HarborBandS

Some initial positive impressions from Matt Gersib at Riding Gravel:

"I’ve been fortunate to have received one of the first Topstone Carbon Force eTap AXS bikes in the country for testing on Riding Gravel. Look for the introduction to that test to come very soon, but my initial rides on the bike have been very encouraging. In fact, out of the box, it’s one of the lightest, most responsive and smooth-riding bikes I’ve ridden."


https://ridinggravel.com/gravel-bikes...pstone-carbon/

FlashBazbo

Tire clearance is . . . marginal for a 700c x 38mm tire (see today's press photos). Gimmicky bearings holding the seat stays to the seat tubes. ("Let's do an Isospeed knock-off that Trek won't sue us for!") And 30mm -- that's about 1.25 inches -- of "boing, boing" flex at the saddle. YIKES! I know some of you guys love a lot of flex in a gravel bike, but YIKES! That's a noodle!

Of course, if you weigh 110 pounds, the flex issue won't be as big. But if you weigh 200 pounds . . . brings to mind the silly old "Green Acres" intro where Oliver is bouncing along on his tractor! Boing! Handling on this bike will be very different depending on the weight of the rider.

HarborBandS

At first it looked bluish gray on my phone, but in other photos it looks like a sandy light grey. I guess I'll have to wait to see one in person.

Rides4Beer

My Revolt is fantastic as a road bike, with a second wheelset, I'm not really riding my Fuji anymore. lol The D-Fuse seatpost does take a little getting used to on the road, you can def feel it flexing. But it's really comfortable over rough roads, and I have no problems on fast group rides.

But I agree that Giant would never market it that way, they want you to buy a road bike too.

shoota 

Looks more light green to me lol

HarborBandS

Check out the video on the Cannondale site. Looks like lots of movement! Way more than IsoSpeed, which you hated.

I wish they had just made a Synapse-like frame with more tire clearance.

HarborBandS

Probably is! I am bad with hues.

FlashBazbo

Super-thin seat tube flex zone at the bottom end -- just like Trek Isospeed. Bearings freeing up the seat tube junction (this time with the seat stays) -- just like the Trek Isospeed. Very well designed to permit maximum flex in the rear triangle.

They are clearly marketing the "BOING!" as a selling point. That helps people like me, who think the rear triangle needs to be stiff to be efficient, stay away from bikes we wouldn't like anyway. (I always rode a hardtail mountain bike, too.) And it helps those who are looking for flex find their perfect bike.

ronin4740

Am I the only older rider who's a bit out of shape that would like to see a flat bar option on gravel bikes? Seems to me that the shorter reach that the flat bar provides makes the bike much more comfortable to ride over longer periods of time... albeit at the cost of being less aerodynamic.

Also kind of struggling to understand the difference between the Ultegra RX2 and Ultegra versions.

Overall I like the bike though and will pop into the Cannondale LBS to see when they think they might have one on the floor so I can give it a spin in the parking lot.

gus6464

They kicked the BB to 11 with proprietary crap. BB30-83 Ai.


So BB30 shell with downhill width and offset spacing.

HarborBandS

Isn't that basically a 1990's mountain bike?

redlude97

Now sure I see the problem. Maximize bearing spacing without affecting q factor substantially. Hollowgram cranks are already some of the best out there

ronin4740

Yes... I've been regretting selling the 90's Specialized Rock Hopper I used to own for a long, long time

FlashBazbo

SOMEBODY get the word to Cannondale . . . people HATE press fit bottom brackets. But they HATE, HATE, HATE non-standard proprietary press fit bottom brackets that limit crankset options!! Gravel bikers, more than roadies, are people who like to try different cranks and gearing. I know gravel racers who ride a different crankset based on the course they're racing on in a given week. If they accidentally buy this bike, with its "we want to force you to buy our crankset" bottom bracket, they are sunk.

And the "integrated" seatpost clamp? Is there any manufacturer that makes one of these that's trouble free? Nobody. A huge proportion of them slip and/or require frequent re-torquing. Why invite that? Traditional seatpost clamps aren't less aero (in spite of appearances) and they WORK. Every time. All the time.

shoota 

I wish someone would tell that to my wife's Jamis Renegade.

Re: BB - Cannondale got it right with the alloy Topstone so this BB30 BS just ticks me off. Totally with you on this. I wonder if there is a screw together adapter for Shimano cranks that fits this offset bb standard?

sweetspot

The more I think about this bike the more I am convinced that this should be called a slate 2 rather than gravel topstone. It has road (synapse) geometry with very short chainstays and high bottom bracket (just like Slate). The only significant difference is that Slate has front suspension and this bike has rear suspension. Now its time for cannondale to finally merge both solutions and make a bike that will have a full suspension (a better version of niner magic carpet ride).

gus6464

Makes no sense why this didn't come with a spec with the Lefty Oliver.

sweetspot

The only explanatoion I can think of is cost. But again if they sell models with carbon SAVE stem and handlebar for over 5k then it should be doable to offer a Lefty in that price range. Maybe they did not do that to avoid chsnging the frame geometry (models with rigid fork would be hampered by having a suspension fork geometry without actually having that kind of fork). On the other hand making 2 variants of frame could not be cost effective...

trailangel

OMG.....30mm of suspension
Time to buy an MTB

gus6464

The slate came with a rigid fork spec too one year. But it probably has to do with the oliver being designed for 650b wheel only.

mstateglfr 

A thread about blurred category bikes or current ways for brands to design comfort into frames = an opportunity for angel to beat the horse and declare an MTB is needed.

BluFalconActual

I’m a roadie at heart and just picked up a 2020 Revolt and after 3 days of ownership/riding, I can totally see it being a quiver killer. If I were to slap on a set of skinnier GP5000 tires, I can guarantee it would almost be as fast as my “go fast” bike. One of the selling points for me with the Revolt was it’s lack of suspension/weird handlebars/gimmicks.

HarborBandS

Worse yet... this custom offset bottom bracket requires a CUSTOM DISHED REAR WHEEL, per a few articles I’ve read out there. So you can’t easily upgrade or replace your wheels without getting the rear one re-dished.

That is so ridiculous. Total deal breaker.

shoota 

For me, if it were just ONE of any of things I could probably get past it. Re-dishing the rear wheel isn't that big of a deal from what I hear. But all the proprietary stuff adds up and I can't handle it.

HarborBandS

I like to upgrade and tweak my bikes over time, and do all of my own work. Anything on a bike model that I would need the assistance of a shop for is a nonstarter for me.