Two Carbon 29ers Square Off
The Cannondale Scalpel 29er Carbon 1 vs. the Scott Spark 29 RC

Two of the most talked-about bikes for 2012 are the Cannondale Scalpel 29 and the Scott Spark 29. Both are new models from companies with a history of producing 26- inch-wheeled race bikes that push the limits of technology and aesthetics. In keeping with that tradition, these high-end 29-inch-wheeled race bikes are vying for superiority. We decided that since these two bikes will meet in battle on the cross-country racecourses of the world, we should pit them against one another on our favorite cross-country loops.

WHO ARE THEY MADE FOR?
These bikes fall on the cross-country race end of the trailbike spectrum. They are designed to be race bikes first with a bent toward rough courses and longer, endurance-style events. Cannondale and Scott designed both bikes with enough plushness so that they could be used as everyday trailbikes in the right conditions.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE FROM?
Both of these bikes are carbon fiber works of art. The Scalpel features Cannondale’s BallisTec HI-MOD carbon fiber, a military-grade carbon fiber designed to increase durability without sacrificing ride quality or stiffness. The rear end features a 142x12-millimeter rear axle and seat stays that flex rather than using pivots. Cannondale beefs up the rear suspension’s other pivots with the same 15-millimeter pivots found on the company’s more aggressive all-mountain bikes. The Scott Spark is made from Scott’s HMX and HMF carbon with their IMP 5 construction technique, laying up the front triangle as one piece. According to Scott, this makes it easier to fine-tune stiff
ness, durability and ride quality. The rear triangle is constructed of the same IMP 5 technology as the front triangle and features a chainstay post mount for the rear brake molded into the design. The Spark also features the unique ability to raise and lower the bottom bracket
height via the mounting
hardware for the shock. The bottom bracket height can be raised or lowered about a quarter-inch, which changes the headtube angle by 0.5 degrees.

WHICH COMPONENTS STAND OUT?
These top-of-the-line models from Cannondale and Scott are both equipped with some well-known performers, such as SRAM’s XX drivetrain, DT Swiss wheels and Schwalbe tires. In many cases, though, Cannondale and Scott offer some trick components and technologies developed specifically for them. The Scalpel comes with Cannondale’s Hollowgram SL aluminum crankset and a Lefty 29er XLR carbon fork (technically a strut) with a handlebar-mounted, remote lockout from RockShox and their One-Piece Integration (OPI) stem. The Spark features their TwinLoc lever and RockShox DNA 3 system. Previously, this lever was only used to control the shock. Now, the DNA 3 system allows the TwinLoc lever to control the suspension travel of the fork and shock simultaneously. The suspension has three settings: open, traction mode and locked out. The RockShox SID 29 RLT3 fork and DT Swiss Nude2 shock are custom tuned for the three modes with 3.9 inches of travel in open, diminishing to 2.7 inches in traction mode.

HOW DO THEY PERFORM?
We rode both bikes on two- to three-hour group rides on our normal loops and then compared them head to head on a shorter cross-country loop where elapsed time and rider input could be more easily compared.

MOVING OUT

Scalpel: Riders unfamiliar with the Lefty fork will find their attention fixed on the one-legged wonder. However, setting up the Lefty is similar to any other fork out there. The only hassle was that while setting the sag—with no traditional fork tube with a rubber O- ring to gauge travel—we needed a buddy to measure the fork sag for us while we were on the bike. The position on the bike is slightly forward without going to an extreme race position. We could tell that Cannondale did their homework in the geometry department when we first threw a leg over the bike. The Truvativ handlebar is 27.5 inches wide and felt right at home on the 29er. The grips are lock-ons made by Cannondale, and while not the most comfortable, they were durable and felt fine with gloves.

Spark: Getting set up on the Spark was straightforward. The RockShox fork is equipped with a pressure chart to give you a starting point and built-in sag gradients on the fork stanchion. We set the fork and shock to 25-percent sag and were off. The Spark’s two bottom bracket positions make for a versatile bike. We started out with the bike in
the low position, but switching between the two
modes is easy. Simply unthread the lower shock- mount bolt and flip the mounting hardware inserts180 degrees. 
The bike is outfitted with Ritchey components, including WCS carbon bars measuring 27.5 inches wide for good control. The Ritchey saddle is comfort-
able and never caused us any trouble. The riding position is comfortable, regardless of the bottom bracket height, but the difference between each setting was noticeable within the first couple of pedal strokes. The two positions seemed to be somewhere on either end of the Scalpel’s geometry, with the high setting placing you over the bars and the low riding more like a 5-inch-travel trailbike. The setting is a matter of personal preference, and each has its advantages.

CORNERING

Scalpel: Cannondale wanted to make a 29er that could roll as well as any bike out there without giving up the quick handling that 26er riders have grown accustomed to. The Scalpel does this with ease. The tight wheelbase, steep head tube and low weight make this bike a blast to throw around tight corners—all while rolling like a runaway freight train. Despite the bike’s tight handling characteristics on loose, sweeping corners, riding in a more neutral position allows the bike to track confidently. That the bike comes spec’ed with Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires—one of our favorite models for our Southern California conditions—only helped the Scalpel’s case.

Spark: We experimented with both bottom bracket positions back to back, and we kept coming back to the feel in corners. In the low position, the bike feels stable and loves to sit into corners, especially standing on the pedals. The handling is slowed down a bit in this setting thanks to the .5 degree-slacker head tube angle, but the bike never felt sluggish, even on technical trails at slower speeds. In the high position, while great when the trails were tightest, the bike’s steering was too quick for fast sections of trail or downhills. In this position, the Spark is one hyper-handling package.

