plume_mtb
08-09-2007, 11:41 AM
I've been rocking my '06 1FG for two seasons now, raced it exclusively this year and the more I ride it the more I love it. People are always slagging my choice of a ride, fact is that in the trendy single speed world two things aren't cool: riding a Cannondale and using small wheels. To both these ideas I say POSH.
Where does this bike fit into the single speeding world you may ask? I think I've figured it out. First off, this isn't the bike if you're just getting into SSing or, more importantly not sure if SSing is what you're after. It's not a cheap bike by any means coming in at the $1399 price point, obviously there are many cheaper solutions out there. However, if you know you're a SSer, and you want a sweet trail/race bike this is it. Ok, it's not it if you have $5K to drop on a sweet custom Ti/steel bike but if you're like me and can't afford that but certainly want something better than the $500 single specific bikes out there, this is it.
Yeah, but it's got one of those headshocks on it right? Don't they suck? Absolutely not. I've been test riding a lot of different bikes lately, everything from heavy trail bikes to other XC oriented machines and I still prefer the lightness and stiffness of this fork over almost every thing I've tried. 80mm of travel isn't much I'll admit but for my riding style it's perfect - I ride it much like the boys with their fully rigids do popping and flicking it more than smashing it through rocks, drops, and roots. An all mountain fork it is not and if you're looking for the plushest XC fork, unfortunately I'd say this is not the one for you either. Stiffness and weight? Nothing else can touch it, the fox stuff comes close and is certainly plusher but I can feel the difference in the rigidity between both forks. My main gripe is that they are interesting to work on yourself, and after one successful but long attempt at rebuilding I'll simply send it off to C'dale in the future to avoid the headache of dealing with 88 needle bearings.
The geometry seems to be a little on the racey side of things but with a nice wide riser bar I've gotten the controls where I want them.
With my choice of components I have it weighing in at 23#s which certainly isn't ultra light, but not too heavy either. I like riding with UST tires which certainly add some rotating weight - the trade off is easy for me, I rarely think about flats of any kind. Some of the stock parts aren't really that great, I switched out the stock c'dale wheels for some Mavic Crossmax STs, upgraded to the avid bb7s, and quickly swapped the Truvativ cranks to the tried and true XT cranks w/ the outboard bearings. Those three upgrades made a big difference in my enjoyment, particularly the wheels as I've never had a nice set of non OEM wheels before, big difference.
This is my do everything bike. I can race it, trail ride it all day and do little maintenance on it, a plus for bike wrench who spends enough time working on bikes as it is. I like how this bike is always ready to go with no fuss. Same thing is true with all SSs I suppose.
So if you're looking for that middle of the road price point SS specific machine definitely check out the 1FG. I can't say enough good things about it. I look forward to seeing the 29er w/ the lefty but I hope they keep the standard 26" wheel version around as well. While my love affair with all things Cannondale is not nearly as strong as it once was (I just bought my first f/s bike, NOT a c'dale!) I still love their hard tails and I think they have the best XC racing fork on the market. Give it a shot.
Where does this bike fit into the single speeding world you may ask? I think I've figured it out. First off, this isn't the bike if you're just getting into SSing or, more importantly not sure if SSing is what you're after. It's not a cheap bike by any means coming in at the $1399 price point, obviously there are many cheaper solutions out there. However, if you know you're a SSer, and you want a sweet trail/race bike this is it. Ok, it's not it if you have $5K to drop on a sweet custom Ti/steel bike but if you're like me and can't afford that but certainly want something better than the $500 single specific bikes out there, this is it.
Yeah, but it's got one of those headshocks on it right? Don't they suck? Absolutely not. I've been test riding a lot of different bikes lately, everything from heavy trail bikes to other XC oriented machines and I still prefer the lightness and stiffness of this fork over almost every thing I've tried. 80mm of travel isn't much I'll admit but for my riding style it's perfect - I ride it much like the boys with their fully rigids do popping and flicking it more than smashing it through rocks, drops, and roots. An all mountain fork it is not and if you're looking for the plushest XC fork, unfortunately I'd say this is not the one for you either. Stiffness and weight? Nothing else can touch it, the fox stuff comes close and is certainly plusher but I can feel the difference in the rigidity between both forks. My main gripe is that they are interesting to work on yourself, and after one successful but long attempt at rebuilding I'll simply send it off to C'dale in the future to avoid the headache of dealing with 88 needle bearings.
The geometry seems to be a little on the racey side of things but with a nice wide riser bar I've gotten the controls where I want them.
With my choice of components I have it weighing in at 23#s which certainly isn't ultra light, but not too heavy either. I like riding with UST tires which certainly add some rotating weight - the trade off is easy for me, I rarely think about flats of any kind. Some of the stock parts aren't really that great, I switched out the stock c'dale wheels for some Mavic Crossmax STs, upgraded to the avid bb7s, and quickly swapped the Truvativ cranks to the tried and true XT cranks w/ the outboard bearings. Those three upgrades made a big difference in my enjoyment, particularly the wheels as I've never had a nice set of non OEM wheels before, big difference.
This is my do everything bike. I can race it, trail ride it all day and do little maintenance on it, a plus for bike wrench who spends enough time working on bikes as it is. I like how this bike is always ready to go with no fuss. Same thing is true with all SSs I suppose.
So if you're looking for that middle of the road price point SS specific machine definitely check out the 1FG. I can't say enough good things about it. I look forward to seeing the 29er w/ the lefty but I hope they keep the standard 26" wheel version around as well. While my love affair with all things Cannondale is not nearly as strong as it once was (I just bought my first f/s bike, NOT a c'dale!) I still love their hard tails and I think they have the best XC racing fork on the market. Give it a shot.