The Radavist

The Slate was a gamble for Cannondale. My review of the bike generated a lot of controversies and it’s understandable. Questions along the line of “why?…” still pop up when I see photos of Slates online. Yet, there’s something about riding one that injected a bit of fun on even the most mundane dirt road rides. Jossue loved his Slate. I first saw him riding it on a TGSCIF Ride earlier in the summer, where he ripped the derailleur hanger off. Shortly after, he broke the frame. He was bummed out and wanted to assess his options.

After talking to Kyle at Golden Saddle, Jossue decided on a Niner RLT9 fork with a Lefty adapter for the tapered headtube. The entire Slate kit was easy to swap over and he even gained a little more room in the chainstays with the RLT9 to be able to ride a beefier tire. The Lefty Oliver didn’t alter the geometry too much, and in the end, injected the RLT9 with a bit more fun, perfect for this Cherry Canyon loop.

Independence, California is the portal to Onion Valley road, one of the many climbs in the Lone Pine to Bishop corridor. Like Horseshoe Meadows and Whitney Portal, Onion Valley goes, straight up in the Eastern Sierra mountains. If you’d like to step back into the archives on the Radavist, Ryan Wilson has documented this area thoroughly. While shooting Team Dream’s new Spring apparel line, I took the time to document each of the road bikes the guys were riding. These are these rider’s own road bikes. They’re not props. Nor were they sent in from the companies for some web-time.

Danny Heeley works at the Cub House part time. He’s a track racing national champ – holla! – and loves British comedy. He bought this, Made in the USA CAAD5 from eBay a while back and built it up with a hodgepodge kit of Ultegra and Dura Ace. Then Sean gave him the Mavic wheels and viola, this beaut is on the road again.

We were staying around the corner from the famous Independence, California USPS and I couldn’t think of a better locale to shoot this bike.

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. The Angeles National Forest is a magical place, where ex-pro road cyclists learn to summon their inner powers of levitation by smoking pipes filled with sun scorched Poodle Dog Bush while drinking fermented Untapped Maple Syrup packs. Or something…

Ted King is technically still a pro, until January 1st but yesterday the two of us took off on a ride into the ANF. The last time Ted got to experience Highway 2 was in a peloton during the Amgen Tour of California, which as Ted so gracefully put it, was very, very painful. Luckily pain wasn’t on our agenda yesterday. Instead, we took a super casual pedal up to Mount Wilson and back down to Mount Disappointment.

NorthEast coasters should know better than to not bring gloves on a ride in the mountains, yet the sunny and warm temps on the streets of Echo Park fooled Ted into thinking it’d be warm, even around 6,000′ elevation. Bottom line, Ted was cold. I was cold. We were kinda cold.

While we took a break to bask at a warm and sunny switchback, I took the time to check out Ted’s new, yet temporary bike: the Cannondale SuperSix EVO Hi-Mod fit with Zipp 404s and SRAM’s new mountain magic eTap shifting system. Now, I didn’t see cables anywhere on those derailleurs, so I can only assume it’s more Poodle Dog Bush magic that makes it shift. Crazy huh? This bike just looks fast, sitting still. Yet, I know what you’re thinking: SLAM THAT STEM. Well, ya know what? When ex-pros leave the peloton, spacers magically appear under their stems, which also shrink in length, sometimes up to 3cm. I too was amazed at the transformation this bicycle seemed to go through. It’s like, life for Ted was about to get more fun.

There’s more to come here at some point, but for now enjoy some sleek, lightweight road bike photos with an epic backdrop straight out of a Lovecraft novella…

Boogie woogie bugle boy. Boogie on your bicycle, boogie to the party. Ace Boogie gets around, man.

Ace is the Sleepers, a one man video production outfit in Los Angeles. You’ve surely seen his work on this site, right?

His Cannondale track has seen various permutations, as these things tend to do. The ones that are actually ridden, anyway. From drops to risers and now a super simple city bar, Ace’s bike has finally hit that sweet spot for cruising around Los Angeles. I’m pretty sure Kyle shot photos of it a few years back, yet I can’t dig anything up. Some notable notes: the off-center head badge, Phil Wood hubs, Sugino cranks, loved and weathered Flite with one of those damn hot Salsa stems.

Since relocating to Los Angeles, a land with endless dirt in both the fireroad and track variety, my preferences have shifted a lot in terms of what I want a bike to take on. Capabilities are often grown in the industry piecemeal, then once and a while, a bike comes along that asks a question: what if?

The Cannondale Slate is a what if bike. What if 650b or 27.5″ wheels with a 42mm tire makes more sense for “all-road” riding? What if a damn Lefty shock with just the right amount of travel can instill confidence in new riders while offering an added fun bonus to experienced athletes?

Last February, I got to take a prototype Slate out for a spin and recently, Cannondale sent me a production Slate Force CX1 build to try out. I’ve been spending the past week or so thrashin’ and crashin’ this machine. While many exceptional bikes pass through this website, both for review and for personal acquisition, I will say this is the most fun I’ve had on a bike review.