CLIMBING

Scalpel: With many dual-suspension 29ers, climbing is great once you have momentum on your side; getting to that point is always the trouble, though. This is not the case with the Scalpel. The bike’s light weight, lateral stiffness and stable yet effective pedaling platform are well balanced. You stay hooked up and moving forward without losing traction—unless you really unweight the rear tire. The crew praised the instant power transfer; the effort you put in is exactly what you get out of the bike. In fact, on a climb we’ve been riding for years, one of our crewers set his fastest time by over 30 seconds with less effort. For most climbing, we kept the Lefty fork unlocked and the Fox RP23 shock on the “1” setting. While riding in the softer end of the ProPedal settings, thanks to the efficient suspension design, this gave us the right amount of bump compliance for climbing without ever feeling like we were wasting energy by way of pedal bob. However, on fire roads or paved sections, the fork’s remote handlebar lockout was greatly appreciated.

Spark: Much like the Scalpel, the Spark knows how to get uphill. The bike does, however, perform differently at the low and high bottom bracket heights. The high setting has a great climbing feel, putting more weight on the front end. In the low setting, we were more apt to use the traction control mode to counteract the squatty feel and increased movement from the rear suspension. The TwinLoc system was especially useful when transferring from climbing to other segments of trail. We appreciated the ease of one lever controlling the front and rear suspension. While the Scalpel’s separate on-the-fly suspension adjustments didn’t seem to be an issue before riding the Spark, the ease of the TwinLoc made everything else seem tedious.

DESCENDING

Scalpel: Being a race-oriented rig, the Scalpel is not a bike that you can just smash down any section with out getting rattled. In exchange for the awesome pedaling platform, the rider has to soak up downhill chop with skill. Hammering down rough sections, the Scalpel never feels like it is giving the rider a true 3.9 inches of travel from the rear suspension; it feels closer to an inch less than that. What the bike does do is take the edge off of the rough stuff. With the quick handling that we couldn’t get enough of while cornering comes some instability on high-speed, rough descents. Thankfully, that same quick handling makes it a blast to bob and weave around the trail searching for good lines. The Scalpel is very capable, but it requires some finesse to find the smoothest way down extra-rough trails.

Spark: On our first ride on the Spark, we had the bottom bracket adjusted to the low setting. While the climbing and maneuvering at slow speeds couldn’t compete with the Scalpel’s prowess, we saw quite quickly where the Spark had the edge: high-speed descents. We were amazed by how stable the bike felt on rutted, nasty downhills, soaking up small chatter and keeping us pointed in the right direction, which resulted in tons of confidence. In the TwinLoc’s open mode, the Spark has a plushness that can’t be matched by the Scalpel. The Scalpel rides just like the Spark on the descents—if you forget to take the Spark out of its traction mode. The difference is that noticeable. On our second ride, we switched the bottom bracket height to the high position. We should have done it the other way around. While this position is perfectly acceptable, after riding the more stable, low setting, this new mode left us feeling more than a bit nervous on some of the same descents where we felt so confident earlier. 

BRAKING
Scalpel: With the SRAM X0 brakes, control is the name of the game. The brakes never wowed us with tons of power, but the modulation was excellent. This was especially important to us during our test period, as high winds had left our trails very dry and loose. As with descending, the rear suspension seemed a bit harsh under hard braking and had some trouble remaining active. Grabbing too much lever on a descent resulted in a locked rear wheel.

Spark: The Spark comes stock with SRAM XX brakes. While the brakes are a step up from the X0s in SRAM’s product line, they don’t deliver more power. They had a positive feel and were easy to modulate, but didn’t expose any glaring weaknesses in the X0’s armor. Heavy braking had less of an effect on the Spark than on the Scalpel. The rear suspension remained active and supple when on the binders.

TRICKS, UPGRADES OR TIPS?
We couldn’t help but feel that the Scott would benefit from a 15-millimeter thru-axle fork. It seemed odd to leave this performance boost on the table, especially on a bike of this caliber with 29-inch wheels. The Fizik saddle on the Cannondale is definitely on the racing end of the spectrum. The saddle wasn’t bad, but riders with limited hours in the saddle per week or flexibility issues will want to swap it out. After looking at both bikes’ price tags, you would hope there wouldn’t be any upgrades needed to make these bikes great, and for everyday riding, that is the case. You could go with some super-lightweight wheels for race day, but component-wise, these rigs are dialed out of the box. 
Both bikes come with tubeless-ready tires and rims, so we suggest converting to tubeless for added performance. Unfortunately, our Scalpel did not come with a chainstay protector. We put one on before riding to prevent chain-slap noise and damage to the frame.

SHOOTOUT WINNER
Both of these bikes are amazing machines, and we would be ecstatic to throw a leg over either one at any time. This shootout actually felt like a three-way race: Scalpel versus Spark (high bottom bracket) versus Spark (low bottom bracket). Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. While the Spark in the low-bottom-bracket position can outperform the Scalpel on descents, you have to switch to the high-bottom-bracket position to match the Scalpel on climbs. Unfortunately, you can’t do this on the trail. The adjustability of the Spark has the potential to make or break the deal. Riders who love the idea of testing out different settings in an endless search for the perfect ride will enjoy that aspect of the Spark. However, for every one of those riders we know, there are five who would rather set the sag and go. If we were racing, or looking to attack the trail with our buddies, the Scalpel would be our choice, no doubt about it. Its efficiency and razor sharp handling are unmatched. For rougher trails where descending properties and stability were the deciding factors, the Spark would be our go-to machine.