News has been slowly leaking out from the headquarters of the Cannondale Bicycle Corporation in recent weeks in regards to their new, highly advanced SuperX cyclocross frame that will be ridden by the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com squad for the 2010-2011 season. Some days ago, it was first announced that the team – including United States National Cyclocross Champion Tim Johnson, Jeremy Powers and Jamey Driscoll – as well as Cannondale Factory Team Rider and Italian National Cyclocross Champion Marco Aurelio Fontana would throw their legs over a brand new carbon fiber cyclocross frame that represents possibly the biggest step in cyclocross Cannondale has ever taken.
Fans have been waiting with baited breath ever since that initial announcement, and now their prayers have been answered, as photographic evidence of the new, top of the line Cannondale SuperX has now been made available. Fans of the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com team can now align their equipment to nearly mirror that of their professional counterparts, sharing not only a strikingly similar color scheme with America’s most successful cyclocross team, but also the parts and accessories that have helped and will continue to help Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com to that lofty title.
Those who have been watching developments at Cannondale over the last couple of years will notice a stark resemblance to the Cannondale Flash hardtail mountain bike show through in the SuperX. The SuperX takes many cues from its fat-tired sibling with its advanced carbon fiber frame. With the success of the Flash hardtail, the brains behind the SuperX program knew that they could take the same design success to the cyclocross arena. It could be said that if the Flash hardtail and the CAAD9 Cyclocross line had a child, the SuperX would be it.
Much like the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com team’s bikes, the SuperX comes with Sram Red components and a pair of Zipp 303 Cyclocross wheels that will stand up to anything you can throw at them, much as they do throughout the season for Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com. Above all, however, Cannondale brings everything together with its revolutionary SuperX frame. The carbon fiber mount shares similar geometry to the previous CAAD9 line that has been piloted by Tim Johnson since its professional debut under six time National Champion in 2006. In a nod to the deep cooperation between Cannondale and the team, the color scheme of this year’s carbon line matches up with the kit of the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com squad that we have become accustomed to seeing at the front of races the world over.
The SuperX owes much of its pedigree to the CAAD9 cyclocross frames, but the similarities end there. A radically redesigned fork, with a tapering steerer dramatically cuts weight while increasing the stiffness of the front end. The frame now features an ergonomically designed top tube that helps to eliminate the pain of extended shoulderings. Most impressive of all is the drastic reduction in weight as compared to previous years’ offerings. Weighing in at a scant 14.4 out of the box, for a 56 centimeter frame, the Cannondale SuperX is a race ready machine that will help Power Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com’s 2010 cyclocross campaign.
