Manuel Fumic is no stranger to South African audiences with memorable performances in the Absa Cape Epic while Maxime Marotte has been a solid podium performer on the international XCO circuit for a number of years. We tracked down their race bikes at the team house ahead of the Stellenbosch World Cup.
Manuel Fumic’s Cannondale Scalpel-Si.
Manuel Fumic and Maxime Marotte are the national champions of Germany and France respectively. To celebrate this success, Cannondale has custom painted their Scalpel-Si frames with each rider’s national colours over a black base.
Maxime Marotte’s Cannondale Scalpel-Si.
The Cannondale team is sponsored by Shimano so, as you would expect, the drivetrain is a full Shimano affair. The shifters, cassettes, derailleurs, and cranks all coming from the XTR stable with the chain being borrowed from the Dura-Ace road catalogue. The brake set and rotors (180 mm front; 160 mm rear) are also Shimano’s range-topping XTR.
Maxime Marotte prefers Look pedals.
The team uses One Components chainguides.
The one anomaly is Fumic’s unbranded 38 tooth chainring where Marotte has a standard Shimano XTR chainring. The team explained that Shimano does not currently make a compatible single chainring bigger than 36 teeth, so they’ve had to make a plan for Fumic’s preferred 38T gearing.
Fumic’s blacked out 38 tooth chainring.
The Shimano XTR cranks have undergone the Stages treatment with a power meter embedded in the left crank arm. This data is supplied to a Stages Dash computer mounted on the handlebar.
Fumic’s left Stages XTR crank and XTR pedal.
And Stages Dash.
In the cockpit, personal preference sees some variation. Most notably the seat posts with Marotte electing a KS LEV CI with carbon body and lever providing 65 mm of vertical travel while Fumic choosing a lighter rigid carbon post from Enve. Both riders sit on a Prologo Dimension Nack saddle with a 143 mm width.
Maxime’s KS Lev CI dropper seatpost and lever.
Fumic’s handlebar and stem configuration is slightly bigger with a 730 mm Enve bar and 90 mm stem versus Marotte’s 720 Enve bar and 80 mm stem. There is also a difference in pedal preference with Fumic clipping into a pair of Shimano XTR pedals and Marotte using Look’s X-Track pedals.
The front suspension is uniquely Cannondale with a Lefty 2.0 Carbon. The rear travel is controlled by an unlabelled RockShox shock. The team take their suspension set up seriously, sending the forks to the specialist Lefty tuning company Eighty-Aid in Europe for servicing after each World Cup race.
Enve M50 carbon rims are laced to a DT Swiss 240 rear hub with a Lefty hub doing duty in the front. The team use Schwalbe tyres, choosing the Thunder Burt 2.25″ for the Stellenbosch course. Fumic uses Enve’s rim strip to further protect the tyres from damaging snake bites.
Specification List:
- FrameCannondale Scalpel-Si (Size medium)
- ForkLefty 2.0 carbon
- ShockRockShox
- RimsEnve M50
- HubsFront: Lefty / Rear: DT Swiss 240
- TyresSchwalbe Thunder Burt 2.25
- HandlebarEnve carbon (Fumic: 730mm / Marotte: 720mm)
- GripsFumic: ESI Grips / Marotte: Prologo
- StemExtraLite (Fumic: 90mm / Marotte: 80mm)
- HeadsetLefty
- SeatpostFumic: Enve carbon / Marotte: KS Lev CI
- SaddlePrologo Dimension Nack
- BrakesShimano XTR
- Brake RotorsShimano XTR (180mm / 160mm)
- ShiftersShimano XTR
- Rear DerailleurShimano XTR
- CassetteShimano XTR (Fumic 11-42 / Marotte 11-40)
- CranksShimano XTR with Stages powermeter
- ChainringFumic: Unbranded / Marotte: Shimano XTR
- ChainShimano Dura-Ace
- PedalsFumic: Shimano XTR / Marotte: Look X-Track Race Carbon
- Bike ComputerStages Dash
- WeightFumic: 10.1 kg / Marotte: 10.2 kg
Looks super fast !!