Cannondale Scalpel SE Review: Fast and Efficient | 2020 Field Test XC/DC

[@alldecentnamestaken]

This frame seems like an ideal East coast bike. However $4000 for SX is crazy.

[@fcbotieno]

$5650 CAD after taxes...rode(rented) the SE 2 the whole day at Hardwood in Oro on Sunday...incredible!

[@fcbotieno]

The bike overall was great, I dont mean the SX drivetrain.

[@esvegateban]

"We'll replace the wheel only because it's Pinkbike".

[@TheyForcedMyHandLE]

Broke a Giant carbon rim and they had me a replacement in a week, no questions asked.

[@lassejohansen5816]

The important facts in a short version video was highly appreciated.

[@TheGcleveland1]

I don't care if it's the best frame ever, $4k for SX is asinine.

[@normanmommu1]

Yeah I pretty much laughed when I heard SX and $4k. SX should not exist on any bike, total garbage, why don't bike brands use Deore 12 speed as it's replacement, same price but sooo much better.

[@erich8258]

Seriously. I'm bummed about having SX on my semi-budget hardtail

[@nostaku]

It's Cannondale, what's new? Hahahaha

[@conman1395]

@@normanmommu1 It's not the same price as Deore. Look at the bike, it's all RockShox. So SX is much less expensive than Shimano because they can package a drivetrain with suspension

[@artagain8977]

Grant Cleveland bike prices have gotten way too outrageous.

[@Jimstrainingworkouts]

I just got my Scalpel SE 1 yesterday. While I was building it up, I actually installed a OneUp V3 180mm dropper and it fit fine. So YES, a 180 dropper will fit with no problem in a Large frame

[@dylansimpson2369]

If Doug Demuro was a bike he'd be a Connondale... quirk's and features

[@alanmartinezrodriguez884]

What a nice looking bike. The Scalpel lefty is their best machine but the symmetry that a conventional fork adds to the whole really impacts positively the aesthetics of the bike. Imagine this bike in Black or Midnight blue...just gorgeous.

[@fazza2104]

4K for sx is the worst f***ing deal I’ve ever heard in my entire life, you get that on 2k bikes dude, absolute sh*t 😠😤

[@Bpf1893]

Even on 2k bikes it’s insane.

[@fazza2104]

Andrew450r well it depends what other stuff you get but I agree and think they should use Shimano m6100 instead

[@Fred_the_1996]

I know a 1300 dollar bike with a SRAM GX Eagle groupset and a rockshox reba... way better value than this overpriced crap. (Bike in question: rockrider XC500)

[@fazza2104]

Capitão Explosão that doesn’t count because it’s a hardtail without a dropper post

[@calvinyou5728]

Hollowgram crank set is actually one of the best crankset out there, it is sad that Cannondale are marking them less important in their product line-up, but if you look into the old cannondale top spec bikes, you will find hollowgram cranksets on every single one of them.

[@GogglesTyresandTrainers]

That response from Cannondale does not fill me with confidence, the wheel replacement was due to the rider, if it had been a 'normal' request they would have fallen back in it being a non warranty claim

[@shingnosis]

My favorite xc race bike, it has a bit of old school geometry feel which I personally like. And no, I don't want wider handlebars. But that's me. And I prefer this suspension setup to something like the specialized brain. But I'd want it with a lefty, they're great and cool. A great bike for relatively flat but technical and fast terrain.

[@rolux4853]

Why on earth do you want a lefty? It’s the worst fork I can imagine..

[@shingnosis]

@@rolux4853 Leftys are great, people just don't know how to service them. The latest ocho is light, stiff, cool, and very smooth.

[@JoelSmithR1]

Ro Lux if you have to imagine it’s bad, you’ve clearly never owned one..

[@jesusmerkel]

@@rolux4853 why?

[@hebson21]

My cannondale frame cracked in early march. They still haven't sourced a replacement. I only ride xc/trail, no reason for it to break, yet theyre fighting me tooth and nail. Safe to say, I'll never buy another.

[@mwinner101]

b Cannondale emailed me last year to replace my CAADX fork that I didn’t even know was bad. So I got a free upgrade to an all carbon fork. Thanks Cannondale. 👍

[@VantagePoint2]

Just buy a Trek, never have to worry about my frame cracking. And some just straight up badass bikes.

