10/11/2008

Cannondale has a long history in the bike industry. The company has been around since 1971, and in the last 33 years, has pulled off some pretty spectacular feats: double crown forks long before most other manufacturers, multi-chain downhill bikes, stunning concept bikes, not to mention a hand in sparking the entire freeride movement.

The latest mountain bike creation to come out of the fine folks from Connecticut is the Prophet, an all-mountain bike that pushes the Jekyll out of the way in favour of more travel, cleaner lines, and a renewed commitment to riders who want to enjoy the trail.

I had a chance to throw a leg over a Prophet on two separate days up at Whistler, and came away thinking that this might just be the bike I needed to fill the void in my quiver that exists between my Chaparral and my Dekerf steel hardtail.

The Prophet is a sweet mix of (relatively) light weight and long(er) travel. 140mm of travel - 5.5" if you speak that language - on the front and back is mated to a triple chainring, 6" discs, a riser bar, a Lefty with Manitou internals for a package that comes in at about 26lbs. All of that makes for a ton of fun.

The Prophet 4000 attracted considerable attention when it was parked in the Whistler village

Form and function on the Prophet
Not surprisingly, there's a fair bit of technology incorporated into the new Prophet. I talked to Bill Rudell, Cannondale's marketing guy, to get the low-down on what special about this bike, and how it differs from some of the company's earlier off-road offerings.

The first thing I wanted to know was, why did Cannondale abandon the Jekyll line (with the exception of one bike at the low end). Technology and market demand, according to Rudell. People were looking for lighter weight and longer travel, and "we wanted to set the stage with a new bike," he says.

The other thing Cannondale discovered was that people didn't necessarily take advantage of the adjustable geometry feature on its bikes: riders would set the bike up for their particular style of riding and leave it. Cannondale removed the tubes that supported the shock on the Jekyll to save weight as well as clean up the look of the bike and cut down on the number of welds through this high-stress area, and simplified the adjustments. "We also did some market research and found out that most riders would set their Jekylls up around 67.5° for freeride type conditions and around 69° for XC riding ... these are the two settings on the Prophet," says Rudell. Cannondale learned a number of things with the Jekyll, and put that knowledge to work on the Prophet. That includes a single pivot with oversized sealed bearings, but the pivot location has been optimized for longer travel.

An Allen key is all you need to adjust the angles, so it's possible to make trailside adjustments if you want

"Single pivot swingarms clearly save weight, add durability, and steering precision. We've always believed this was the best all-around system and with SPV shock technology, it can't be beat," he went on to note.

The Prophet swingarm integrates what Cannondale is calling its Hot Box pivot, which is beefy but hollow to cut down on weight. Hydroforming allows the swingarm tubes to be bent in several directions at one time without welding, and they've been shaped for lateral stiffness as well as vertical compliance.

Fans of C-dale styling will recognize the Delta V design of the front triangle, which offers plenty of standover as well as an uninterrupted seat tube. The shortest top tube incorporates tapered walls for added stiffness, and braces the shock.

The Prophet has particularly clean lines at a time when many bikes seem to be lost in a tangle of cables and housing, thanks in part to a design that runs the rear derailleur housing through the swingarm. Cannondale felt this feature would keep the cable from getting snagged on the foliage, but also that it would cut down on ghost shifting. A guide runs through the chainstay and makes it possible to slide the cable housing through; rubber grommets at each end hold it in place.

Left: Rear derailleur housing slides through the rubber grommet in the Hot Box section of the swingarm... Above: ... and comes out the back in a style that's reminiscent of Klein bikes

If you're familiar with the current Cannondale line-up, you'll notice that the Prophet doesn't look entirely dissimilar to the Gemini long-travel freeride bike - especially when you compare the front triangle of the two bikes. The main difference is the higher shock mount position and the removal of that mount from the Gemini frame.

Rudell says they blended the Gemini with the Jekyll to create an all-mountain bike that is light for the uphill ride but still rips on the way down. But don't worry - the Gemini is still there if you're looking to go large.

Above: The Gemini, with a lower front mount for the rear shock Below: The Prophet, with a higher mount and less frame material

One thing that Cannondale has always been known for is its innovation, and the Prophet doesn't disappoint. The Hot Box pivot, hydroformed tubes, a Carbon Lefty (on some models), Stable Platform Valve technology on the front and rear, and just the right amount of flex built into the design all find a home on the Prophet.

