Cannondale TOPSTONE 2019 is released

[frogtape777]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and currently looking for a bike to replace my old Giant FCR1 hybrid. I'm looking at the Cannondale Topstone, and wondering what size would be correct for me. I'm 186 cm tall (ca. 6' 1'') with a 89-90 cm inseam (ca. 35 7⁄16 inches). Cannondale doesn't seem to have any sizing charts for their bikes, so for inexperienced buyers like me, choosing the correct size becomes confusing. I guess I'm a size L or XL? I tried a Topstone in Large yesterday, and it felt fine, but wondering if an XL would be even better. They didn't have an XL for testing. They did have a Medium though, but didn't try it.

Tried a Trek Checkpoint AL4 as well in size 58. It felt lower in the front end with more weight on the hands/wrists. Is an even weight distribution between the hands an seat preferable on this kind of bike?

I have a Thule Chariot Lite carrier that I need to pull using the bike. Is the bike compatible with any of Thules thru-axles? The axle is 142x12mm, but is it coned or straight? What brand is it? What's the thread pitch? The information (page 4 and 5) from Thule is confusing: https://www.thule.com.au/wp-content/upl ... _All-B.pdf

Any help would be very appreciated.

I'm 6' 2" and the large is a bit too big on the reach, I was too stretched out, so changed the stem to from 100 to an 80mm and now its perfect, the change in handling was unnoticable. XL would be much too big for me. From what you've said i'd go L, with the option to change stem lengths if required.

[TheKaiser]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and currently looking for a bike to replace my old Giant FCR1 hybrid. I'm looking at the Cannondale Topstone, and wondering what size would be correct for me. I'm 186 cm tall (ca. 6' 1'') with a 89-90 cm inseam (ca. 35 7⁄16 inches). Cannondale doesn't seem to have any sizing charts for their bikes, so for inexperienced buyers like me, choosing the correct size becomes confusing. I guess I'm a size L or XL? I tried a Topstone in Large yesterday, and it felt fine, but wondering if an XL would be even better. They didn't have an XL for testing. They did have a Medium though, but didn't try it.

Tried a Trek Checkpoint AL4 as well in size 58. It felt lower in the front end with more weight on the hands/wrists. Is an even weight distribution between the hands an seat preferable on this kind of bike?

I have a Thule Chariot Lite carrier that I need to pull using the bike. Is the bike compatible with any of Thules thru-axles? The axle is 142x12mm, but is it coned or straight? What brand is it? What's the thread pitch? The information (page 4 and 5) from Thule is confusing: https://www.thule.com.au/wp-content/upl ... _All-B.pdf

Any help would be very appreciated.

I am 6' and just took out my L Topstone on the maiden voyage today. Given the reports that it "Fits big" and is a "Big Large", I expected that it would feel longer than my L Specialized Roubaix, especially with the new Shimano brake hoods seeming to have a longer reach than the older stuff, and I thought I might want to downsize the stem. As it turns out, I'm glad I gave the stock 100mm stem a try, as the bike actually felt quite good, or even a bit compact to me. At 6'1, I'd think you'd be fine with a Large, and there is quite a bit of room to go longer/shorter higher/lower on stem without negatively influencing handling, rather than if you were to size up, and find you had to go to a more extreme stem to be comfortable. Coming from your Giant hybrid with flat bars, there is always a bit of an X factor, as there are a lot more options for places to hold the bars on a drop bar bike. I'd go by feel on the Topstone, with the expectation that with your hands on the "tops" it will feel shorter/higher, and with your hands on the hoods or drops it will feel longer/lower than your Giant. When you are in the drops, it is totally normal to feel a bit more weight on the hands/wrists. That isn't intrinsically a bad thing, unless it causes you problems.

Also, and I don't want to over complicate things here, but, it's good to keep in mind that saddle position can affect the weight distribution on the hands, and sometimes bar position is thought to be the bad guy when really its the saddle that needs to be tweaked. If your Giant had the saddle further back behind the pedals, or had the saddle angled more "nose up" that will tend to place more weight on your rear and your feet, which necessarily takes load off the arms. If you google "bike saddle fore aft balance test" you will find a lot of discussion on how to set the saddle to reduce weight on the hands. That method doesn't work for everyone, but it isn't a bad place to start.

Not sure on that rear axle question, as I have a different bike set up for trailer usage, but I'd suggest that if your shop can't supply the specs, then either you or them should inquire with Cannondale directly for the specs of the axle. I can tell you that I have seen a several companies offering aftermarket axles for use with trailers, so if the stock one won't work for you, and Thule doesn't have one for the bike, then there may be other 3rd party options.