[@stef5396]

Same story!!! I even cracked mine twice riding XC. That's why I will never buy a Cannondale again!!! Just don't trust them anymore! If you buy a top of the line bike for a premium price you expect a premium service Cannondale!!!

I`ve became a Cannondale waranty usual customer, neverless my experience with some crackandfail frames, everytime i contact them the answer is "Take another frame to replace the broken one", probably because the shop were i buy them is capable to show the faults properly.

[@alanmartinezrodriguez884]

As a Cannondale owner myself, it's sad to hear your case. But it all depends on the bike you bought. Class 5 bikes' frames are covered for 3 years only. If you're within that time or you own a lower bike class, you shouldn't have any problem getting a frame replacement. Check your user's manual warranty policy anyway. That's your main source to make things right.

[@seandooley4881]

Reach is still a little short for a XL frame compared to the others. At 6’-2” I would still need a 75 or 80mm stem on a XL frame. Can’t wait for the Evo review.

[@TheBikingViking]

Waiting for that Wreckoning review

[@JohnFarnham-dn4fo]

the ride is fantastic. i love the hydraulics on the seat and ...

[@ewxlt]

Mike, I stand with you against seat bags...

[@rubindublone5932]

Uff 4k for a sx

[@Sergio_Math]

10:40 That hurt! You can see the sealant bursting out.

[@mrmanny]

Love the limited edition Grim Donut T-shirt 🤘

[@angelwings197]

Maybe one day I'll get to use it

[@TomCollins-c4h]

This bike on my radar, sounds like it smooths out the trail on mellower stuff, do you still like it?

[@MikeinCC]

I would've like to hear what PB's impressions were of pedaling proficiency vis-a-vis the flex stays? Maybe this feature kept things a bit too rowdy on the downs? Obviously a horst-link bearing is going to be much more forgiving descending. What the Scalpel essentially is is a single pivot design which makes for great climbing proficiency.

[@edgarpoe83]

Buying a new bike I was torn in the choice between SE 1 or trek top fuel 9.8xt 2021 with new sid fork and shock, I choose the trek and after this video I'm quite confident of my choice.. still waiting for the delivery tough...

[@joshuakfleming3338]

can we please talk about the elephant in the room Jim-and-Pam esque romantic tension that's been building between Levy and Sarah this whole series...

[@mclurebailey6652]

lol

[@GreenTimYoung]

Is the awkward Cannondale Scalpel Dwight? Or Michael Scott?

[@rolux4853]

Good lord, would you please drop this childish, incompetent and plain stupid way of thinking? If you have a problem with seeing women as absolutely competent co-workers/co-hosts that’s your problem and „fine“ to me. But please do not project this view onto anybody else, ever!

[@joshuakfleming3338]

Ironman Tim Young I think we found Dwight... 🙄🙄

[@seandooley4881]

How did the SE1 compare to the Epic Evo in suspension feel off the top? Would love it if y’all did a live QA on the test.

[@doesnotknowwheretopuit]

Mike doing some Magnum look ala Zoolander in the descends.

[@sx5r]

Hi, thanks a lot for the review. (and looking forward to the Epic EVO video ^^) Can you compare the fork and rear shock performance between the Scalpel and Scalpel SE? (I am lightweight at 60kg and historically have issues with Rock Shox being not really supple no matter the setup) thanks so much :-)

[@rangerup2674]

Mike forgot the Quads and motorcycles they produced.

[@bujiwam]

Thanks for the review and XC shootout. How do you think the new Kona Hei Hei stacks up against the field and against the Cannondale in particular? Thanks!

[@floridamanfishingadventure7724]

Got me one its perfect bike for Florida

[@ieatslag5947]

That rim cracked on the most basic of modern mountain biking trails and they won’t cover it lol

[@raleighkellyc9375]

Dude get u a pair.of Reynolds MTB carbon rims.they came with y cannondale scaple 29er. Lefty carbon one 2013 .their super litebsuprrfast they never failed me but Reynolds would replace them freebifvthe evervfailed.try them

[@65010]

Beware: Read Cannondale’s fine print in their Limited Warranty Policy. They may use it against you for their best interest. My $5000.000 carbon fiber frame Jekyll broke after six years of use. Cannondale never made a finding that it was due to use or abuse. A hairline crack formed at a weak point in the frame. The bike was sold to me with a lifetime warranty on the frame. The best offer Cannondale gave me, under their lifetime warranty, was 20% off of retail - yes, that is right 20% off of retail. I fought them on it over a two month period and lost. So, I am now stuck with a 34lb paperweight. Cannondale has what I feel is the worse warranty in the bike business. If you do purchase a Cannondale bike and something goes wrong, know that they probably will not work with you at any level in your best interest. In my opinion, they do do not value you as a customer, they only value your money. They had not interest in getting me on the trail as quickly as possible. This has been my experience.

