2019 Scalpel Si Highmod

[SuperSix2018]

Good evening,

I have a 2019 Scalpel Si Highmod. Specs below.

https://www.cannondale.com/en/Internati ... 06e64201fb

I love the bike but does anyone have any obvious mods that will cut weight and improve ride if able?

I know the hollowgram wheels are prob not great but apart from that it all seems pretty good as it is?

Cheers

[02GF74]

Most of it is pretty much high end but sram level ultimate brakes and maybe carbon stem would be the first thing.

Overall I'm pretty shocked at how heavy the 2019 scalpels are, I was looking at scalpel 3 large that is just over 12kg, my 2015 scalpel 1 is down to 10.36 kg Inc pedals. Going tubeless, lighter discs from xt ice tech and direct mount chainring would be cheap changes to bring it closer to 10 kg.

The later frame has less going on at the rear shock mount, has carbon shock bracket, (which is available for my frame but a huge cost) , carbon rims and single crown ocho fork so on paper should be close to 0.5 kg lighter yet isn't, it can't be the 12 sprocket cassette to account for this.

[DanW]

The forks are pretty porky now but you won't want to swap that from a new bike!

[F45]

Ironically, the Cannondale SISL2 crank with ring is 100g lighter than that Truvative Stylo carbon. So I'd go for that.

Addix tires have been coming in porky. I'd compare with something like an Aspen or Rekon Race.

And that's a saddle with cro-mo rails. Plenty of lighter stuff out there.

You could drop 500g without going exotic.

[02GF74]

The forks are pretty porky now but you won't want to swap that from a new bike!

Hmm, not so according to bikeradar review.

The biggest story is, of course, the move from a dual-crown setup to a more conventional single-crown configuration.

This has dropped a not-insignificant 250g from the previous fork while surpassing it in stiffness

The Ocho comes in at a claimed 1,446g in the carbon chassis and 1,735g in the alloy version.

For context, the carbon Ocho is a touch heavier than a Fox 32 SC (1,327g) and a smidge lighter than a Rockshox SID (1,530g).

Cannondale claims that it could have gone even lighter with the new fork, but this would have significantly compromised stiffness.

[SuperSix2018]

Thanks for all the chat. pretty well much what I was thinking.

Whats a good affordable carbon stem? 100mm? 6 degrees?

Cheers

[TheRich]

Overall I'm pretty shocked at how heavy the 2019 scalpels are, I was looking at scalpel 3 large that is just over 12kg, my 2015 scalpel 1 is down to 10.36 kg Inc pedals. Going tubeless, lighter discs from xt ice tech and direct mount chainring would be cheap changes to bring it closer to 10 kg.

Not sure why that's surprising. Hi-Mod vs non, GX level components...that's going to add up to a few pounds.

[DOUG]

Most of it is pretty much high end but sram level ultimate brakes and maybe carbon stem would be the first thing.

Overall I'm pretty shocked at how heavy the 2019 scalpels are, I was looking at scalpel 3 large that is just over 12kg, my 2015 scalpel 1 is down to 10.36 kg Inc pedals. Going tubeless, lighter discs from xt ice tech and direct mount chainring would be cheap changes to bring it closer to 10 kg.

The later frame has less going on at the rear shock mount, has carbon shock bracket, (which is available for my frame but a huge cost) , carbon rims and single crown ocho fork so on paper should be close to 0.5 kg lighter yet isn't, it can't be the 12 sprocket cassette to account for this.

Im not. My 2019 HiMod WC (Large) was 10.3kg + pedals out of the box. Made a few minor changes like grips, tyres and saddle and its 10.3kg with XTR pedals. Thats bang on in my book. The weights for the lower end stuff with heavy wheels and heavier frame sound about right. Some strategic changes and you could easily shave 1kg at minimal cost.

[DanW]

Thanks for all the chat. pretty well much what I was thinking.

Whats a good affordable carbon stem? 100mm? 6 degrees?