There's also been a lot of time spent at the company's ESAL lab (Experimental Strength Analysis Lab), testing the Prophet frame. That, along with a redesigned pivot / swingarm interface that has far fewer welds, will hopefully reduce or eliminate the problems people had with the rear ends of their Jekylls.

Along with six all-mountain bikes, the Prophet line includes a four-cross version that team rider Cedric Gracia has been putting through its paces. The biggest difference between the regular Prophets and the 4X version is the back half of the bike, which features a swingarm with a 12mm through-axle, an e.13 chainguide, and a 4-way Swinger shock.

Ripping it up on the Prophet
Enough about the details - on to the riding! My first day on the Prophet was spent in the Bike Park, riding up the lift and cruising down on this sweet new ride. There were a few comments while I was in the line - "Whoa, a Lefty" and "You don't see many Cannondales around here" were the ones that stuck in my head.

I was kind of nervous hitting the trails with a bike that is about the same weight as my hardtail. I've succumbed to the 'heavier is better' mentality, and was decidedly leery of cruising down Dirt Merchant on a featherweight bike.

Travel wasn't such a concern for me, because I'd spent the last year on a Bullit with an old rear triangle and an '03 Slider with 150mm of travel. But I felt seriously over-dressed climbing onto this light bike with a full-face and a whack of armour.

That was until I pointed the front end down the hill and let go of the brakes. The first run or two were a little odd, in part because of narrow bars and 2.3" tires, but once I got into the hang of it, I was ripping it up on the Prophet. Throwing this bike into the corners was a whole new experience: it floated rather than sinking into them. It was as though the word 'flickable' finally made sense. Launching off drops required a lot less effort, and landings were buttery smooth. I had to give the bike back at the end of the day, but I came back first thing the next morning and headed out to River Runs Through It, one of the premiere XC trails in Whistler. I say XC, but as anyone who has ridden River will tell you, it's actually a mixture of stunts, drops, root-infested nuttiness. Think North Shore, but without the steepness. Anyway, I've done River a number of times over the years, usually on a big bike. The last time I did it was on my now-defunct Bullit. It was a workout.

The Carbon Lefty made it easy to manoeuvre the front end of the bike, especially on technical trails

I figured the hour-plus loop would be faster on the Prophet, but I wasn't counting on more than 15 minutes faster. I rode all the same stunts - up, down, over, and off - but didn't feel nearly as worked at the end of the lap.

This year's Lefty only has one clamping bolt on the upper crown.

That likely had something to do with the fact that the Prophet was a good 12lbs. lighter. Possibly more. To put it mildly, riding River on this bike was a revelation. Not only was the bike faster, but the trail seemed easier. I came back to the Park, and had plenty of energy left to get in about half-a-dozen runs down the hill. Riding the Lefty took a bit of getting used to. It was my first experience on the fork, but it's stiff as hell. The Manitou SPV internals also make for a very smooth, controlled ride, and once you get over the fact that half of your fork is missing, you really notice how well it does its job.

Final thoughts on a new bike
The Prophet comes with both XC and FR settings for the rear shock, but for those of us on the Shore or up at Whistler, it's an interesting definition of freeride. Freeride means something different here than it does on the East Coast, and something different than in SoCal. But that's all right.

There will undoubtedly be people out there who aren't wowed by the Prophet, people who will only see this as another single-pivot bike, but that's all right as well. I'm not going to lose sleep if don't want to hear what Cannondale has done to build a very capable all-mountain bike, and neither are they. It's hard to get a really good idea about a bike after a few hours - contrary to what some mags seem to think. We're working with Cannondale to set up a test of the Prophet, and when we do, we'll be sure to ride the snot out of it. Because there may, and I stress may, be times when you want to go out and spin on the trail - both up- and downhill - rather than suffering (or pushing) on the way to the top. One notable shortcoming of this bike if you really do want to use it as an all-mountain ride, however, is the lack of water bottle mounts. A last-minute change in the shock design meant the mounts had to be scrapped for '05. Hopefully they'll be there in '06.

Carbon and SPV are one sexy combination

Now that's what I call a mountain bike.

At this point in time, the Prophet is only available as a full bike, but Rudell expects frames will be an option in the future; bikes will start shipping this month. You'd better start saving your change, though, because the price of entry on the Prophets is high. Check out the complete Prophet line.

Stuart Kernaghan