Weight Weenie Part 3 / Cannondale Flash Ultimate review

After shaving off 10lbs of my bike race gear, 18lbs off me, there's only one thing left to do... and that's the most fun part!

I love my Cannondale Scalpel. It's served for years (it's an '08, and has done solid duty since then!), and hopefully will continue to do so. The advent of ultralight 29er hardtails has been a wave that makes a lot of sense - hartails are garage staples that can serve over a decade (my Stumpjumper with refreshed parts is great still!), the tubeless tire/carbon wheel/large air volume mitigates some of the hardtail experience, and the weight savings are notable. Some races make sense for a bike of this nature, some don't. I don't think I advocate hardtails for BC Bike Race, but a TransPortugal, TransAndes, La Ruta, etc. make sense.  Durable, light weight carbon wheels have helped make any percieved differential to 26er bikes irrelevant in weight, and instead feel the benefits of the largerwheel rolling easier over terrain.

The Cannoldale Flash 29er Ultimate is 19.2lbs as pictured in size large, off the shelf.  Less beefy pedals would leave it at 19 flat.  It's therefore lighter than my first road bike, yet, to state the obvious, waay more capable off road.  That's also only 1.2lbs less than my Strong 'cross bike which weighs in at 20.4lbs - no that it's a built as a beacon of light-ness, but as reference.  In mountain biking terms, it's 5.3 lbs less than my Scalpel in the setup it had for TransAndes. 22% lighter is noticeable. It's ride characteristics are different being a hardtail, but 29" wheels and tubeles mitigate some of the hard-tail complaints of harsh ride, as do Cannondale's system of flex points in the carbon.  It's amazing really how bikes have transformed - this is no full suspension bike, but it's the most comfortable hard tail I've ever ridden.  I didn't know they could be like this. The Enve wheels are works of art in my view: lighter than my American Classic CR 420 road wheels and UST compatible, and from real world riding use over last few years of earlier adopters than me - durable.  Let's hope I get the same experience.  With a hardtail setup and a Lefty, I didn't want lighter alloy rims adding flex - these are noticeably stiff.  I thought this would be marginally better than other bikes I'd ridden and just blingy and new - but it's so noticeably efficient and exceeds expectation that I'm just dumbfounded.  It just rolls!

Welcome!