Cheers

Don't waste your time with carbon... no idea why that was suggested. Pretty much the all time bargain WW product is the Kalloy Uno stem
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KALLOY-UNO-A ... km5sx68jGA

Add some Ti bolts for even less weight and hardly any pennies. The graphics come off very easily with a light rub of nail polish remover for a stealth black stem

I'm not sure where you are based but browsing a shop like XCracer for the contact points will help you drop some g's for not much money (Mt Zoom bars, Mt Zoom seatpost, ESI or foam grips, lighter rotors, bolts, etc, etc).
https://www.xcracer.com/shop/

Xpedo pedals are are a great relative value option for losing a lot of weight for a reasonable cost and function far better than Shimanos own stuff IMO
https://r2-bike.com/XPEDO-Pedal-Cyclocr ... e-XMF-10AT
https://r2-bike.com/xpedo-xmf08tc-pedal_1

[02GF74]

Re kalloy stem above, what's the weight

I'm using Toseek carbon stems, just over half the price of the kalloy and in the region of 120 g for 100mm so probably heavier but is carbon. It may be carbon wrap but I like it, also has subdued grey graphics.

[DanW]

From the ebay page linked...

60 mm / 86g± 5g
70 mm / 94g± 5g
80 mm / 99g± 5g
90 mm / 100g± 5g
100 mm / 103g± 5g
110 mm / 118g± 5g
120 mm / 120g± 5g
130 mm / 128g± 5g

Ti bolts drop a further ~10g. My 80mm with XCracer Ti bolts is 90g. Not bad for £30-£35 including postage

The graphics take about 30s to remove so double

[SuperSix2018]

Thanks for all the chat. pretty well much what I was thinking.

Whats a good affordable carbon stem? 100mm? 6 degrees?

Cheers

Don't waste your time with carbon... no idea why that was suggested. Pretty much the all time bargain WW product is the Kalloy Uno stem
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KALLOY-UNO-A ... km5sx68jGA

Add some Ti bolts for even less weight and hardly any pennies. The graphics come off very easily with a light rub of nail polish remover for a stealth black stem

I'm not sure where you are based but browsing a shop like XCracer for the contact points will help you drop some g's for not much money (Mt Zoom bars, Mt Zoom seatpost, ESI or foam grips, lighter rotors, bolts, etc, etc).
https://www.xcracer.com/shop/

Xpedo pedals are are a great relative value option for losing a lot of weight for a reasonable cost and function far better than Shimanos own stuff IMO
https://r2-bike.com/XPEDO-Pedal-Cyclocr ... e-XMF-10AT
https://r2-bike.com/xpedo-xmf08tc-pedal_1

Awsome work... Thanks heaps!!

[grover]

I have the same bike as you!

and DanW has nailed it. Do what he says

Fork is light. Keep it.
Stem is light - 104 grams in 100mm. I put ti bolts on to make it 96 grams. Kalloy isn't really any lighter. Extralite/MCFK/Darimo would be 10-20 grams lighter but $$$.
Handlebar is 190grams - I bought a Mt Zoom bar at 114 grams
Stock grips are ~80grams - KCNC foam are 16 grams.
Seatpost is 190grams - I put a dropper on and gained heaps of weight. But a MtZoom or KCNC drops 30 grams, or something crazy like MCFK/Darimo drops 70 grams.
Seat has titanium rails, ~230 grams - I use a Tune Speedneedle Marathon at 109 grams.
Replace gear and lockout cable housing (and shortened) with something lighter saved me 70 grams - Shimano Yumeya or Jagwire XEX-SL. Both pretty hard to find now though. KCNC also make a light cable housing that replaces some of the steel strands with aluminium.
You can save a bit of weight on the brakes and rotors - Level Ultimate, Magura MT8, Trickstuff Piccola. Or just KCNC/Ashima rotors. I haven't bothered as I don't like the performance of the light rotors and the complete brakesets are a lot of money.
My addix tyres were ~630 grams each. You can definitely save weight. But I've never had luck with anything lighter, always tear the sidewall. I went Maxxis Ikon at 640 grams each as I prefer the grip profile and trust the Exo sidewall more than Schwalbe Snakeskin for puncture protection.
Wheels are 1630 grams. You can do better but it'll cost you. It's probably the one place you can save good weight. I went with Duke aluminium wheels at 1450 grams because I didn't want to spend so much money. Duke Carbon wheels can be 1100-1200grams!
crankset - yes you can save weight. It can be a pain though with the 83mm bottom bracket and Ai 55mm chainline requirements. I had a set of sram red crankarms for a 3 bolt powermeter spider that I put an eagle chainring on, then swapped the spindle for the Cannondale 137mm one. It weighs less than the SiSl2 and clears the chainstays by about 2mm. SiSl2 is a good option, but expensive. XX1 is lighter than stylo, but expensive. You could probably make a Raceface Next SL crankset fit too which is ligher, or Cane Creek EEwings.

xcracer.com sells the mtzoom and kcnc stuff along with titanium bolts.