here's trouble - 2007 cannondales

[TitusTi]

Facts are however, it's a great platform! There are other good platforms as well. To be honest I'm waiting for the boys at Cannondale to bring out a 29'er to my spec's (or close at least), they already have a front shock capable of it (the Lefty Max, just shorten it to 110mm) and the correct platform, the carbon Rush, now I want a bloody 29'er from them! Does anyone have there email address (to forward this request)?

[rock]

ja and I'm waiting for Spez to make a 24" wheeled epic.....

[GoLefty!!]

I did say I've never ridden one' date=' but this is about the fact that the 'lefty' design seems to defy engineering logic.

 

Go Lefty implies that a car's front wheel is held in place by a McPherson strut located at the top only whereas in fact it is located at the bottom as well - otherwise it would not cope with fore-and-aft forces generated by braking, acceleration and even steering.

 

If the 'lefty' design was so brilliant, then why hasn't it been copied onto motorcycles?

 

 

[/quote']

 

 

A cars front wheels have to cop with different forces in different directions and a heck of a lot more weight. A car weighs 1000kg and bike and rider maybe 100kg.

Yes the car's mcpherson strut has a lower control arm. The Lefty has two  upper control arms. Ever notice the dual crown design holding the McStrut to the steerer tube.

The layout is different but the principal is the same. If the Lefty had it's pivots at the crown clamps it would be more obvious but for some things you actually need a little bit of lateral thinking...

 

And the Lefty type design has been copied onto Motorcycles. BMW have / had a bike that used a single sided fork and a lower control arm.

Also there was a 500cc MotoGP bike that experimented with a similar design. But packaging problems for the cooling system made the bike slow. A bicycle does not have these problems.

A swiss designer, Sbaro I think is hi sname made bikes and cars with hub less wheels and a the cars had a Lefty type suspension at each corner.

Some things are just ahead of their time...

 

A lower control is needed for cars and bikes because we're talking about a lot of mass moving very quickly. The cheapest way to achive the rigidity needed in these applications is too employ control arms.

A bicycle has very little weight and not moving nearly as quickly. For cars and motorbikes theres weight targets and packaging constraints that need to be considered besides cost which make an exact equivalent of Lefty in these application impractical. For a Bicycle theres a lot more design freedom.

But if somebody wanted to, they could design a cars front suspension to look similar to the layout used by a Lefty.

 

But following your logic, Steve, why dont' cars have suspension legs on in the inside and the outside of the wheel if a double sided fork is such a great idea?

 

 

TitusTi,

philistines indeed. I'm just intrigued to see that often, ignorance can be a point of view. All we can do is show them the light hey brother

 

BTW, re your quest for a Cannondale 29'er, There is a new bike in the range called the Caffeine 29. It's a hardtail 29'er using a travel restricted DLR2 Carbon or aluminium Lefty. A picture was posted earlier in this thread. It's the hardtail in the Team BareNaked colours.

There are plans for a Rush 29'er but it will depend on growth in this sector and currently, it's not growing. I reckon for your size farm yard gate of a bike frame [Gavin rides like a 23" or something silly] it would work out great for you . Only other bloke i kow who rides a frame as big as yours is was my Sani2C compadre!

 

[GoLefty!!]

ja and I'm waiting for Spez to make a 24" wheeled epic.....

 

 

why wait for that overpriced taiwanese knock off when you can order a custom Titus with 24" wheels.

engineered in arizona

 

 

[TitusTi]

It is not a 23", frankly I take offence to that. I can give you the technical drawing if you like? The basic chassis dimensions were based on the Gary Fisher Supercalibre hardtail (Large, not XL). Then we stretched the top tube slightly and steepened the head angle (to cut down on the wheelbase). And finally dropped the BB slightly when compared to other 29'ers. So what you have is a 29'er with a low centre of gravity and almost the same wheelbase as a normal GF hardtail, this makes it corner quite beautifully due to a larger contact patch and low weight, very flickable but incredibly stable in a straight line. There's still gonna be alot of experimentation with 29'er geometry but I think mine is about the best handling one around, except that I just want to tuck the head angle by another 0.3 of a degree.

[Francois]

Go Go Go GoLefty!! Cannondale rules. I am just wating for my Cannondale DVD to get to me. I believe once you have seen Cannondale's testing and develoment procedures you will never think of riding another make of bike. Not that I would anyway.

[GoLefty!!]