[TheKaiser]

Picked up the L 105 bike today from my LBS, (shout out to www.storrscentercycle.com for doing a great build, tubeless conversion, and fender install)! Got out on the maiden voyage and still tweaking the saddle position, as I'm trying one of the Power saddle clones, so didn't have a baseline setting to use, and then I'll move on to stem and bar tweaks. So far, it doesn't feel like it fits as big as I'd expected. Some of that might be the stem spacers which, along with obviously bringing the bars up, will also shorten the reach. I went with 52mm Velo Orange Zepplin fenders because I wanted a brand with the fender stay ends at the frame rather than sticking out, as from my previous (minimal) experience with fenders those sharp ends have always managed to snag on clothes, car interiors, other bikes in the workshop, etc...They seem very nicely made, and are a good precise fit, although with clearance set to the max there is only about 10mm between the stock tire and fender in the center, and a bit less on the sides. For wet roads and smooth dirt, that should be fine, but on kitty litter texture gravel I did suck a fair number of pebbles in that made a bit of a racket. For sound sensitive folks, it might be better to go for a plastic model, but I'm not aware of any plastic ones that have a looped fender stay design, so I think I may just swap to a more file tread type tire (something I'd been thinking about doing anyway), which should be less prone to picking up pebbles as well as offering a few mm more clearance due to the reduced tread height.

Here is a pic: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aga92TEpmcsyEVWT7

[Rhys1987]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and currently looking for a bike to replace my old Giant FCR1 hybrid. I'm looking at the Cannondale Topstone, and wondering what size would be correct for me. I'm 186 cm tall (ca. 6' 1'') with a 89-90 cm inseam (ca. 35 7⁄16 inches). Cannondale doesn't seem to have any sizing charts for their bikes, so for inexperienced buyers like me, choosing the correct size becomes confusing. I guess I'm a size L or XL? I tried a Topstone in Large yesterday, and it felt fine, but wondering if an XL would be even better. They didn't have an XL for testing. They did have a Medium though, but didn't try it.



Tried a Trek Checkpoint AL4 as well in size 58. It felt lower in the front end with more weight on the hands/wrists. Is an even weight distribution between the hands an seat preferable on this kind of bike?

I have a Thule Chariot Lite carrier that I need to pull using the bike. Is the bike compatible with any of Thules thru-axles? The axle is 142x12mm, but is it coned or straight? What brand is it? What's the thread pitch? The information (page 4 and 5) from Thule is confusing: https://www.thule.com.au/wp-content/upl ... _All-B.pdf

Any help would be very appreciated.

I'm 6' 2" and the large is a bit too big on the reach, I was too stretched out, so changed the stem to from 100 to an 80mm and now its perfect, the change in handling was unnoticable. XL would be much too big for me. From what you've said i'd go L, with the option to change stem lengths if required.

I’m 5’10” on a medium and as above I’ve also changed the stem from a 100 to 80mm. There is no noticeable Change in handling. Medium is roughly 54 caddx ( my old bike ), with 4mm extra reach if that helps. You could also get a inline seat post if you end up feeling a little stretched. Flipping the stem and experimenting with different sized stems is the best way to dial in your fit.

[Sigurd]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and currently looking for a bike to replace my old Giant FCR1 hybrid. I'm looking at the Cannondale Topstone, and wondering what size would be correct for me. I'm 186 cm tall (ca. 6' 1'') with a 89-90 cm inseam (ca. 35 7⁄16 inches). Cannondale doesn't seem to have any sizing charts for their bikes, so for inexperienced buyers like me, choosing the correct size becomes confusing. I guess I'm a size L or XL? I tried a Topstone in Large yesterday, and it felt fine, but wondering if an XL would be even better. They didn't have an XL for testing. They did have a Medium though, but didn't try it.

Tried a Trek Checkpoint AL4 as well in size 58. It felt lower in the front end with more weight on the hands/wrists. Is an even weight distribution between the hands an seat preferable on this kind of bike?

I have a Thule Chariot Lite carrier that I need to pull using the bike. Is the bike compatible with any of Thules thru-axles? The axle is 142x12mm, but is it coned or straight? What brand is it? What's the thread pitch? The information (page 4 and 5) from Thule is confusing: https://www.thule.com.au/wp-content/upl ... _All-B.pdf

Any help would be very appreciated.

I'm 6' 2" and the large is a bit too big on the reach, I was too stretched out, so changed the stem to from 100 to an 80mm and now its perfect, the change in handling was unnoticable. XL would be much too big for me. From what you've said i'd go L, with the option to change stem lengths if required.

