About to make the jump from road to MTB and am considering both of these options, (along with an Air 9) as my first true MTB. Unfortunately I may not be able to demo either. Which frame has the better rep around here and which bike would serve me better for the similar price? I've heard great things about the Lefty fork and I am assuming the Cannondale will be lighter.

I'd say go cannondale. The entry level carbon f29 has a nice xt/slx build kit with avid elixir 7 brakes and good tubeless ready rims. The lefty combined with the lighter frame is going to make for a much lighter nimbler build. Coming from a road background, i'll assume youd appreciate that more.

I'd say the Cannondale and Scott Scale are the top two hardtails of the last few years. Giant, Niner, Spec, Rocky, Orbea, etc, etc all make nice bikes but I'd get a Scott or Cannondale. Cannondale has a lifetime warranty.

I'd say Cannondale's got a more dialed spec: they've been doing a good job in this area (more or less, pulling some moves from the Specialized playbook.) The leftys are light and stiff, and though I don't think they perform as well as the latest crop of suspension forks from Rockshox and Fox, the stiffness somewhat makes up for that in trail manners.

I like the Giant frames a lot: very stiff and spritely, and they have good value specs on them. The trouble is that none of the bikes are really spec'd the way I'd like them to be. As I work in a shop, my next build will be an XTC 3, new fork, new group, new wheels, sell the old stuff. As far as off the shelf, the XTC advanced sl 1 seems like a pretty nice spec. Considering the base model frame felt very similar to my s-works, I think this one would be a winner. Those wheels are actually pretty decent, too, if you use gorilla tape on them and some tires with a better supported bead than the racing ralphs, if you want to run tubeless.

As the difference is roughly a grand: I'd go with the giant and deck it with some really killer wheels. But that's just me.

Other brands:
Niners are sweet, but quite pricy unless you're gonna bling it out to tha max
Specialized's bikes are nicely specd, but their mid-level carbon bikes lack something compared to the sworksss or other top-end carbon
I don't particularly like the way Scott's 29ers handle.

to answer your question, though people here will strongly favor Cannondale, just look at the ~5 Cad/SS builds weekly

I dont like the lefty fork. And i dont like a cannondale wirhout one. I would go for giant or scott.

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Happy Trails !!!
MTB / Giant Xtc '05 / 8.7Kg
ROAD / La Perla Negra - FM015 / 7.0Kg

+1 on giant

my money to giant

OP: Did you end up getting either bikes? I've narrowed my search down to these two as well. I'm leaning towards the C'dale but my only concern is the Lefty. I've heard great things but also heard that they can be a hassle even with the new hybrid design.