It is not a 23"' date=' frankly I take offence to that. I can give you the technical drawing if you like? The basic chassis dimensions were based on the Gary Fisher Supercalibre hardtail (Large, not XL). Then we stretched the top tube slightly and steepened the head angle (to cut down on the wheelbase). And finally dropped the BB slightly when compared to other 29'ers. So what you have is a 29'er with a low centre of gravity and almost the same wheelbase as a normal GF hardtail, this makes it corner quite beautifully due to a larger contact patch and low weight, very flickable but incredibly stable in a straight line. There's still gonna be alot of experimentation with 29'er geometry but I think mine is about the best handling one around, except that I just want to tuck the head angle by another 0.3 of a degree.[/quote']

 

 

Ok ok it's smaller than a 23" but it is huge.

Interesting how you and the Titus design team came upon that geometry and echo's the importance of low BB height to handling. Thats an element thats  lost on many......aka Marin..........feels like a bus.

[GoLefty!!]

Go Go Go GoLefty!! Cannondale rules. I am just wating for my Cannondale DVD to get to me. I believe once you have seen Cannondale's testing and develoment procedures you will never think of riding another make of bike. Not that I would anyway.

 

Would that be the DVD of the development of the Rush? If yes I've seen it and it is a briliant bit of film. played no part in my acquisition of a Rush though since I already had mine for about a monthbefore I  saw that.

[TitusTi]

It is not huge, it is in proportion! Yeah, I know what you mean though. I find the Maverick steers quite slowly to. I was just investigating the Caffeine 29'er now. Interesting, the angles look a bit odd to me though. It has a slacker head and seat tube when compared to my bike. And my bike's geometry is pretty much in between the Large and XL models.

[Francois]

Go Go Go GoLefty!! Cannondale rules. I am just wating for my Cannondale DVD to get to me. I believe once you have seen Cannondale's testing and develoment procedures you will never think of riding another make of bike. Not that I would anyway. smileys/smiley1.gif" align="middle" />

 

?

 

Would that be the DVD of the development of the Rush? If yes I've seen it and it is a briliant bit of film. played no part in my acquisition of a Rush though since I already had mine for about a monthbefore I? saw that.

 

 

 

Don't know the exact details, a friend of mine from Jhb told me about it and ha said he will send it to me when he can. Or else I will have to visit Cape Cycle Systems soon

[MintSauce]

Facts are however' date=' it's a great platform! There are other good platforms as well. To be honest I'm waiting for the boys at Cannondale to bring out a 29'er to my spec's (or close at least), they already have a front shock capable of it (the Lefty Max, just shorten it to 110mm) and the correct platform, the carbon Rush, now I want a bloody 29'er from them! Does anyone have there email address (to forward this request)?[/quote']

 

I can't believe my eyes.....TRAITOR!!!

 

TITUS RULES!!!

[TitusTi]

[quote=MintSauce

 

I can't believe my eyes.....TRAITOR!!!

 

TITUS RULES!!!

Lea, go do some work! Hey, besides it's always nice to have options!

[GoLefty!!]

It is not huge' date=' it is in proportion! Yeah, I know what you mean though. I find the Maverick steers quite slowly to. I was just investigating the Caffeine 29'er now. Interesting, the angles look a bit odd to me though. It has a slacker head and seat tube when compared to my bike. And my bike's geometry is pretty much in between the Large and XL models. [/quote']

 

 

yours is a custom so geometry will be a better compromise between your physical dimentions and the parameters that govern ideal handling

it's a hardtail

it's pitched more at what they call cross over markets. people who want one bike that they can use for enduro, racing and touring

It's because of this that I'm considering selling my Scalpel and aquiring the 29'er. Could be an ideal Cape Epic race bike too

Thats siad, just looking at the geometry myself, it does not seem odd at all, In fact it's very similar to Seven Cycles 29'er

 

[GoLefty!!]

Hey Mintsauce,

 

when can my Rush get her nipples tweaked?

[MintSauce]

[quote=MintSauce

 

I can't believe my eyes.....TRAITOR!!!

 

TITUS RULES!!!

Lea' date=' go do some work! Hey, besides it's always nice to have options!

[/quote]

 

Try again.....btw, do you talk about your gf behind her back like you do about your Titus?

[TitusTi]

Yeah, the 29'er would go like stink on the Epic. Just don't like those slack angles, suppose it's a personal thing, my bike is built to ride technical trails. Have you ridden a 29'er yet? You're gonna dig it!