Cannondale Slate

cgfw201

So made a lot of mess with sealant and soapy water but got both tyres on and inflated last night. Rear one went straight on, front one needed a bit more persuasion.

Seems all good. Only concern is the hole from the glass yesterday was spurting out sealant whenever it got above 20psi. Hoping it's set or something overnight and plugs the hole properly.

Easier process than I thought it would be. Some people make it sound like the hardest process on the planet.

graeme_s-2

Glad to hear it, well done!

I found it pretty straight forwards. The only false start I had was attempting to inflate the tyres before putting the sealant in. I'd read some tutorials that suggest this, but those Panaracers leak a lot of air around some of the mould lines on the side walls (at least both of mine did) and wouldn't seat until I added sealant.

The morning after one of my tyres was still fine, but the other was half flat, which I found a bit worrying. I pumped it up again and it's been fine ever since.

Fingers crossed your hole will seal up nicely with sealant. If it won't, then I guess you could try repairing it with a tubeless worm.

cgfw201

Is there a list of Slate friendly tyres out there anywhere? Definitely need something a bit more grippy for the winter bridleway mud situation.

As far as I can see it's either the stock panaracers or
- Schwalbe G-One - tubeless but 35mm so a bit narrower than stock
- Surly Knard - mixed reports on if can be run tubeless or not?
- WTB horizon - look pretty similar to stock tyres?

Any other recommendations?

graeme_s-2

I think some Slate owners have been using the WTB Resolute which has some bigger knobs on

cgfw201

Graeme_S wrote:

I think some Slate owners have been using the WTB Resolute which has some bigger knobs on

Good shout, these ones right?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/wtb- ... prod162100

PS - first ride was an absolute blast at the weekend. Bike handled everything brilliantly, and was so much fun to be able to ride pretty much wherever i fancied after 6 years on the road.

graeme_s-2

Yep - I think they're the stock tyres that come fitted on the 2018 Slates (which aren't available in the UK)

cgfw201

Graeme_S wrote:

Yep - I think they're the stock tyres that come fitted on the 2018 Slates (which aren't available in the UK)

shame they are out of stock everywhere, not back in until february apparently

graeme_s-2

Boo

graeme_s-2

In fact - the photo of Cheshire Cat's slate further up this very page has WTB Resolutes on it.

Cheshire Cat

I really should pay more attention to this forum...Slate update. It is now one year old and still a bundle of fun, from road club runs to Adventure Cross events and this years Grinduro Scotland, a true all rounder.

Tyres seem to be the main topic of conversation, or lack of. Currently the best tyres available for the Slate are the WTB Resolutes, a good all round off road tyre, even in the mud (Monster Miles, which was incredibly wet and some silly mud fest thing in Henley yesterday). The G-Ones may be a better tyre for mostly road use, but they offer no grip even in dry conditions when used off road, that lack of grip is amplified when you try to brake late. The Resolutes do drag a bit more on the road, but not terribly so, wear is good too.

Most 650b tyres seem to be in the 45c/50c range, so unsuitable for the rear of the Slate, clearance is good with the Resolutes. Resolutes available on the German web sites.

Latest change has been a Hope Enduro rear wheel, the Formula hub that came standard knackered up and spare free-hub bodies are unavailable. The Hope rim is 23mm internal width, 28mm external, tyre sits nicely on the rim and clearance is not an issue.

We need to arrange a national Slate meet, they seem to be getting popular...now there’s a thought .

cgfw201

Cheshire Cat wrote:

I really should pay more attention to this forum...Slate update. It is now one year old and still a bundle of fun, from road club runs to Adventure Cross events and this years Grinduro Scotland, a true all rounder.

Tyres seem to be the main topic of conversation, or lack of. Currently the best tyres available for the Slate are the WTB Resolutes, a good all round off road tyre, even in the mud (Monster Miles, which was incredibly wet and some silly mud fest thing in Henley yesterday). The G-Ones may be a better tyre for mostly road use, but they offer no grip even in dry conditions when used off road, that lack of grip is amplified when you try to brake late. The Resolutes do drag a bit more on the road, but not terribly so, wear is good too.

