Good no nonsense and no fluff descriptions and reviews. Looking forward to the full review of the 'dale. I remember the first Lefty fork MTB that Cannondale produced. In fact, I'm so old I remember when Cannondale only produced bike accessories and no bikes. I used to ride their MTB shoes back in the day. Keep up the good videos!
I did a two-piece review (written and video) that showed the original Lauf fork was pretty ineffective on washboard... small bumps, it was fine, but I did not like it's pogo stick like rebound... zero way to control that.
Really intrigued by this Niner MCR, its definitely a unique bike. I think that is getting real close to the perfect setup for cycling in the Ohio/Michigan area.
There is another video on TH-cam, where the presenter compared the new Cannondale Topstone to his mid 90's Cannondale rigid hardtail and was surprised that both had almost the exaxt same geometry! ;) So after 25 years we are back to square one. And the old RockShox Mag21 fork with 63mm has double the travel of the new Lefty! My new year's project: convert my old 90's hardtail to a 1x11 dropbar gravelbike on the cheap. :D
I think I provided enough information that could help form some riding comparison opinions, but I'm saving my thoughts for the full reviews... the Niner MCR 9 RDO review is already online. A proper riding comparison would be good but the Niner is leaving for Niner HQ in a few days. Sorry! One thing to remember, most of these riding comparison reviews are pure click bait rubbish... that sort of thing is very subjective.
@@GravelCyclist Appreciate the reply. I like your channel and value your opinion. I do understand that a comparison is going to be subjective. There's no shortage of 'data' on both these bikes, so I guess I was looking forward to how it translates to an experienced rider like yourself. Wasn't, am not trying to be rude. Too much of that on this website already. My apologies if it came off that way.
Thanks for the vid. Im please I saw both bikes side by side, the Niner does it for me with the 700c wheels, I think 650b will just look slightly too small for my 36 inch leg, which is a shame, as if they offered the Topstone 3 in 700c, this would be the bike I would buy!
Writing this @01:30 when the notion that these bikes are not MTB, well yeah they are not modern MTB which looks more like engine less dirtbikes but they certainly look a lot like good old MTB from the 90s geo wise. If you remember the too had very short toptubes and long stems, and now even the chainstays are of similar length to the old mtbs. There is only so much a bike designer can do with a bike after all. Now almost done with the clip but it seems to me that the Topstone is the more popular gravel bike of these two, seen plenty of them on the roads in swe but have yet to the Niner.
Good unbiased review of controversial products. Both of them will find plenty of buyers. How would these bikes compare to a rigid bike with high volume 650b tires?
Big volume 700c or 650b tyres at low pressure would definitely accomplish a lot of what these bikes are designed for, but without a ton of extra weight. I reviewed the Otso Waheela C mostly riding 700c x 50mm GK SK's, that was a super bike bike and I steamrolled of the worst stuff. I have a featured bike appearing soon from 2013! that you will find appealing.
Thanks for a very good comparison of these bikes 😊👍 If you have 700c wheels on the Topstone, what kind of tyreclearance is there in the rear? Did you by any chanse measure that?
A friend of mine reviewed the YBB, I noticed it seem to bob up and down continually when he rode along. I never did read his review, but I think that would be a little distracting to me... or maybe I wouldn't notice it? I'd definitely be open to review the bike at some point.
Dear John, in advance, congratulations for the channel. Let me ask you a question: I have 01 Cannondale Topstone Carbon 4 and would you like to hear from someone experienced as a colleague to assure me that the FOX Racing Shox32 SC AX 3Pos-Adj FIT4 Fork - 2021 is compatible with this bike?
Nice comparison. I suppose those with a sheep mentality won't like them but for the engineering inclined the benefits are huge. Especially if you're going to be riding for more than a couple of hours. Fixing punctures/tyres on the lefty really wouldn't need the wheel to be removed either. Big plus. Also The Topstone was Ted Kings choice for his 310 mile North to South gravel ride.
9:55 I heard the topstone has a 5mm or so rear rim offset vs std a wheelset? Curious if you can confirm this? 6:30 13mm travel :) You correctly state 30 other times in the video.
6mm is the offset on the Topstone rear. You may want to talk to Cannondale, because they've been informing everyone the Kingpin rear end has 30mm of travel, but I assume that is factoring in seatpost flex, stays and so on. I have no way of measuring, but I suspect the 13mm figure is just for the stays, etc.
