Cannondale, Pinnacle, Carrera, Kona, opinions wanted

jayson

Im hopin to replace the carrera i had that i used for work next week when i get paid and ive got quite a list of potentials that i really cant decide between so im enlistin u guys here to help me decide.

Currently its between this Cannondale Trail SL2 from pauls cycles, Pinnacle Coldharbour 2.0 from Evans, the carrera fury from halfords and finally the Kona Blink from Merlin.

The cannondale, carrera and kona are all pretty much the same price with the pinnacle being a few quid more but better specced. I like the look of the cannondale but it bothers me a little that it comes with a fat 1.5" headtube/fork steerer and its only an RST fork i.e. not much cop and replacing it with somethin better may be complicated because of the non standard size. Other than that i cant see anythin else i couldnt live with on it.

The pinnacle is abit of an unknown at the mo, its well priced and better specced than the other 3 but its only available in a large size frame so i dont know if it will be too big for me or not, im hopin Evans can advise me when i go and have a chat with them this weekend.

Any opinions gladly taken onboard good or bad

.blitz

jayson wrote:

I like the look of the cannondale but it bothers me a little that it comes with a fat 1.5" headtube/fork steerer and its only an RST fork i.e. not much cop and replacing it with somethin better may be complicated because of the non standard size.

The SL has a rather industrial-looking spacer in the headtube so that it accepts a std 1 1/8" steerer & headset etc

Not a bad frame if you're thinking of building on it IMO.

jayson

.blitz wrote:

jayson wrote:

I like the look of the cannondale but it bothers me a little that it comes with a fat 1.5" headtube/fork steerer and its only an RST fork i.e. not much cop and replacing it with somethin better may be complicated because of the non standard size.

The SL has a rather industrial-looking spacer in the headtube so that it accepts a std 1 1/8" steerer & headset etc

Not a bad frame if you're thinking of building on it IMO.

Cheers blitz that is my thinking yeh, get a good frame and build on it as and when i need/can afford to.

Maybe im making assumptions wrongly but to me those forks look and sound very cheap and would have to go pretty soon unless they actually turn out to be ok but im not overly confident on that....

.blitz

As you say the forks are not the best but I think that with most Cannondales you are buying a kind of 'rolling chassis' unless you are spending £1000s.

Maybe you could negotiate with the shop and get them to fit some Toras or Recons before you buy the bike?

craigcmt

i bought a connondale trail sl 5 about 6 months ago ive upgraded everything on it now execpt the forks ive been to the moors a few times biking and i know the forks arent very good but they do the job the frame is nice and chunky and feels solid so i would defo recomend a cannondale if your thinking of doing it up tho i would advise going for a cheaper model trail coz the frames r exactly the same throughout the range

ry1978

I've been riding cannondales for about 10 years now and I can't speak highly enough of them. Buy the SL and run the fork until your ready to upgrade it.
I've got a 1 1/8 fork in a Jekyll frame which has the 1.5 steerer tube so it's not an issue getting a fork to fit, I used an FSA reducer headset. You could go for the full cannondale experience and get a headshok or lefty fork. My F800 has a lefty and I love it!