Most 650b tyres seem to be in the 45c/50c range, so unsuitable for the rear of the Slate, clearance is good with the Resolutes. Resolutes available on the German web sites.

Latest change has been a Hope Enduro rear wheel, the Formula hub that came standard knackered up and spare free-hub bodies are unavailable. The Hope rim is 23mm internal width, 28mm external, tyre sits nicely on the rim and clearance is not an issue.

We need to arrange a national Slate meet, they seem to be getting popular...now there’s a thought .

Thanks for that German site tip, just found and ordered some from r2-bike.com. Seemed fairly legit.

fat daddy

cgfw201 wrote:

Thanks for that German site tip, just found and ordered some from r2-bike.com. Seemed fairly legit.

Well r2 bikes does seem legit ... #i jumped on the bandwagon and did the same

Sat at home watching the window and the parcel tracker for UK-mail/DHL ... and number 77 you are next ... and ... and .... and ....... Delivered signed by godsil ???

WTF .... really ... cant call ukmail, no number .... looks like I'll be putting a claim to get my money back now, I really dont see them getting them to me, its not been delivered to my road, nothing went up in at that time... I was sat watching .. bastid useless feckers

still my own fault, I purchased from a company that doesnt use DPD or is amazon .... they are THE only 2 companies that haven fooked up

fat daddy

EDIT !!!!!

NO NO NO NO NO ... UK MAIL didnt fook up ... I DID ..... sorry ukmail.

at the time I ordered from r2-bikes I also ordered a few dozen bottles of wine from another company ..... the same night, I get packaged and sent emails with confirmation numbers pretty much the same other than the last 2 numbers by the same shipping company

The tracking and text messages, were for the wine delivery and it was being delivered to a ware house ready to be delivered to me this weekend. ... why they sent me tracking delivery for that I dont know .... but the tyres are not yet missing .... and the wine is on route.

ha .. happy now ... and feel better for the unecessary rant !

daniel_b

fat daddy wrote:

EDIT !!!!!

NO NO NO NO NO ... UK MAIL didnt fook up ... I DID ..... sorry ukmail.

at the time I ordered from r2-bikes I also ordered a few dozen bottles of wine from another company ..... the same night, I get packaged and sent emails with confirmation numbers pretty much the same other than the last 2 numbers

The tracking and text messages, were for the wine delivery and it was being delivered to a ware house ready to be delivered to me this weekend. ... why they sent me tracking delivery for that I dont know .... but the tyres are not yet missing .... and the wine is on route.

ha .. happy now ... and feel better for the unecessary rant !

LOL, FD, fair play for coming back and fessing up

fat daddy

the upside being I wathced the tracker from work until there was 10 left on the list .. then jumped on the slate and gave it hell to get home in time to watch nothing arrive .. so

(1) I got a great afternoon workout
(2) the slate is awesome for jumbing up and down kerbs top get past traffic and taking shortcuts across grass

I dont get issues with the turn in but my riding is 50/50 Road and MTB .. and the slate front end feels like a 1990s mtb .. and the back feels like a road bike

my ride back to work consisted of me launching of the little ramps of dropped kerbs

cgfw201

The new tyres didn’t turn up last week, due today. Had an absolutely comical ride yesterday. Bit wetter than last week, bit muddier and a whole lot more slippery. Was like bambi on ice out there at points. Must have had about 15 crashes, all with nice soft landings fortunately. Loads of fun, but definitely found the limit of what can be done on the slick tyres.

Moonbiker

Some other narrowish knobble 650b tyres around are:

Terrene Elwood 27.5"
Compass 650B x 42 Pumpkin Ridge

Cheshire Cat

The Terrene Elwood are 47mm wide, whilst I am running 42mm on a wide rim with adequate clearance I think the Elwood’s may foul the chain stays.

fat daddy

well my resolutes have turned up .. havent put them on yet .. thats scheduled for the weekend ... decorate the bike with xmas tyres and have a mincepie

Cheshire Cat

Post a pic when they’re on.

fat daddy

Cheshire Cat wrote:

Post a pic when they’re on.