Thanks for the reply, that makes sense. The XL would be far too tall and upright I guess. Maybe I should try the Medium? They have both the M and L assembled in the shop. I guess the Medium would give me a more aggressive position, but then I would probably need a longer stem. Great review of the bike, by the way.

Hi

I'm new to this forum and currently looking for a bike to replace my old Giant FCR1 hybrid. I'm looking at the Cannondale Topstone, and wondering what size would be correct for me. I'm 186 cm tall (ca. 6' 1'') with a 89-90 cm inseam (ca. 35 7⁄16 inches). Cannondale doesn't seem to have any sizing charts for their bikes, so for inexperienced buyers like me, choosing the correct size becomes confusing. I guess I'm a size L or XL? I tried a Topstone in Large yesterday, and it felt fine, but wondering if an XL would be even better. They didn't have an XL for testing. They did have a Medium though, but didn't try it.

Tried a Trek Checkpoint AL4 as well in size 58. It felt lower in the front end with more weight on the hands/wrists. Is an even weight distribution between the hands an seat preferable on this kind of bike?

I have a Thule Chariot Lite carrier that I need to pull using the bike. Is the bike compatible with any of Thules thru-axles? The axle is 142x12mm, but is it coned or straight? What brand is it? What's the thread pitch? The information (page 4 and 5) from Thule is confusing: https://www.thule.com.au/wp-content/upl ... _All-B.pdf

Any help would be very appreciated.

I am 6' and just took out my L Topstone on the maiden voyage today. Given the reports that it "Fits big" and is a "Big Large", I expected that it would feel longer than my L Specialized Roubaix, especially with the new Shimano brake hoods seeming to have a longer reach than the older stuff, and I thought I might want to downsize the stem. As it turns out, I'm glad I gave the stock 100mm stem a try, as the bike actually felt quite good, or even a bit compact to me. At 6'1, I'd think you'd be fine with a Large, and there is quite a bit of room to go longer/shorter higher/lower on stem without negatively influencing handling, rather than if you were to size up, and find you had to go to a more extreme stem to be comfortable. Coming from your Giant hybrid with flat bars, there is always a bit of an X factor, as there are a lot more options for places to hold the bars on a drop bar bike. I'd go by feel on the Topstone, with the expectation that with your hands on the "tops" it will feel shorter/higher, and with your hands on the hoods or drops it will feel longer/lower than your Giant. When you are in the drops, it is totally normal to feel a bit more weight on the hands/wrists. That isn't intrinsically a bad thing, unless it causes you problems.

Also, and I don't want to over complicate things here, but, it's good to keep in mind that saddle position can affect the weight distribution on the hands, and sometimes bar position is thought to be the bad guy when really its the saddle that needs to be tweaked. If your Giant had the saddle further back behind the pedals, or had the saddle angled more "nose up" that will tend to place more weight on your rear and your feet, which necessarily takes load off the arms. If you google "bike saddle fore aft balance test" you will find a lot of discussion on how to set the saddle to reduce weight on the hands. That method doesn't work for everyone, but it isn't a bad place to start.

Not sure on that rear axle question, as I have a different bike set up for trailer usage, but I'd suggest that if your shop can't supply the specs, then either you or them should inquire with Cannondale directly for the specs of the axle. I can tell you that I have seen a several companies offering aftermarket axles for use with trailers, so if the stock one won't work for you, and Thule doesn't have one for the bike, then there may be other 3rd party options.

Thanks!
I will probably need some fine tuning of the bike, but it looks like a great all-rounder.

I read on another forum that the "Thule SyntaceX12 Axle Adapter M12x1,0mm, L=160mm" should fit for trailer usage. I've contacted Cannondale to verify.

[Shrike]

Anyone know the weight of the wheelset on the Sora model?

Asked Cannondale and they said they don't know. Can always strips them down and weigh myself some evening I'm feeling motivated

[Sigurd]

Where is the cut-off between M and L ? Would I at 186 cm and 90 cm inseam be able to ride a Medium?

[tomh79]

Where is the cut-off between M and L ? Would I at 186 cm and 90 cm inseam be able to ride a Medium?

I'm 198cm / about 98cm inseam and ride XL - wouldn't go smaller. So I suppose L could fit you better...

[Sigurd]

Where is the cut-off between M and L ? Would I at 186 cm and 90 cm inseam be able to ride a Medium?

I'm 198cm / about 98cm inseam and ride XL - wouldn't go smaller. So I suppose L could fit you better...

