Cannondale Topstone redesign

Gravel is just the start for a new range that has the versatility to take on almost any terrain

- Stefan Abram

Сannondale is setting out to "redefine the limits of adventure" with its completely refreshed Topstone platform. Gravel racing, bike-packing and even a little bit of singletrack shredding along trails cut for cross-country mountain bikes are all on the cards.

To facilitate this, Cannondale has given the Topstone's Kingpin rear suspension a revamp and made a few tweaks to the geometry. Naturally, the Lefty Oliver suspension fork makes an appearance, as does the polarising SmartSense system of integrated lights and rear-facing radar. But if that's not your bag, there are still models available without those features.

Backing up a second to the outgoing model, we've had quite a few of the different spec options in on review - all great fun to ride - but there were still a handful of aspects that we weren't so keen on. This makes it especially nice to see those points of contention being addressed head-on in this latest iteration.

What we wanted

The wish for wider tyre clearances is a pretty common refrain for so many models of gravel bikes, but it was especially pertinent for the previous iteration of the Cannondale Topstone. In its full-sus guise it cries out for rough terrain, but you need tyres that can handle it. The previous limit of 650b x 47mm and 700c x 37mm was, in our experience, far too narrow.

For the new Topstone, this has now been boosted to 650b x 2.lin (54 mm) and 700c x 45mm - not groundbreaking, but still very much on the wider side of gravel and better aligned with the type of riding the Topstone is made for.

Our second and third issues regarded user-friendly standards. On the previous Topstone, Cannondale went for a PressFit bottom bracket and an alternative rear wheel-dishing which - although mechanically more robust meant that you'd have to completely re-true any wheel you wanted to swap in.