Cannondale SuperX

Based on the same frame raced last season by three-time US national cyclocross Tim Johnson, this is a serious cross machine.

‘The SuperX is for anyone from a novice looking for a competitive advantage, right up to pro level riders,’ says Cannondale UK marketing manager Clive Gosling. ‘The combined frame and fork weight is around 1,500g, making it one of the lightest cross framesets available. Plus, it’s extremely robust. Cannondale’s proprietary BallisTec carbon construction helps keep the weight low and strength high.’

According to Cannondale, BallisTec carbon employs similar resins and lay-ups as carbon fibre baseball bats, meaning the SuperX’s frame is able to undergo thousands of stress cycles without losing structural integrity, as well as being able to cope with being struck by high-velocity objects – perfect then for riding or racing in stony, gravelly conditions where debris is flung up from the floor.  It’s designed for comfort too.

‘Our Speed Save Technology makes the SuperX one of the most comfortable and smooth cross bikes you can buy,’ says Gosling in reference to the tube shapes of the rear end, where long fibres are used to twist around and down the tube, creating a flattened shape at points to encourage flex and provide a suspension effect, and thicker sections to promote stiffness. It’s the same technology employed in Peter Sagan’s cobble-slaying Synapse.

Disc brakes are pretty much ubiquitous in modern cross bikes now, but Cannondale has done a particularly neat job of hiding the hoses inside the frame where possible, useful for racing in the mud, where anything that protrudes attracts the build-up of dirt. The brakes themselves are Shimano’s top-tier hydraulic brake-mechanical shifting set up with a pair of 160mm rotors. That’s an increase of 20mm in diameter over those starting to be used on road bikes, giving extra stopping power.

Rounding off the SuperX’s spec sheet is Mavic’s latest Aksium One disc-specific wheelset, weighing a claimed 1,965g. Shod with perennial favourites Schwalbe Racing Ralph tyres (here a 33c, though the frame can accommodate up to 36c), they are a fast rolling, no-nonsense set of hoops ideal for race day or training. But of the two, race day is where the SuperX would rather be.

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