Cannondale has given its cross-country race bike, the Scalpel, a refresh for 2024. The new bike’s updated frame sees increased suspension travel, geometry designed for the race courses of today, tweaked specs and lightweight builds.<\/p>
This is the eighth generation of the Scalpel, a bike that has been in Cannondale\u2019s line-up for 22 years. Cannondale sees it as a refining of the existing design rather than a complete reinvention.<\/p>
As we\u2019ve seen in the past few years, cross-country racing<\/a> has become increasingly gnarly, with race tracks littered with rocks and roots, drops and jumps.<\/p> To reflect this, there has been a trend of boosting travel on XC bikes<\/a> to 120mm, while ensuring it\u2019s not only trail bikes<\/a> and enduro bikes<\/a> that get the long, low and slack<\/a> treatment.<\/p> Cannondale has not been left behind, with the new Scalpel ticking all of the boxes for a modern XC race bike.<\/p> Cannondale says it wanted the new Scalpel to be fun to ride\u00a0\u2013 and that contributed to its design.<\/p> While 120mm travel <\/a>used to be the preserve of downcountry bikes<\/a>, Cannondale seems to be erring away from that as a sub-genre of mountain bikes<\/a>.<\/p> This is, the brand says, because the pressures that make downcountry bikes light and fast are the same pressures their XC racers face \u2013 so, in essence, they\u2019re the same things.<\/p> The distinction comes when you look at lightweight trail bikes. Here, you might be looking at bolstering frame stiffness, or sacrificing a bottle cage mount in order to increase standover height.<\/p> In essence, then, the Scalpel should both be sorted on the race track and fill that need for a downcountry bike in your garage, if you\u2019re the type to take a lightweight, full-suspension bike out on the trails.<\/p> As such, there\u2019s no new Scalpel SE<\/a> here; that downcountry version of Cannondale’s XC racer is done and dusted.<\/p> How does it ride? Check out Tom Marvin’s Cannondale Scalpel first ride review<\/a>.<\/p>![\"Cannondale](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2024\/03\/Cannondale-Scalpel-2024-Rekon-race.jpg\")