Will do !

edit: .. oh and cheers for your advice on PM ... I went with the large, its a perfect fit ... and by far the easiest bike to misbehave on !

Cheshire Cat

No worries, glad you like it.

RossoCorso34

I have a Slate at home, waiting for me. Can't wait to get out and play on it. What have people done with the gearing on the bike? Left it as is or made it more capable for off road climbs? It has the same ratios as my SuperSix and I'm not sure how good they would be when it gets lumpy off road.

Cheshire Cat

Mine is running SRAM Force 1x11, so quite a wide range of gear ratios, I know of a couple of folk that have fitted a compact in place of the 52/39 that the Shimano set-up comes with.

cgfw201

Quick Slate update.

It’s awesome. Done 500km now, and it’s exactly what I hoped it would be.

It now has some WTB Resolute tyres on, and it’s fast on the road, and copes with everything I’ve thrown at it off road too. So much fun having the freedom to go anywhere. Living in SW London, most rides have been 20km or so getting out of town on a mix of roads and trails, 20km playing round in the woods somewhere and 20km coming back. Have jumped on a train a couple of times too.

Sure normal CX bikes have same benefits, but can’t take the smile off my face when I’m on the Slate.

Cheshire Cat

Good to hear you’re putting it to good use, had mine over a year now and it still makes me grin like a loon. My current Resolutes are due swapping out, but trying to source a replacement pair is proving a pain...even the G Ones seem to be in short supply.

cgfw201

Having some mudguard issues.

I bought an SKS front guard, discovered that the supplied fixings were too small for the steerer tube, and then found the Lefty adapter which I got from Germany for an extra £20 on eBay.

This however is also too narrow, covering tubes from 34-36mm in diameter, whilst mine is nearer 40. Not sure if this is because I’ve got the Lefty Solo version rather than Lefty Oliver, but anyone got any suggestions where to get the right sized bit? Currently got £40 of mudguard and attachments sitting unused in a drawer…

cgfw201

Interesting to see GCN do a vid on 650b yesterday. Paid for by Zipp, but good watch. Wonder if this will help speed up greater availability of tyres.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlyuWSrbGyk&t=19s

The Reiver Returns

Hi

Thought I'd share a couple of pics of my Slate 105.
Wanted a 2 x set up and bought the 105 as I always had the intention of changing out some of the parts from the get go.



Replaced the Crankset with an FSA SL-K adventure Carbon 46/30 and cassette for a 11-30 Ultegra.



Gives a nice 1:1 climbing gear and the bike is so much better than the 52/36 11-28 orginal set up.
I really think Cannondale dropped the ball with those ratios.
The 11-30 cassette meant I could keep the short cage 105 rear mech with just a little bit of B screw adjustment saving all the expense and hassle of a medium / long cage to fit a 11-32 or 11-34.



Even though the frame says BB30 it actually BB30a - so I originally ordered the wrong FSA adaptors BB30 to BB386EVO instead of the BB30a ones shown on the bike.



Wasn't a big fan of the original seat, though do love some Fabric models. So changed out for a Fabric Line Elite and a Cannondale 29 SAVE carbon seat post. The original post is THE stiffest I've ever had the displeasure of sitting on.
A lot of helicopter tape, under the down tube, both seat and chain stays, various other chip magnet areas.

Lastly, and not shown, the tyres are now WTB Resolute tubeless with Mavic valves and Orange Endurance sealant.
I'm a big fan of Clement Xplor MSO tyres (now Donnelly) but it doesn't look since the re-brand they're going to do the MSO in 650bx42 tubless anymore, gutted!! They were my absolute favourite tyre in 700cx36 and was looking forward to using them on the Slate.

daniel_b

How does the Save 29 seatpost differ from a standard Save one?

Lovely looking bike btw.