when I saw a lefty out in the wild. 1st time seeing one, 1st time knowing about it. Heck even the other folks were looking at it confused as well.

@MikeGlorfindel Год назад

I was working in a bike shop when I saw the first one of there in the 90s. Got to take it for a spin and considering it was the first iteration it was both amazing and odd. Just looking at it from on top of the bike was unnerving but it did feel good. I had not owned any suspension fork at that point and the rigidity compared to my friends Bomber was impressive. Wouldn’t have one now as I don’t ride cross country and now I am back into MTB getting into jumping and stuff but back in the day in the UK all there was in my area was cross country.

@balismarcell7271 Год назад

There is a video explaining how a lefty stays active when a torsion force is added to the mix. I think that is what makes the ride quality difference and not just the initial stick.

@RPD_ps Год назад

Do you have a link? I'm curious. It does seem key, I'd think that once torsion enters the equation the fork wouldn't slide smoothly.

@robertmisiuk7137 Год назад

@@RPD_ps There is a reason it is a lefty and not a righty.

@brucemcginty9751 Год назад

There is no initial stick benefit… the lefty still has fork seals. He is just an idiot

@romka_ind Год назад

Yup a solution to a problem that no body cares about :) except those geeks that got caught on that marketing bait :)

@AdrianoSaccenti Год назад

Lefty's been around for more than 23 years. In 1998 lefty suspension forks were already out there and I had one with ELO system (eletronic lockout). 9v battery needed to make the ELO works.

@tommanseau6277 Год назад

This and the Halson PDS inversion fork were 2 of the most unique and surprisingly good forks from that era. I had the Halson on my bike and it was really solid. If you’ve ever ridden the RockShox Mag 20 or Judy, then you’re familiar with the wet noodle fork directional effect. Neither the Lefty nor the Halson had that much to everyone’s surprise.

@bencymo1 Год назад

One thing I notice when I owned a Lefty bike was the mid corner sensitive. Where a normal fork would bind up with side load the lefty kept absorbing. My line for when people said it was missing the other side or thats not safe was to say “Have you ever seen a car with a dual sided fork for suspension?”

@ebouwman034 Месяц назад

Cars have way more visible arms and things to accomplish it though. Not calling the lefty unsafe or anything, its just that you can look at a double wishbone setup and see all the components and it looks intuitively solid. The lefty doesn't intuitively look like it's as strong as it is.

@loganmccallum3724 Год назад

Seth, thank you. Watching your channel I feel inspired. I took some hard left turns in life and to see what it is to follow your passion, be a good father and husband, man you're priceless. I can't wait to mtb again, pandemic rent etc... Thank you for putting yourself out there for all us :)

@robcocco8648 Год назад

I had one in the late 90s and it was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

@DG-tf9rp Год назад

The fork also functions like a Coil Over, Shock and spring on one leg, more precise.

@tinetannies4637 Год назад

When you think about it, all cars have their wheels mounted from just one side without popping off, and many motorcycles do the same with the rear wheel. People just aren't accustomed to the idea on bicycles.

@AlexandarHullRichter Год назад

I'm now working at the 3rd Cannondale dealer I've been with, and I've had this conversation a few times: It's just like a McFerson-strut. If you take an old car with strut suspension, and take the wheel off, it even looks the same. The biggest difference you can see in that case is that a car usually has a coil spring on the outside, while a lefty has an air spring on the inside.

@leonardhpls6 Год назад

Ah yea because everyone knows what a mcferson strut is and how they work 🤣

@autobotavengerfireballxl5339 Год назад

Old car? new cars still come with struts pal old cars came with torsion bar coil and shock coil suspension

@paradoxworkshop4659 Год назад

Aaaannnd... MacPherson struts will spin when not supported by the rest of the suspension... So just round tubes inside round tubes...

@AlexandarHullRichter Год назад

@@leonardhpls6 pretty much everyone who has bought a car since 1970 should know what they are, or have at least heard of them, as it's been a setting point on every vehicle so equipped since then.

@AlexandarHullRichter Год назад

@@autobotavengerfireballxl5339 newer cars have the axle run through the steering knuckle, so it looks different. On older RWD cars, the axle spindle was part of the strut, so it actually looked just like a lefty when you took the brake off. Old is relative, but independent suspension cars have been using struts since the 60s (see Porsche 911, VW Beetle 1978-1980s, VW Super Beetle 1973-when it was discontinued and the Beetle inherited all its features, all unibody Toyotas, etc.).

@andyashla Год назад

One New England Mountain Biking Association ride I bumped into at Bennett's Pond in Ridgefield, CT had about around half of the 12 guys on lefty Cannondales. There is a very dedicated following in Connecticut.