@@GravelCyclist A friend of mine has the Topstone and he is disappointed by the Kingpin. It flexes according to riders weight but he is too light for any measurable flexing. Maybe 5mm max. in his case.
I just cant get behind the Lefty fork, and I feel like the rear suspension on the Niner may be overkill. Give me the Kingpin rear with the Fox AX in front and I'm sold... But i've got a feeling like one of the other big brands is going to come out with that exact dream bike in the next couple of years.
Nice comparison. Can you do one between the Topstone Lefty and a comparable Specialized Diverge? I'm thinking about buying one of these two for next season. Any advice will be appreciated!
@@GravelCyclist One day perhaps! That would be a cool comparison though if you can get your hands on them. I've never ridden either, which would you rather choose?
That comparison would be quite futile. None of these bikes are available for the foreseeable future. Rose Bikes and Canyon have surpassed 46 weeks waiting time. Specialized gave up. We live in interesting times. :D
I have removed the wheel one time to poke around on the cassette, but will be receiving some high zoot wheels to run on the bike for the review soon... I will keep everyone posted if anything strange is found in the review. I've already found something annoying about the stock wheelset that I'm saving for the review...
Corey, the non riding scenes are Salomon trail running shoes, Speedcross 3 to be exact, no cleats. I don't trail run! The MTB shoes, those are the Northwave Extreme, which may be floating around somewhere, but have been discontinued. I own a few pairs :)
Way more bike than I need. Still riding a 2000 Trek 8500 I paid $160 for about 6 months ago. $160 might be enough to buy a pair of brake rotors on one of these bikes and that's about it. Being an avid cyclist, I can always appreciate the awesomeness of modern bike tech but I still love my old Trek.
Iv owned a lefty for years and the only reason i switched was because certain maintenance services had to be done at a cannondale ser. dept. and would take sometimes over a month.. it is stiffer than anything you wil ride though but to me not worth it.
The Niner is heavy and expensive. Why not just buy a full suspension MTB instead? You can put an aerobar on it for road use. The Niner doesn't seem to make much sense.
Why? At that high price point of the bikes you have to see the bikes like a Porsche which has to be dropped at the car dealer once a year for scheduled review and maintenance. :)
![เปิดบ้าน โคตรสวย ป๋องกพล รู้จักตั้งนาน เพิ่งรู้ว่ารวย!!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tmgCF_2HfYI/mqdefault.jpg)
Good no nonsense and no fluff descriptions and reviews. Looking forward to the full review of the 'dale. I remember the first Lefty fork MTB that Cannondale produced. In fact, I'm so old I remember when Cannondale only produced bike accessories and no bikes. I used to ride their MTB shoes back in the day. Keep up the good videos!
Thanks Nick!
I love my Cannondale hardtail 29er with carbon lefty so I know I'd love the Topstone 3!
I agree with you climbing assessment on the MCR. I lock out the front shock when i climb but, the bike climbs really well while one is seated.
I love how fast these bikes descend, much safer and so much fun!
@@GravelCyclist The wonders of front suspension! Whowuddathought... :D)
Been waiting for this one
Supposedly the Lauf forks work really well for the small bumps too since it triggers faster. Maybe worth a try?
I did a two-piece review (written and video) that showed the original Lauf fork was pretty ineffective on washboard... small bumps, it was fine, but I did not like it's pogo stick like rebound... zero way to control that.
@@GravelCyclist Thanks, I'll go find that one!
The Lauf has one big problem: it is BUTT UGLY!!
Really intrigued by this Niner MCR, its definitely a unique bike. I think that is getting real close to the perfect setup for cycling in the Ohio/Michigan area.
For the right area / rider, the MCR is a superb bike.
There is another video on TH-cam, where the presenter compared the new Cannondale Topstone to his mid 90's Cannondale rigid hardtail and was surprised that both had almost the exaxt same geometry! ;)
So after 25 years we are back to square one. And the old RockShox Mag21 fork with 63mm has double the travel of the new Lefty! My new year's project: convert my old 90's hardtail to a 1x11 dropbar gravelbike on the cheap. :D
Remember the old adage in cycling... what's old is new again!
