Cannondale Lefty benefits

[b-unit]

Found this video.

 

Lefty has never really appealed to me, but this is quite interesting.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WlRqcAQr2w

 

(apologies if it has been posted)

Edited April 14, 2011 by b-unit

[Stevief]

Thats is ineteresting never liked the lefty but i have noticed at the races i do that 8 out of ten of the winners and top 3 finishes all ride leftys.

[nickc]

I have had 10 x MTB bikes over 12 years and can confirm that my Lefty is head and shoulders above anything else I have ridden.

 

Remember - Forks are for eating, Leftys are for racing.

[AndreZA]

Thats is ineteresting never liked the lefty but i have noticed at the races i do that 8 out of ten of the winners and top 3 finishes all ride leftys.

 

Because they were given them. Epic, world XC champ, world marathon champ and SA champs are all on 2 legged forks.

[Thug]

I swopped over to a Lefty on my 29er late last year and there is a definite noticeable improvement in ride quality and handling.

[Jaco-fiets]

Im a big Scott mtb fan but i have to admit since the cannondale flash came out i really really want one. This video just confirms it again.

 

Thanks B unit, you going to cost me money in the near future

[b-unit]

Jaco, just tell your wife its B-unit's fault...

[step777]

If the services isn't so expensive, then I'd still have mine

[Total Trek]

Have always looked like an awesome concept...

[The Drongo]

Sorry chaps.

 

But when he ensures that 'The COMPETITORS' fork is working properly, as it should, then come back to me.

[Hairy]

The way they bend and twist things and look for oohs and aahs when their prefered fork looks good then I immediately think of those Powerband adds

 

The idea of roller pin bearings and a square shaft makes some sense, but how do those bearings fair in the medium to long term?

[kosmonooit]

Servicing: Its not impossible to self service but certainly not for those not mechanically inclined or skilled, and you need special tools. Spares are hard to come by locally since even though the distributors stock them, that are not really keen to sell to kippies like me, and if they do the prices are bit on the hectic side. Thankfully I hooked up with a very helpful guy in the states is happy to give advice and send spares, you can even post him ur shock to sort out or upgrade. There are guys around here who do the servicing, I think JB does 'em and I have seen another in Midrand and CT.

 

Maintenance: You have to reset the roller races every now and again since they 'creep' but there is a procedure for that. And NB to lift the hood and grease the rollers often!!! If they run dry, that is when the whole thing snowballs. Yup I learnt the hard way.

 

Mechanically its an amazing design, very well thought out. The rollers run on hardened plates that don't really wear out but must be replaced if marked or pitted from corrosion. There are two plates each side of the rollers, the inner plates are a certain thickness so there is no play.

 

There is also a quite a range of Lefties now: length of travel, alloy or carbon, push button or remote lock out, Fox Internals, coil or air spring etc, it's maze if not a minefield! Any Lefty later than 2005 I think can have internals upgraded to the latest.

 

You can also fit a lefty on other that 1.5" steerers, you do get a range of adapters. You can buy a Lefty here retail Alloy I think is about R9k, or you can go the more tricky ebay route like I have done.

 

Yes they need TLC and they are not fit & forget

Edited April 14, 2011 by kosmonooit

[dman2]

Sorry chaps.

 

But when he ensures that 'The COMPETITORS' fork is working properly, as it should, then come back to me.

 

I agree the "The competitor" fork is f&^ked but lefty is still an awesome fork!

[Johan Bornman]

That oke is quite an operator. He's in a profession known as "pitchmen" - read Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw.

He's quite good.

 

Anyway, I doubt that the hapless Fox fork on there had anything wrong it it (other than it was damped and the Lefty not). What I do doubt is that flex is such a big issue. If there was such a lot of torque thrown at steering systems, we'd feel it in our hands and arms and we don't. If you doubt this, stand behind your bike standing on its hind wheel whilst you hold the handlebar. As a tjom to manipulate the wheel and ask yourself if you ever find forces like this when riding. It think the answer is no.

 

Yes, Lefties are stiffer but so what? Those roller bearings are horrible and have more stiction than bushings. When new, the bearings are bearable. When they age, they're terrible. They are susceptible to water damage. The seals on the lefty were designed by Cannondale's human resource manager's grandson. They comprise a rubber boot that fits over the fork leg top and bottom, and held in place by a cable tie. The top end acts like a funnel and the cable tie just helps to make the boot gape open and store water to drip-drip through.

 

The fork leg really has to fit over the gaiter at the top. It is OK for the gaiter to fit over the leg, at its lower end but not the top.

 

If my explanation isn't clear, try this experiment. Take a platic bag - any old checkers will do - and put a Lefty-sized stick inside. Now use a rubber band to keep the platic in place. Pour water down the stick leg and look at the water dripping into the bag, despite the rubber band.

 

If bushings really were such a problem, why don't fork companies just make their fork legs square and run them on rollers like Cannondale does. How about motorbike companies? Why not?

 

They don't make econonomcal sense. Expensive to manufacture, expensive to maintain and expensive to support. Those plates on which the roller bearings run are actually shims. Thy are available in various thicknesses so that you can fit a suitable one to eliminate play. This is expensive to manufacture, expensive to stock and expensive to fit.

 

Lefties are novel and quirky. I like it. I like Lefties and I'll buy one if I suffer from an irrational moment with too much cash at hand. But until now, that moment hasn't arrived and I'll find joy in playing with someone else's Lefty.

 

 

Baaaah.

[Capricorn]

if i may sum up your post JB.. (never do it justice of course.. but..) :

 

http://www.captainsquid.com/go/UniqueDemotivator.jpg

[kosmonooit]

Novel yes, but quirky? how so? I've had 5 years good service from a 2004 model DLR that did the Epic nogal, okay besides the seizure in Hogsback which was my negligence. And I could replace all the parts that got totalled (plates and races) - yes the plates serve as shims to get the right fit, but they are the bearing surfaces. If the needles were running on those milled flat surfaces on the Al fittings it surely wouldn't last long.

 

So the boot seal is not water tight. Water can infuse onto the lower surfaces and races. That's why you have to regularly snip that cable tie, pull the hood down and clean and re-grease 'daar onder'. You also need to look after the 'airfilter'.

 

No doubt if one follows the rules for major and minor servicing it will go on forever with no hassles. Bit like a diesel engined car.

 

If anyone wants docs on the range and maintenance of Lefties I got some on file here, can email them to you if you pm me. And if anyone has the Cannondale Lefty service manuals in pdf those would be highly appreciated by myself, Cannondale used to have them on their website but took them off because too much damage was being done by the self service brigade, so the story goes ..

Edited April 15, 2011 by kosmonooit