staehpj1

I am considering buying a new trail bike. I have some brand loyalty to Cannondale and have been looking at the Habit 3 models. I am debating about whether I want to spring for the carbon model. Anyone with experience with either or both care to comment on them?

I trail ride every day on local trails with only short hills and ledges, but lots of roots and twisty stuff. Some of the trails are fairly technical, but there are no sustained climbs. We also have some flowy trails not too far away, but I ride there less frequently. I do expect to travel more with the bike to my old home and to other places with actual mountains. I'd like to get back to Moab and other western destinations as well as the MD, PA, and WV areas where I rode and raced in my younger years (I am 72 now).

veganbikes

I would go carbon, better ride and more durable. I haven't ridden that particular model so I couldn't say whether it is good or bad. Though looking a the specs the carbon model has Fox on it and I think their stuff is really excellent. I don't know about dropper though but I have never really been a fan of the TranzX droppers but haven't had any time with Cannondale in house stuff.

staehpj1

If I cheap out and don't go carbon I might include a few other models for consideration. I am confused by the differences in the Habit 3, 4, and 5 models. As an old timer who raced rigid bikes back in the day and later bought a hardtail for casual trail riding, I don't know much about the component choices. Any thoughts on how much I will gain at the various spending levels? Bear in mind that I and a still fairly aggressive 72 year old trail rider. I like to ride natural terrain and prefer it to be a little technical, but do enjoy bombing the ocasional long fast fire road descent when I travel somewhere that has them. I suspect I might be blown away by how nice any of them are.

I do have some idea of how nice suspension can be. I raced off road motorcycles in a few different disciplines back when the long legged suspensions were evolving and into the time they got pretty good.

Extremeengineer

So everyone's line is drawn at a different point in the price/weight/performance hierarchy, but I would not drop below the 3, and my guess is the carbon version is going to be 10% lighter, which is a lot. Will the 4 and 5 function just fine, yes, I'm sure they will, but you are definitely going to be picking up weight and losing performance. I think the fork on the carbon 3 is really a much better fork, and I really like the Guide R brakes, I'd prefer all GX drivetrain, but the NX shifters aren't too far off, they just feel a little less positive to me, but I prefer them over the lower end Shimano stuff. The wheelsets on all of them, even the carbon, are pretty low end, so down the road you could save a lot of weight there and get a better hub (if POE matters to you), but at least the rims on the carbon 3 are known to be pretty durable.

Darth Lefty 

I don't have one but I did just recently buy a pretty nice aluminum bike - because I like the linkage, not because of the material. Prioritizing function.

Other than the frame material there are about two things on the Habit 3 that I think are substantially not as good as the 3 Carbon. They are the fork damper cartridge, and the rear/hub cassette system. These may not be that important to you and certainly won't stop you from enjoying a bike ride. There are many other slight changes to components that will take off a little weight or add a little more strength or whatever but they are all one-step changes, not anything to write about. I'd go for the cheaper one tbh

t2p

Are you considering new - used - or both ?

If you are going Cannondale - is a Scalpel an option ?

I know little about the current off road bikes - including Cannondale - but I’ve seen some neat looking Scalpels (they might be a few years old though ?)

one of my old off road friends rides an Ibis - that thing is really sweet - and weighs significantly less than most of the other current full suspension bikes I’ve seen

Steve B.

Something I had not considered when a buddy put a stick into his new carbon Specialized HT. He sent the frame to Calfee and for a nominal fee they repaired, painted and returned. It cost him a lot less then had this happened to an aluminum frame, which would have required a frame replacement at significantly higher cost. As well with my experience, lighter can be useful when riding tight single track where it’s a lot of brake, accelerate, brake, accelerate through all the turns. Lighter lets you get up to speed quicker and easier. Carbon is likely to be lighter.

prj71

I had a Cannondale Bad Habit. The chainstay cracked on it three times within a 4 year period. That ended my relationship with Cannondale forever. There is a reason over the years that they have been called Cracknfail.

As far as carbon is concerned (I have three carbon bikes)...It rides and pedals much better. Carbon frame aborbs trail chatter better than aluminum and doesn't flex as much as aluminum when powering down on the pedals.

prj71

The 4 and 5 have a poor front suspension fork and lower drivetrain components. The 3 gets you a better fork and somewhat better (SRAM NX) Drivetrain.

If I were to select a Habit out of the line up, I would go with the Carbon 2. It has a nice mix of decent components.

Darth Lefty 

I would think yes but XC bikes tend not to have downmarket options right now. The cheapest Scalpel is five bills. It also has the Lefty fork that only Cannondale will service - another brand like an Epic, Anthem, might be a better choice.

Other than that, Trail vs XC. The Scalpel is one of those XC bikes that the linkage design depends on the handlebar remote lockout for efficiency, so they can ignore anti-squat in favor of other functions. This is a valid approach for XC racing! and they are not alone, lots of other brands do too. But it does depend on actively using the lockout for long climbs or sprints, and is why things like Live Valve are invented. Most trail bikes (including the Ibis Ripley and Exie) are the other way around. They put the anti-squat near or over 100% for about the top half of travel. They have a climb switch on the shock but people forget to use it

https://linkagedesign.blogspot.com/2...t-29-2020.html (Habit)
https://linkagedesign.blogspot.com/2...lpel-2021.html (Scalpel - discusses lockout)
https://linkagedesign.blogspot.com/2...e-29-2022.html (Exie - this includes Scalpel curves on the comparisons)