Appreciate you putting these two together, was hoping for some riding comparison feedback.
I think I provided enough information that could help form some riding comparison opinions, but I'm saving my thoughts for the full reviews... the Niner MCR 9 RDO review is already online. A proper riding comparison would be good but the Niner is leaving for Niner HQ in a few days. Sorry! One thing to remember, most of these riding comparison reviews are pure click bait rubbish... that sort of thing is very subjective.
@@GravelCyclist Appreciate the reply. I like your channel and value your opinion. I do understand that a comparison is going to be subjective. There's no shortage of 'data' on both these bikes, so I guess I was looking forward to how it translates to an experienced rider like yourself. Wasn't, am not trying to be rude. Too much of that on this website already. My apologies if it came off that way.
No need to apologize, your message was just fine. I appreciate you chiming in.
Thanks for the vid. Im please I saw both bikes side by side, the Niner does it for me with the 700c wheels, I think 650b will just look slightly too small for my 36 inch leg, which is a shame, as if they offered the Topstone 3 in 700c, this would be the bike I would buy!
Writing this @01:30 when the notion that these bikes are not MTB, well yeah they are not modern MTB which looks more like engine less dirtbikes but they certainly look a lot like good old MTB from the 90s geo wise. If you remember the too had very short toptubes and long stems, and now even the chainstays are of similar length to the old mtbs. There is only so much a bike designer can do with a bike after all.
Now almost done with the clip but it seems to me that the Topstone is the more popular gravel bike of these two, seen plenty of them on the roads in swe but have yet to the Niner.
Great info, thanks!
Good review
Good unbiased review of controversial products. Both of them will find plenty of buyers.
How would these bikes compare to a rigid bike with high volume 650b tires?
Big volume 700c or 650b tyres at low pressure would definitely accomplish a lot of what these bikes are designed for, but without a ton of extra weight. I reviewed the Otso Waheela C mostly riding 700c x 50mm GK SK's, that was a super bike bike and I steamrolled of the worst stuff. I have a featured bike appearing soon from 2013! that you will find appealing.
Thanks for a very good comparison of these bikes 😊👍
If you have 700c wheels on the Topstone, what kind of tyreclearance is there in the rear? Did you by any chanse measure that?
I may measure 700c clearance when I publish the Topstone review, thanks!
Both look good , Think the Topstone looks pretty cool actually . The new slate
I agree, I really like the Topstone.
Be curious to see how this compares to the Moots YBB with the front suspension and it's TI frame.
A friend of mine reviewed the YBB, I noticed it seem to bob up and down continually when he rode along. I never did read his review, but I think that would be a little distracting to me... or maybe I wouldn't notice it? I'd definitely be open to review the bike at some point.
I'd love to see the Routt 45 YBB reviewed as well JOM!
Yeah the Routt 45 YBB would be cool as would reviewing the Bombtrack Hook ADV with 27.5x2.4(max for the mrp fork) tires in the front & 2.2 rear.
Dear John, in advance, congratulations for the channel. Let me ask you a question: I have 01 Cannondale Topstone Carbon 4 and would you like to hear from someone experienced as a colleague to assure me that the FOX Racing Shox32 SC AX 3Pos-Adj FIT4 Fork - 2021 is compatible with this bike?
Tech info is solid, fair and balanced for both bikes, but what colours are they available in, not sure about that green MCR ?
Best to check the website for both companies and take a look around. As a reviewer, you don't always get a colour choice in the media bike that lands.
Nice comparison. I suppose those with a sheep mentality won't like them but for the engineering inclined the benefits are huge. Especially if you're going to be riding for more than a couple of hours. Fixing punctures/tyres on the lefty really wouldn't need the wheel to be removed either. Big plus.
Also The Topstone was Ted Kings choice for his 310 mile North to South gravel ride.
I forgot about puncture fix for the Lefty, nice observation. Ted King could ride anything for his rides haha.
9:55 I heard the topstone has a 5mm or so rear rim offset vs std a wheelset? Curious if you can confirm this?
6:30 13mm travel :) You correctly state 30 other times in the video.
6mm is the offset on the Topstone rear. You may want to talk to Cannondale, because they've been informing everyone the Kingpin rear end has 30mm of travel, but I assume that is factoring in seatpost flex, stays and so on. I have no way of measuring, but I suspect the 13mm figure is just for the stays, etc.