@jaymueller2418 Год назад

I raced on several versions of the lefty. The advantages in stiffness and low static friction were most apparent in the forks that had the rubber baffle. The big issues with that fork were service life (required a lot of bearing resets) and quality control (about half of them were crap). But it really was smoother and the stiffness was amazing, especially taking hits through corners where it just didn’t twist. Cannondale then added a lower brushing and seals and with that came no need to keep the rubber baffle but increased static friction. In that time, modern dual leg forks have also increased their performance hugely and I don’t think the lefty is worth the hassle as there is no longer a big performance difference.

@ameunier41 Год назад

With the seal I hope it needs less maintenance.

@sisaktamas Год назад

The Lefty is easily the awesomest piece of bike tech. And second is the headshok. I haven't had a mtb for many years and honestly the only kind I really wish I had was a C-dale with lefty. Maybe a retro C-dale with a good condition headshok. I recently tried out one with a grinding headshok and yes... it was a letdown.

@Ducktility Год назад

C-dale?

@Ben_Kasper Год назад

I want to see someone put a lefty on there yeti. dentist fork on a dentist? Sounds perfect!

@MorryB Год назад

Dent-ception.

@LastAphelion Год назад

How about a Lefty Epocalypse for a hipster dentist

@w.c.skincare3951 8 месяцев назад

I love my old-school Carbon Lefty-DLR! Nothing works better!!

@abstraddic0442 Год назад

Great video Seth, I've been curious about these for decades 😆. I really thought that you were about to hit some jumps & features on this bike. Glad you didn't. 👍👍

@hendrikreuter7215 Год назад

I love how you describe the potential buyers of the fork!

@Gilrang_ Год назад

I always love seeing lefty's, because they look futuristic. I don't know why, and putting them on your tailgate is mind-blowing! I never knew that, and it makes me want one! I hope the mountain biking community buys more to make it a norm after watching this video. Thanks Seth! 🤘🏾

@user-qb7vv6lf1y Год назад

Thanks for commenting you have been selected among my bicycle winners🎁🎁

@yamahschector Год назад

I have always loved cannondale all the way back to their atv days. My second good mountain bike was a cannondale. I will always love them even though I do not own one any more

@klarnamemeta6556 Месяц назад

I'm glad to ride three different Hooli's, the awesome Slate&also the legendary ON-Bike. The Lefty is a timeless stunner...nuff respect!

@timanderson8302 Год назад

As an actual Anaesthetist I can guarantee that we are all huge geeks, and have an absolute compulsion to know how things work and how to take them apart! Nevertheless... I'll stick with my lyrik 😂

@jfaust97 Год назад

I find it funny he's wealth shaming people.... while standing in front of his $1.1M house! LOL

@armadillito Год назад

@@jfaust97 he;s more lifestyle-shaming than wealth shaming. Not everyone who gets rich responds the same way.

@alexsmtbfriends4954 Год назад

Can confirm this, almost like therapy to service the bikes. But I don't do "plastic surgery on knees", lol, so I can't buy into the Lefty crowd. They roll great, but can't stand the idea of calliper dismounting and special hubs. I'll stick to Fox.

@gnarwhaladventures5824 Год назад

Fellow anaesthetist and owner of two Lefty equipped bikes. I'm am one of those people that think Cannondale are a massive bunch of dicks for not making service manuals and tools available, cause I would like to service my own.

@greengoat5654 Год назад

I thought it was anesthesiologist....

@laurabaumgras-pearce5699 Год назад

I have a lefty! It's also my first mountain bike from this century so it's... my bike. and has ceased to be weird to me.

@JP-xd6fm Год назад

Are you a doctor? / I just want to confirm the stereotype.

@laurabaumgras-pearce5699 Год назад

@@JP-xd6fm no. I work in manufacturing.

@Zero_8347 Год назад

I know little about the bike hobby but the design theory is fascinating.. sometimes less is more!

@Rzagski 7 месяцев назад

Still riding my 2013 Scalpel 1 carbon with a lefty. Amazing- even after thousands of miles and several rebuilds. Hope I can get a newer one with an Ocho. The geometry of the 2013 may work well with drop bars and convert to a gravel bike. Mine is one one dual crowned.

@philip9175 Год назад

i think the reason they've stayed around for so long is because they are a Cannondale product so they keep developing it and speccing it on their bikes. If Lefty was a standalone product from another company i'm not sure if it would've stayed around as long as it has

@JP-xd6fm Год назад

I didn't know you can buy it for other bicycles. A lefty always has the Cannondale name atached for me

@Crackrocksteady Год назад

@J P yeah my buddy built a custom Norco and the only way he could get a lefty was getting a complete ex cop Cannondale bike from auction

@baddriversofcolga Год назад

Great video, Seth! I think you should get a Team Marin which is sort of an XC Trail bike and build it out with some nice components and see how light you can get it. And I see that Hardtail Party sticker! Heh

@ryanmiskin Год назад

There's a party in the mountains...