2012 Cannondale SuperX Review

Ride Quality

The SuperX is really good at most things and incredible at a few.  Namely, the bikes personality and toughness shine through on the cross course.  After the first few pedal strokes the SuperX could pass as a stiff pedigree road machine, fortunately for me when the tires feel the crunch of dirt on the tread the bike springs to life begging for more.  The frame still feels lively and stiff coming into and leaving corners, but it is ultimately a very forgiving ride.  Standing and mashing on the pedals feels like it should and you get the sense that all the power from your legs is going straight to the wheels, with absolutely nothing lost in translation.  The only way I can think to accurately describe this bike is with an analogy to chocolate milk.  If a refined road bike is a tall glass of pure white milk, the SuperX is an equally tall glass of chocolate milk.  You still get a cold, refreshing, filling drink, but everything about it is just better once you add the chocolate. 

Build Kit

The SuperX comes out of the box in really good shape for cross racing.  Nothing on the bike will make you cringe at the price when you inevitably go down in a muddy corner.  The Sram Rival groupset performs really well in all conditions, but really shines when you are shifting under load and accelerating out of corners.  The carbon lever blades on the shifters are a nice touch, and while I can’t honestly say I notice the weight savings it is nice that the carbon doesn’t get freezing cold like and aluminum blade does.

The brakes that come standard are the TRP EuroX.  They look incredible, have great mud clearance and are very easy to adjust thanks to the built in barrel adjuster.  Unfortunately for TRP, that is where the praise for these stoppers stops for these.  These brakes are not bad for “cross brakes” as far as power is concerned but in case you are not familiar with that lingo “cross brakes” are terrible.  There is an old adage that floats around the shop that goes, “cross breaks aren’t for stopping, they are for slowing down.”  That is all fine and good if you don’t plan on riding this bike anywhere but in cyclocross races, but in my case (and I suspect many others) this doubles as a road bike and in that setting the stopping power is unacceptable. 

The Fulcrum 7 wheels are outstanding for the intended use.  These wheels are about as bombproof as wheels come and never have gone out of true.  I even went as far as to take my bike down several miles of singletrack trails with roots and rocks and these wheels just came out begging for more!  They are not the lightest wheels in the world coming in 1849g, but they are stiff and accelerate well regardless of the weight.  The stock tires on these bombproof beauties are Schwalbe Rapid Rob’s.  These tires have days and days of grip but aren’t so deep of a tread pattern that they dig in and slow you down In soft ground.

The frame of the ’12 SuperX is hands down the reason to buy this bike.  It is as beautiful as it is wonderful and after seeing how good these look you will realize how big of a statement that is.  The bottom bracket area feels very stiff and responsive under load which is definitely helped out by the BB30 bottom bracket.  The tapered fork gives the front end of the bike a very stable feel at speed and it seems that the rougher the course gets the more the bike shines.  The secret to the ride quality is in large part due to the S.A.V.E. technology micro suspension system that REALLY WORKS!  I was skeptical until I rode this bike back to back with Cannondale’s aluminum CaadX, and wow…night and day difference.

The Saddle that comes spec’d is a Fizik Tundra 2, which is a great choice by Cannondale.  The rounded back edge of the saddle takes some the fear out of a moving remount. As you can imagine the last thing you want to through your thigh at is a couple of nice pointy spears.  This saddle bolts on to Cannondale’s house branded carbon wrapped post.  Please note that this is not a carbon post, but instead is aluminum wrapped in carbon. 

Aesthetics

In a word, this bike is beautiful.  Chances are you will be able to see this bike before you buy it but if you don’t I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.  The frame looks like a mix between a Super Six and a Flash 29er having a lot of similar characteristics.  Clean lines and a simple color scheme make this ride very easy to dress up or dumb down (if you are into that kind of thing).  The carbon has a gloss finish that has held up through the season of racing and riding really well so far.