[@raleighkellyc9375]

I own a cannondale super v 1000 carbon frame my swing arm cracked from riding off the curve it took me/my llawyer an entire year to get a refund

[@65010]

@@raleighkellyc9375 Yep, this is the Cannondale Warranty Department ruining the Cannondale reputation. They work at at it. Penny wise, dollar foolish.

[@spartanxcpics4420]

My buddy's carbon fiber frame on his 2014 Trigger broke. He got it repaired by a company out in CA, the cost was extremely reasonable and held up very well since and he rides it hard. It was Calfee design who did the repair calfeedesign.com/carbon-repair/. Worst case find out what it would cost for a repair, then maybe you can put that bike back into play. Best of luck I understand your frustrations, I have had Cannondale's and specialized bikes and neither warranty is worth much after a year.

[@devincook3278]

On these short travel trail or xc bikes I struggle to find a situation when I need more than 100mm of dropper. I guess I'm just used to riding rigid posts for years. These huge travel droppers are awkward to use for me bc I'm dropping my hips unnaturally low to get it down.

[@okamisan3642]

Dyna plug fixed my car flat. Dope

[@peteleroux559]

What size bike did Mike ride on the Scapel SE? I am also 1.78m. Great video. Cheers

[@rlsedition]

Haven't these bicycle guys ever read a motorcycle or car magazine before? If they had, they'd have seen that comparison tests are set up to position vehicles similar in content/price against each other. In both the XC tests and again in the DC comparisons you have $5000 bikes competing against $12,000 bikes. That's like doing a comparison between a Mazda Miata (~$32k) against a C8 Corvette (~ 75k). Why didn't Pinkbike ask for similar content/price bikes for these tests?

[@jasonlewis6914]

That chainstay is killing me lol

[@1969Escobar]

Great work!!! still don't get the DC theme

[@MrBig617]

Cue the standard pinkbike crowd whining about lycra and the grim donut....

[@Montblanc1986]

I don't understand the dropper complaint. My XL Epic has a 520mm seat tube and I can run a 170mm axs no problem.

[@jojorice4594]

A Great Bike for the Price

[@Roaming50]

Might the lack of control be because it is only using Select+ on the shocks and not the SID Ultimates?

[@Dubnside]

Yea sorry @pinkbike if you weren't a pinkbike product tester you'd be paying $$$'s for a replacement out of your own pocket!

[@harrywoods2001]

That’s cool but I’d rather the grim donut

[@calebwithrow5503]

ummmm at 8:46 and 11:51 is levy running a rainbow eagle cassette with a xt derailer?

[@majoromg449]

I suppose due to the replacement wheel having an XD freehub

[@calebwithrow5503]

@@majoromg449 that makes much more sense! i thought it was because levy was testing cross compatibility.

[@christiancalves]

8:41 just interested why is it sram axs?

[@Wiroe]

Christian Lamprecht , He broke the rear rim and that’s what they had close

[@COMOMTB]

It was just the cassette. Still had a cable and shimano der

[@rodriguezahr]

I’m asking myself more and more often now if a hard tail bike makes any sense today. Is there an advantage of riding one with all that technology put in the double suspension systems? I’m a hard tail fan but I don’t know if I should keep buying them!

[@MikeinCC]

I only ride a hard tail as a single speed. Suspension kinematics have gotten sooo good that you can get tremendous efficiencies out of d/s bikes.

[@rodriguezahr]

@@MikeinCC i bought another HD :-)

[@enol8603]

No Lefty?

[@rolux4853]

Enoch Lam thank god!

[@tylerfield8885]

Scalpel Si has lefty, their 100mm travel scalpel they reference through the whole video

[@DM-hw4cr]

I bet it only cost Cannondale $150 for that SX group set lol

[@stef5396]

Why didn't you test this bike in size XL? If you want to compare it with the TR Spur you should know the SE XL has the same geo as the Spur L. Was looking forward to this review but this is so dissapointing, now it's like comparing apples and oranges :-((

[@spartanxcpics4420]

I agree with you the geometry of a bike changes with the size of the rider so it makes it difficult to translate. He probably fits a medium which is the most popular size of bike. But for a comprehensive review, they should aggregate the riders of multiple sizes.

