More than just weight-savers, our burly patented FlexPivot stays are also at the heart of our suspension design. By acting as a Horst pivot, it creates a true four-bar system, allowing our engineers to dial in the perfect suspension response for every input.
The result? Incredible traction, confident braking, and a playful feel that just begs to be pushed harder.
See FlexPivot on the all-new Moterra SL ➡️ https://cdale.co/moterrasl
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At Cannondale, we have been working with the concept of replacing pivots with flexing carbon frame members ever since the original Scalpel back in 2002. As carbon technology and our understanding of how to manipulate has grown massively over the years, we knew that for a bike
Like Moterra SL, using Flex Pivot was the obvious choice. FlexPivot draws its inspiration from the most exciting of places – Formula 1 race car suspension flexures with utilize cutting- edge composite design and manufacturing techniques. The beauty of the FlexPivot is that it replaces the bearings and hardware of a
Traditional Horst Link pivot on the chainstay with an engineered carbon member designed to flex and provide the same range of movement and articulation. Having a Horst four-bar linkage lets us precisely and independently tailor how the suspension responds to different inputs, whether that’s pedalling, braking, or bumps. It gives you amazing traction, fluid-
Feeling suspension, and responsive efficiency over every part of the trail. Accomplishing all that without bearings and hardware means your swing arm is incredibly light, laterally stiff, and seriously durable. FlexPivot has been relentlessly tested in both our labs in Germany and America and
On the World Cup XC circuit with our race- winning Scalpel. To handle the extra power, loads and travel of a bike like the Moterra SL we kept the same design philosophy of the original but bulked it up, making it thicker and tweaking the materials and layup to make it tough as hell.
And then we tested these prototypes with Josh Bryceland and the Waves crew and back in the lab, we hammered it. We ramped up the test rigs to 150% of its intended load and let them run until we got bored of the lack of failures. And then we turned them off.
We’ve seen up close what FlexPivot can do. The advantages are significant and successfully implemented on analog and electric mountain bikes of long and short travel. Big picture. This tech all adds up to a more efficient and smoother pedalling experience. FlexPivot is lighter, faster, and more durable.
And with it, Cannondale is going one step further in our race to lead mountain bikes into the future. Also, don’t really know what I’m doing with my hands. Sometimes I’m like, oh, am I holding? Like, I don’t know, it’s the Ricky Bobby thing, right?
25 Comments
Is this tech coming to gravel bikes?
I want to see you guys test them to failure. Do it and share it? Just how far till it fails? 200%? 400%?
If anyone is reading this and doesn’t know what bike to buy, get the Cannondale Trail se 3. It’s amazing
This scares me. I'm sure they've done extensive testing. Still scares me lol
having this on road bike should help massively.
Nice one and obvious way to go
But I feel sorry for the people who have to communicate this to possible buyers as MTB users are often to stupid and will make up shit if they don’t understand it
I’m sure it’ll be fine. There’s a lifetime warranty on this right?
Why do this on an e bike ? Makes no sense. You don't need to save the 100g on a moped.
Just get out there and buy a Steel Starling frame 😂
It may be super strong in the lab, but one scrape from a sharp rock on the super thin side, and the entire rear end is compromised. Metal can survive those common abrasions, but carbon can’t……it’s the dumb stuff that often happens on trail rides you have to design for too
Thicker means longer lenghtwise deformation on outer layers = it will fail sooner. Why not use proven pivot with bearing? To save 2 dollars/frame?
The slingshot from the 90s and spot bikes have done this, not a new concept but good to see it on a mainstream brand. Formula 1 suspensions use carbon flexes instead of joints so it’s tried and true
I think this is a much better implementation of the “flex stays” concept that many full suspension bikes have (example Transition Spur). The flexing is right around where the pivot point would be.
Looks really dumb. Par for the course with Cannondale.
Surely I will be able to buy a spare in 10 years, right? Right? Or are you building bikes for the landfill?
All fun and games until the first case. This isn't a xc bike. Riders make mistakes, Dynamic loads go through the roof of the fatigue analysis.
how about the caliper position on the topstone carbon frames….. on the seat stay = snap under heavy braking. but hey, if you put the caliper on the chain stay why not fix the rest….. thanks cannondale.
I want to see huck to flat
you should focus on a removable battery…much more important feature!
Every few years there is another "revolution" in cycling-that seems to be strangely paired with product cycles. I bought a "revolutionary" cannondale killer V frame made me stop believing in marketing hype. It was a revolution only in in discomfort.
So sorry, but I stopped believing cannondale marketing after that bike. I'll wait for the reviews.
Tested it until they got bored. That tells us a whole lot. Is that an hour or a month?
I have a 2001 castellano fango that does this.
14k for this bike explain how and where that money to bike components are? Cannondale is just another greedy company that wants us to believe this is revolutionary technology
What could go wrong? 😆 The next biking gimmick, we'll see how long t lasts.
Achei que era mentira para vender, mais quando adquirir a minha Cannodale fiquei chocado!!!! Funciona mesmo!!! Sensacional!!!!