Thanks! I went for a large which I picked up today. Slightly bummed when i found a small bump in the lower tube. It's small, but it's there:

Top of light post distorted in bump:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V2qG2j ... sp=sharing

Post itself distorted by bump:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r0vjZY ... sp=sharing

It's small, but easily seen and felt when you discover it. Difficult to photograph. I'm slightly disappointed, but i'm probably just crazy. Is this a structural problem with the frame? Looks like it might be from production.

[frogtape777]

Where is the cut-off between M and L ? Would I at 186 cm and 90 cm inseam be able to ride a Medium?

I'm 198cm / about 98cm inseam and ride XL - wouldn't go smaller. So I suppose L could fit you better...

Thanks! I went for a large which I picked up today. Slightly bummed when i found a small bump in the lower tube. It's small, but it's there:

Top of light post distorted in bump:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V2qG2j ... sp=sharing

Post itself distorted by bump:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r0vjZY ... sp=sharing

It's small, but easily seen and felt when you discover it. Difficult to photograph. I'm slightly disappointed, but i'm probably just crazy. Is this a structural problem with the frame? Looks like it might be from production.

Is that on the top of the down tube? Can you get your finger nail in it, or get a picture from side on to show how deep it is?

[Svkaster]

How did you guys get this Topstone 105?

I ordered mine (XL) on 7 October 2018 an it was initialy planned for Christmas but it keeps on delaying and delaying.
It is now again delayed till endof April

I live in The Netherlands.

Thanks

Stefan

[tomh79]

How did you guys get this Topstone 105?

I ordered mine (XL) on 7 October 2018 an it was initialy planned for Christmas but it keeps on delaying and delaying.
It is now again delayed till endof April

I live in The Netherlands.

Thanks

Stefan

Switzerland here. Topstone 105. Ordered October, bought December.

[Sigurd]

Where is the cut-off between M and L ? Would I at 186 cm and 90 cm inseam be able to ride a Medium?

I'm 198cm / about 98cm inseam and ride XL - wouldn't go smaller. So I suppose L could fit you better...

Thanks! I went for a large which I picked up today. Slightly bummed when i found a small bump in the lower tube. It's small, but it's there:

Top of light post distorted in bump:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V2qG2j ... sp=sharing

Post itself distorted by bump:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r0vjZY ... sp=sharing

It's small, but easily seen and felt when you discover it. Difficult to photograph. I'm slightly disappointed, but i'm probably just crazy. Is this a structural problem with the frame? Looks like it might be from production.

Is that on the top of the down tube? Can you get your finger nail in it, or get a picture from side on to show how deep it is?

That's right, the damage is on the top of the down tube. After closer inspection, it turns out that the damage is more extensive than I first thought:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vtvsVu ... p=drivesdk

I talked to the shop where I bought it, and a frame replacement is on the way. They didn't have any more complete bikes in large, only spare frames. The frame is hopefully here in a few weeks, and they would move the parts over when it arrives. I can use the bike until then, as there is no imminent danger of failure.

[TheKaiser]

How did you guys get this Topstone 105?

I ordered mine (XL) on 7 October 2018 an it was initialy planned for Christmas but it keeps on delaying and delaying.
It is now again delayed till endof April

I live in The Netherlands.

Thanks

Stefan

Not sure on how the euro distribution compares to the US, but the one that I bought was one of the first production run from the Fall, that the shop had sitting on the floor. They had brought in a lot of Large Topstones, and apparently many people find the Topstone fits bigger than expected, so they sold out of the smaller sizes rapidly but had the Ls still sitting. They said if I wanted to go Medium it wouldn't be available till sometime in March/April, so that somewhat fits with your bike's timeframe, although I know it's frustrating when you are initially told a date months earlier than the reality as in your case with the Xmas ETA. From comments made by Cannondale staff, I think interest in the Topstone exceeded their expectations significantly, so they're scrambling to get production ramped up to match demand. I know the early bikes, mine included, had some component swaps to get around Shimano parts shortages, so I'm assuming it must be the frame/fork that are holding things up, as they seem willing to get creative when it comes to components.

[Svkaster]

Thanks for the information. I try to contact Cannondale Netherlands but they don’t respond on my e-mail. Was hoping to figure out the issue. If it was the group or wheelset than I would be able to helpout or even pay more for an upgrade.

27th April is close by so hoping it will be the delivery date. Funy enough the more expensive blue variant comes earlier but I don’twant the blue one and don’t like SRAM as all other 11 bikes we own have Shimano