Cannondale Scarlet 1 (2013)

Jekyll for the girls

Pros

- 2 bikes in 1 Jekyll frame
- Solid comfortable ride

Cons

- Fairly heavy

Review

The Cannondale Scarlet brings the brilliant Jekyll to all the girly mountain bike riders out there. As such, much of what is written here is typical across both platforms, with a few minor differences that makes the Scarlet "women's specific" as it is often called.

Like you would expect, these tweaks include lowering the stand-over height, shortening the top tube and also using custom valving on the suspension platform which dials it in for lighter riders. It seems Cannondale are thinking about what makes a mountain bike truly suitable for women riders.

From all reports the Scarlet performs similarly to the Jekyll. It features the same DYAD shock from Fox which allows switching between 150 and 90mm travel. This action also alters the BB height and head tube angle making the Scarlet a proper 2 in 1 mountain bike.

When riding, the bike soaks up practically anything you throw at it smoothly and with a lot of comfort for the rider. This is partly because of the 150mm travel, but also the solid and well built nature of the frame itself. In fact the super stiff and stable frame brings up perhaps the only drawback of this bike: it is a bit heavy to be a truly nimble cross country or marathon machine. Then again if you want a Cannondale for that kind of riding, get a Lexi.

Components are a reliable mix of Shimano and SRAM as usual from Cannondale, and this bike also features a Magura hydro brake setup with 180mm rotors: Ample stopping power. At $3,500+ you may expect a full XT drivetrain on an alloy mountain bike...but we're not really complaining.

The Scarlet brings some of Cannondale's most innovative and high performing mountain bike technology to the girls. It allows big travel trail riding and also short travel cross country climbing or technical riding in one sweet handling platform. Truly 2 bikes in 1.