[@jonathanscheepers2064]

Why is he riding an xx1 cassette but when they show us the bike it has xt cassette? 🧐🤨

[@Wiroe]

Jonathan Scheepers , He broke the wheel so they needed a quick fix, probably. And that’s what was on it

[@Zoolander0157]

It likely happened when he broke the rim, probably just swapped for another rim that had the xx1 cassette on it.

[@MTB_Rider_96]

To get the high-end build you need to spend a ridiculous amount of money for all of these brand-name bikes. Cannondale , Specialized, Trek, Pivot, Yeti, etc. I've been in R&D Engineer and Manufacturing for 30 years - and I can't understand why all of these big names charge $2500 to $3800 for a carbon frame they had made in China for a small fraction of what it cost to manufacture in the USA or Canada. Sure, I get the engineering cost - but even with that factored in, the retail cost should be 1/2 what they charge. Which is why I buy my frames (I'm on my 5th bike build) from the SAME factory in China where Specialized gets most of their frames from, only I pay less than 1/2 of their retail for an almost identical product (has to be some geometry difference due to patents and copyrights). And I beat my bikes like a mouthy step-child and they are rock-solid.

[@raleighkellyc9375]

Well bill that great but most of us font have the connections u have u could post them for us

[@MTB_Rider_96]

@@raleighkellyc9375 Just search for carbon mountain bike frames on Aliexpress or ebay. Lots of options. Or look at LightCarbon.com

[@mutleyadamsracing2684]

They list the st length at 480mm for a large. That's longer than the Spur which is 460 for a large. Wtf?

[@skfunk4550]

Am i slightly in delirium or does it look like the stumpy 👀

[@TheBabylonJohn]

Please add some baggies and reshoot the video.

[@Hardcaslte]

I would be so. freaking. paranoid. that the chain stay is going to snap right in half on a big drop.

[@tylerfield8885]

Through both their stress tests and actual bike use from consumers, not a single person has managed to break one

[@Hardcaslte]

@@tylerfield8885 So crazy, you look at how thin that section is and it just doesn't look like it'll ever take a hard hit. Technology be cray.

[@tylerfield8885]

@@Hardcaslte sure can, but then also you look at the seat stays of the supercaliber as well which are like spaghetti noodles and as far as i know, no major issues with those either (not certain if entirely nothing though). carbon can be crazy, especially when its built to be flexing. if its designed to give it room to flex a bit it will hold up much better than giving it no room

[@jaspergeens5841]

9:10 think capable xc. And i alway thought that xc and capable were two opposites ? 🧐🤨

[@Pillokun]

5500 is still way too much for a bicycle, you can get a motorcycle for that, even 4000 for the sram sx is too much. Like I said, just a bicycle.

[@mckayflake1590]

For fucks sake give me the grim donut

[@joegomes1352]

No lefty,awe that sucks

[@andreamantovani5354]

Epic Evo is the better bike

[@Basement_CNC]

stop making jokes about euro people,cause the're true😔and in europe we are kinda behind all the hype, wich is sometimes good, sometimes bad😅

[@jonienglish3231]

NEGATIVES !!!! PRICE !!!!!!!!!! $8500 LOT MONEY to SWALLOW They Should have Provided 2 Back up WHEELS !!!!!!!! i justHope Other Owners also get Covered by Wheel Replacement or Frame Replacement !

[@thelmaviaduct]

Is this balloon legit??? It's a shame it's not 'rad or sick' enough for him, looks good value on paper.

[@TeddyParker]

GRIM "4000$ SX spec bike is hilarious" DONUT

[@rickykiller90]

carbon wheels and sid deluxe fork!!!!

[@TeddyParker]

@@rickykiller90 i'll take aluminum wheels, lower grade suspension, and not dealing with shifting issues out on the trail

[@mkabmf0117]

Am I early?

[@sararose7296]

First that’s sick

[@rolux4853]

Sara Rose I really don’t get why people feel the need to comment that they made the first useless comment

[@0lioderso]

4th lmao

[@0lioderso]

@@PJSinohin chinese eggman?

[@0lioderso]

@@PJSinohin kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmOYnJl8ocmlq9U