Cannondale Rush Team Review
In this line of work, I have quite a few opportunities to ride bicycles of various designs, manufacturers, and part specs. The down side is I usually don’t get to ride said bicycles long enough to form an educated opinion about them. One ride is just a taste of what a bike has to offer. Getting the suspension and fit dialed in are key to really knowing what a bike has to offer.
That said, I did have the opportunity to ride and dial the 07 Cannondale Carbon Rush Team over the course of a couple of weeks. This bike is deemed as an all mountain endurance bike with the weight of some of the nicer x country bikes on the market combined with a non abusive ride that lets you sit comfortably in the saddle for hours upon hours. The bike weighs in at a feathery 24.5 lbs, pretty dang light for a ride with 120mm of rear wheel travel. The carbon frame saves 200 grams over the aluminum version, but the stunning weight is helped in part by a build that considers weight and efficiency throughout.
As soon as I put my foot to the pedal I was in awe of the weight. The Carbon Rush is about 9 lbs lighter than my Giant Reign 1 trail bike. The suspension did a good job eating up the bumps once I set them a touch softer than the manufacturer recommended. The suspension design in conjunction with the Fox Float RP3 climbed hills with little feedback or flex. The only flex I noticed was while climbing out of the saddle in gears harder than I should have been in. I left the rear shock in the fully active setting for the most part ans I felt very little efficiency loss.
I really only ride up to ride down, so the down is where I tend to completely make up my mind about a bike. Once I had the tire pressure, shocks, and brakes adjusted properly it was on. Anything the bike lacked in quickness because of the geometry was made up for by the weight and the Rush’s superb ability to track where you aim it. A solid 20 minute downhill had me giddy as a school girl and the pedaling capabilities had me inspired to ride up and do it again. Six hour rides were finished with little upper body fatigue leaving me fresher to ride the next day.
The ballpark price of $6500 is a touch out of my price range, but I think it to be a wise choice for the cyclist competing in endurance events. Some of the Cannondale pros use this bike in XC events over the lighter Scalpel and Taurine bikes. Also a good choice if you’re not competitive but have some extra dough to play with. In my opinion, the other down was the Avid Juicy Ultimates‘ 4″ rotor on the rear. The brakes are sweet, but the small rotor has me on the front brake more which leads my front wheel to wash out in the loose corners. A simple brake adapter and rotor swap had me singing a new tune. I’d be interested to get anyone else’s’ feedback on the 4″ rotor.
My overall rating for the Cannondale Carbon Rush Team is a solid A. The lack of an A+ is due to the steep price. The rest of the bike performed beyond my expectations and the manufacturers claims. But as a broke ass bike mechanic I have to look at value. Not really Cannodale’s fault, they don’t control the price of components or materials, nor am I the demographic they are marketing this bike to. The bike
There are Cannondale demo trucks driving around the country as we speak. Check with your dealer to see when you can ride one. Go to www.cannodale.com for more info on the demo program.