Cannondale heads to MTB World Cup with single-crown Lefty fork, 900-gram frame

Cannondale’s one-sided Lefty mountain bike fork has a new look ahead of round two of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup this weekend in Albstadt, Germany.

The Lefty Ocho fork is a single-crown version of the single-sided fork that’s been in Cannondale’s lineup for 18 years. With the updated design, Cannondale says the fork is 250 grams lighter than the previous Lefty Carbon. The Ocho Carbon fork’s weight is an impressive 1,446 grams — a little under 3.2 pounds. The Ocho Alloy is 1,735 grams. All versions have 100mm of travel.

Does it still have the same stiffness as the old dual-crown design? Cannondale says it is still the stiffest World Cup XC fork it has tested — at least nine percent stiffer than the others.

As was the case with other Lefty forks, the Ocho employs needle bearing to keep the action smooth. This new model has a new, three-sided Delta Cage needle-bearing assembly, which has fewer bearings than previous Lefty forks. Again, Cannondale claims a significant performance advantage over competitors, 141 percent less static friction than comparable forks.

The internals are revamped too, with the new Chamber Damper. To develop this new damper, Cannondale tested 55 different tunes before settling on a final product. There are six clicks of compression damping and 23 clicks for rebound adjustment. The top-of-the-line fork also comes with a handlebar-mounted, cable-actuated lockout lever.

The Lefty Ocho will be available on Cannondale’s new F-Si hardtail race bike.

The new carbon fiber Hi-Mod version of the F-Si race bike tips the scales at 900 grams, 80 grams less than the previous race bike. The Standard Mod carbon frame is 1,100 grams.

With a 69-degree head tube angle, it’s a bit more relaxed than the average hardtail race bike. The front end is stretched out with Cannondale’s “Out Front” geometry, giving the bike a modern feel with a shorter stem. The 29er also features particularly short chain stays at 427mm but it still can fit 2.35-inch tires.

Reminiscent of Cannondale’s Synapse endurance road bike, the F-Si has an integrated seat binder for more deflection while seated. It also has those slender Save seat stays to absorb bumps, whether you’re standing or seated.

The F-Si bikes start at $2,199, with the top-of-the-line model going for $8,999. All but one of the seven models come with the Lefty Ocho. Size XS bikes come with 27.5-inch wheels.