@@GravelCyclist A friend of mine has the Topstone and he is disappointed by the Kingpin. It flexes according to riders weight but he is too light for any measurable flexing. Maybe 5mm max. in his case.
I just cant get behind the Lefty fork, and I feel like the rear suspension on the Niner may be overkill. Give me the Kingpin rear with the Fox AX in front and I'm sold... But i've got a feeling like one of the other big brands is going to come out with that exact dream bike in the next couple of years.
The Lefty is supposed to be lighter and have less stiction. It does limit wheel choices.
David Mansfield I’m sure it’s great but I’d never be able to accept it for how it looks.
Nice comparison. Can you do one between the Topstone Lefty and a comparable Specialized Diverge? I'm thinking about buying one of these two for next season. Any advice will be appreciated!
Sorry, the Topstone has been returned to Cannondale and I don't have a Diverge at my disposal.
@@GravelCyclist One day perhaps! That would be a cool comparison though if you can get your hands on them. I've never ridden either, which would you rather choose?
That comparison would be quite futile. None of these bikes are available for the foreseeable future. Rose Bikes and Canyon have surpassed 46 weeks waiting time. Specialized gave up.
We live in interesting times. :D
I thought the C-dale rear wheel had to be dished to one side rendering a “regular wheel swap” useless.
I have removed the wheel one time to poke around on the cassette, but will be receiving some high zoot wheels to run on the bike for the review soon... I will keep everyone posted if anything strange is found in the review. I've already found something annoying about the stock wheelset that I'm saving for the review...
how would you mount the topstone on a bike rack ? you can't attach the frame because its carbon, and you can't attach the front fork... 🤔
Sea Sucker is the only rack I would use, maybe they have an adapter. Barring that, I throw my bikes into the car, no exceptions.
@@GravelCyclist yeah its just not an option when I bring my bike on a road trip and the car is full of suitcases and stuff.
Jom,
Would love to know what shoes you're wearing in this video. Are those cleated? I've been looking for a shoe exactly like that. Thanks!
Corey, the non riding scenes are Salomon trail running shoes, Speedcross 3 to be exact, no cleats. I don't trail run! The MTB shoes, those are the Northwave Extreme, which may be floating around somewhere, but have been discontinued. I own a few pairs :)
Way more bike than I need. Still riding a 2000 Trek 8500 I paid $160 for about 6 months ago. $160 might be enough to buy a pair of brake rotors on one of these bikes and that's about it. Being an avid cyclist, I can always appreciate the awesomeness of modern bike tech but I still love my old Trek.
Good stuff, whatever works!
Iv owned a lefty for years and the only reason i switched was because certain maintenance services had to be done at a cannondale ser. dept. and would take sometimes over a month.. it is stiffer than anything you wil ride though but to me not worth it.
Cannondale could have made such a beautiful bike if they used there headshok. Marketing I guess.
You can't use old, proven technology on brand new bikes. You need to use new, exotic stuff to convince prospective buyers.
The Niner is heavy and expensive. Why not just buy a full suspension MTB instead? You can put an aerobar on it for road use. The Niner doesn't seem to make much sense.
The Niner MCR 9 RDO is a niche bike, certainly not for all.
Victor Frankenstein would have definitely appreciated this type of (bicycles) 🚲
Ugly, sensitive and expensive.
They're definitely not for everyone. Both bikes have grown on me, but they're odd looking when placed next to a regular bike.
Ugly?You're blind as Stevie Wonder dude...
Gary Mówałt 🤣
John what? Maybe you don’t have the money...😂
The extra maintenance on these bikes is a turn off.
I totally understand.
@@GravelCyclist I do all my own maintenance, just wondering if the extra suspension is worth the cost and time. Take care.
@@fenderperry Maybe with the right tools? No idea what suspension bits and so on cost.
Why? At that high price point of the bikes you have to see the bikes like a Porsche which has to be dropped at the car dealer once a year for scheduled review and maintenance. :)
@@GravelCyclist right
Yeah look just get a MTB, both of these are a bit redic.
Why do people have to be displeased about alternative bike designs? This is a bicycle, they bring joy to people.
@@GravelCyclist to me once you add shocks you add bulk maintenance and you'll still have comfort issues in single tracks etc.