Cannondale Lefty

jonno789

My boss at work has a Cannondale Turine bike with the lefty fork. It's a lovely bike but I am sure I read somewhere that Cannondale was recalling all off the lefty forks. If so whats wrong with them? Must admit I have always thought that the wheel might snap off if you hammered it to hard on a trail

joed05

its in the new MBUK mag

jonno789

thought it was but cant seem to find it again. Do you know whats the matter with them? is he safe riding it. Although a couple off weeks with out the boss could be good

the_prophet

its only a few of the forks that were effected, could be worth checking the cannondale site.

they are super stiff forks and can take a lot of abuse, alot stronger and stiffer than you'd think from looking at them. i've got one on the front of my prophet and i've had no issues at all.

Donn

Have a look at :

http://www.dirtragmag.com/web/news-article.php?ID=927

has a list of bikes and leftys being recalled

prophet_1000

I have a prophet 1000 with a lefty MAX 140 spv I jump the bike send it through rock gardens (probably stuuf I shouldn't) and it is now 2 years old and when I stripped it to service it it still looked like new inside!! it has never failed in is very stiff, The ONLY problem you may have is your mates taking the mick out of it, saying you can't ride in a straight line.

Hope this helps

prophet_1000

www.27gears.com

dirtbiker100

m-m-m-m-mega bump

Prowlus

You know . I was actually looking at a old 2006 rush that had a lefty before I came across my Prophet 4 . Both were equally priced at that the time but I chose the P4 because, It looked coventional (and it was current year) I was kinda scared of riding a 1 legged fork .
Is riding a lefty more counter balancing since the weight is all on one end? and can I upgrade my P4 to one?

dirtbiker100

I've had a quick ride on my mates prophet which has a lefty and if you don't look down you can't really tell its only got one leg. He keeps trying to use it as an excuse for going off the track but you can't tell the difference. Only problem is taking the front wheel off to put the bike in the car is a REAL pain. He's thinking at some point of getting normal forks for the reason of putting the bike in the car

the_prophet

surely easier to just take the back wheel off instead.....

thats what i do anyway

danslesud

http://www.zapiks.com/ouch-.html

dirtbiker100

It won't fit in if you take off the rear wheel. the handlebars fit down the rear footwells and the length of the car is perfect for the remaining length of a mtb. i can fit my bmx in the same way but without taking off either wheel.

prophet_1000

LOL dirtbiker100, personally I would never replace the lefty with a conventional fork just because it may fit in my car easier. how about a roof rack or rear carrier? I have never even taken my front wheel off my bike. I would be worried about constantly unscrewing the allen bolt and then torquing it back up often and causing the threads to wear and eventually work loose.

If a roof or car rack is not an option and the expense of swopping all components (hub, fork, headset 1.1/8, stem,) is within reason, by all means tell him to replace with a conventional fork

Prowlus, if you let go of the handle bars when your stood at a stand still the bars tend to turn to the left, but while out on the trail it tracks perfectly straight and no compensation for the lefty is needed. You can upgrade/ downgrade (which ever side of the fence you sit on)
but as with changing to a conventional fork there is lots of expense, probably better to wait it out and replace the whole bike after a few years, Lets face it theres always a new bike out each year that you try to justify to the Missus and bang on about to your trail buddies.

I think everybody around 2005 and 2006 was scared of the lefty and I think Cannondale not offering a choice of conventional or Lefty really screwed things up for themselves and are now paying for it with low turn over, the new Carbon Rush's do look awesome though and if I didnt already have a cannondale would think of having one as second bike.

www.27gears.com

prophet_1000

danslesud, great video (Thats Gotta hurt!!!)

Thats gonna make me check the security of my fork top cap more often.

nice one

www.27gears.com

russ0228

prophet_1000 wrote:

I have never even taken my front wheel off my bike. I would be worried about constantly unscrewing the allen bolt and then torquing it back up often and causing the threads to wear and eventually work loos

here he advocates the greatness of the leftie.
have you heard the news that they have solved all the problems that have plaqued the problematic forks. as of 2009 the new replacement will be the new "rightie".

prophet_1000

Very good russ0228 LOL

Yeah I have seen the pictures of the Righty, Have you?

http://www.cannondalecommunity.com/gb/l ... tem=272389

Really NOT trying to advocate the Greatness of the lefty, although it has been a reliable fork for me personally. I was just trying to respond to Prowlus's questions of counter balancing and if he could fit one to his P4, And therefore offer help to another who asked for an opinion.

I guess working in a bike shop you get to see all the bike Idiots and Nutters who come in and try to talk bike/ components etc with you? Oh well theres always BikeRadar Forum to look at, to escape listening to these bike mad fools.

I work for a BMW dealership as a Diagnostic technician and see a lot of SAD car Idiots and Nutters, They think their car is the best thing since sliced bread and to them it probably is. Me, I love riding Mountain Bikes and talking Mountain Bikes!

What I'm really trying to ask you is:-

Is my fork SHIT?

Do you see a lot of broken Lefty's? and should I replace it and all the other components before they break?

Cheers

prophet_1000

(Paul)

prophet_1000

russ0228

P.S Have you ridden 7stanes? &

Is it worth the long drive up north?

:?:

Cheers

dirtbiker100

I have and I'm from Cheltenham and I can't wait to go again.

russ0228

no mate i was only winding you up.
there as nothing inherently wrong with forks as long as they are set to your weight they are really sweet riding forks. just prey they don't fail on you as cannondale has chosen 80aid to do the warranty work for them. they are about as much use as a willie flavored lolly pop. they are the reason we don't stock any of the cannondales with the leftie's. as i have also barked on about is the after care of lbs and 80 aid are the ones that are killing the brand. as you have noticed for this year britain hasn't stocked to many of the leftie equiped models mostly the "normal style" fork versions as that way if a warrenty does arrise it will be much easy to deal with for you and the lbs.
the good thing for all the people who do like cannondales bikes is that they had a huge restructure and fired all lot of people and let the right people take the company forward. these forward thinking ones have the common sence to know that their bikes were well over priced and have lowered the price on pretty much all the bikes.

p.s. take a trip tip 7 stannes you will love it

prophet_1000

Cheers russ0228

Definitly think Cannondales are over priced, glad I got my prophet 1000 for £1600 or would have been peaved. cheers for the advice

and thanks for the 7Stanes advice ( You to dirtbiker100)

www.27gears.com

milky_

Yup. There was a recall of Leftys sometime around the beginning of the year. Can't remember exactly what the fault was, but it was component related, and had already resulted in some rather nasty injuries. I used to have a CAAD5 frame and thought it was excellent; if not a tad overpriced.

There's a discussion topic about the Lefty problem here: http://ukmb.org.uk/index.php?topic=6206.msg77320#msg77320


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