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TECH NEWS

New bike roundup: Cannondale, Charge, Colnago…

2016 models from Kinesis, Raleigh and Light Blue too

We’ve spent time at a couple of UK bike trade shows this week and we’ve seen a whole load of new bikes and kit that we’re going to share with you. To start with, here are some of the most interesting bikes.

Cannondale Slate Force CX1 - full bike.jpg

The Slate is the Cannondale bike that everyone is talking about at the moment, a gravel/adventure bike that we took for a First Ride at last year’s Eurobike.

Cannondale Slate Force CX1 - fork.jpg

All of the Slates are built up with Lefty one-legged forks with 30mm of travel and a lockout option. This £2,999.99 model has a SRAM Force 1x groupset including hydraulic brakes. Purple anodising is making a bit of a comeback!

Cannondale CAAD12 Ultegra 3 - full bike.jpg

This is Cannondale’s new aluminium CAAD12 that we first told you about last year in its Ultegra 3 version (£1,699.99).

Cannondale CAAD12 Ultegra 3 - chainset.jpg

It comes with Mavic Aksium Elite wheels and Cannondale’s distinctive one-piece spider/chainring SpideRing design.

Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi Mod Ultegra - full bike.jpg

Cannondale launched a new version of its SuperSix Evo lightweight road bike last year. This is the Hi-Mod version in a Shimano Ultegra build with Mavic Ksyrium wheels. It’s priced £2,999.99

Charge Grater 5 - full bike.jpg

Charge is offering the titanium version of its Grater urban bike as a complete bike for the first time.

Charge Grater 5 - front disc.jpg

It is fitted with a SRAM 1x groupset and Shimano hydraulic disc brakes for £2,199.99. Full-length mudguards come as part of the package.

Charge Plug 5 - full bike.jpg

The titanium version of the Plug is available as a complete bike for the first time too.

Charge Plug 5 - head tube.jpg

The £2,499.99 Plug 5 has a carbon-fibre disc fork, a SRAM Rival 1 groupset, including hydraulic disc brakes, and Maxxis Roamer tyres in a 42mm width.

Colnage V1-R Ltd - full bike.jpg

The Colnago V1-r isn’t a new frameset – we reviewed it here on road.cc at the back end of 2014 – but UK importer Windwave is now offering it in limited edition builds.

Colnage V1-R Ltd - signature.jpg

You can pick your colour from orange, light blue, green, pink and silver, and then choose between the Shimano Ultegra build you see here (£3,999.95) and the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic model. That one is much more expensive, though, at £9,499.95.

Colnage V1-R Ltd - delta brake.jpg

Although it’s nominally an Ultegra build, the brakes are actually FSA’s new direct mount callipers and the chainset is from FSA too.

Kinesis Tripster ATR v2 - full bike.jpg

Kinesis has an updated its Tripster ATR titanium frame. It takes flat-mount disc brakes and a thru axle, although you can take out the fittings and run a 9mm quick release skewer if you prefer. 

Kinesis Tripster ATR v2 - cable routing 2.jpg

The frame also has internal cable routing, fixings for three bottle cages, and the slot at the top of the seat tube faces forwards rather than backwards to avoid water and mud ingress. 

Kinesis Tripster ATR v2 - seatstays.jpg

Kinesis reckons that you can fit a 43mm wide tyre in there, or a 40mm tyre if you have mudguards fitted.

Kinesis Tripster ATR v2 - rear dropout.jpg

It’ll be available as frame only, or as a frameset with a new fork that’ll have internal cable routing (the bike pictured has a fork with external cable routing). No prices have been set yet although availability is set for October.

Raleigh Militis Team eTap - full bike.jpg

Raleigh has a Limited Edition Militis Team equipped with SRAM’s new Red eTap wireless groupset. 

Raleigh Militis Team eTap - shifter.jpg

Read all about SRAM Red eTap here. 

Raleigh Militis Team eTap - rear mech.jpg

The bike is also fitted with Zipp 202 Firecrest wheels, Zipp Carbon SL-70 Aero bars, a Zipp Carbon SL Sprint stem and Zipp Carbon SL seatpost. A few of the details on the pictured bike aren’t quite right. The blanking plates for the redundant cable slots, for example, will be red to match the frame.

The claimed weight for the complete 55cm bike (without pedals) is 6.7kg (14.8lb). Only a handful of the bikes will be available in this build: SRAM Red eTap is in very short supply. It'll cost £6,000.

The Light Blue Darwin X1 - full bike.jpg

Light Blue’s Darwin is TIG welded from Reynolds 725 steel and it’s designed for touring, adventuring, heading off the beaten track, riding on unfinished roads… you know the sort of stuff. 

The Light Blue Darwin X1 - stay bosses.jpg

You get masses of tyre clearance. Those are 2.25in Schwalbe Rapid Robs fitted on there. 

The Light Blue Darwin X1 - dropout 2.jpg

It’s a SRAM 1x setup with a 46-tooth chainring at the front and a super-wide 10-42-tooth cassette at the back. The drops on the Genetic Flare handlebar head off to the side as much as they go downwards, while Avid BB7 brakes take care of stopping. The Darwin will cost you £1,500 in this build, although other builds are available. We didn’t get a weight but it doesn’t feel nearly as heavy as it looks. 

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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6 comments

Avatar
iandon | 8 years ago
0 likes

BB7 super reliable, easy to service. 

Avatar
bendertherobot replied to iandon | 8 years ago
0 likes

iandon wrote:

BB7 super reliable, easy to service. 

 

Trp Sypre are better, super reliable and easy to service. Cost about the same. 

Trp Hy Rd are considerably better. 

It would cost a few quid for manufacturers to put Spyres on. And, in volume, Trp Hy Rd would make very little difference to the overall cost.

Avatar
matthewn5 | 8 years ago
2 likes

What a mess. Who designs these things?

//road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/light-blue-darwin-x1-dropout-2.jpg)

Bikes used to be beautifully simple with well-resolved details and were a joy to behold.

Avatar
Pantster | 8 years ago
0 likes

Love my Slate CX1, the much larger tyres & lower pressures are so good on our awful roads. Just wished they'd kept the purple stem too!

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 8 years ago
0 likes

That Raleigh is a thing of beauty.

Avatar
bendertherobot | 8 years ago
0 likes

That Darwin looks great. BB7's though. Haven't me moved on yet?

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