Cannondale finally has their long-awaited Jekyll redesign out on the market and the 165mm travel 29er is ready to eat some bumps.
There’s been a lot of speculation about what Cannondale is doing with the Jekyll’s suspension. The brand usually has a unique take on their full suspension models, and that trickles into the Jekyll.
The rear shock lies near the bottom of the down tube, nestled against the seat tube with the reservoir poking out. Likely, this will make suspension tuning somewhat more complicated than if it were exposed, but we’ll just have to wait and experiment with it when we have the chance. Cannondale calls this shock position the “gravity cavity.”
Underneath the shock is a little removable skid plate which protects it from abrasion, strikes, and the elements, and should make it easier to maintain.
The suspension platform is a 4-bar linkage with a “guidler”: A high pivot, idler pulley, with a chain guide watching above. The high pivot design should keep the chain from interrupting suspension characteristics on the descents and lends to the rearward axle path, which should help the bike pick up speed on really messy terrain.
Cannondale uses size-specific designs for both the suspension and geometry, namely to keep the rider centered between the wheels. With each bigger size, the chainstays also grow to optimize the center of gravity, says Cannondale. The brand is the latest to vary chain stay lengths with size.
As far as geometry, the Jekyll keeps it simple with one geo position. On a medium, the bike has a low 410mm seat tube length, a 64° head tube angle, a 77.5° seat tube angle, a 1,227mm wheel base, and a 450mm reach. See the full geo chart below.
Builds
The Jekyll comes in two different build kits: the 1 and 2. Simple enough.
The Jekyll 1 gets a Fox Float Factory 38 170mm fork and a Float Factory X2 shock, a SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain with a 30t chainring and 10-52T cassette, with Code RSC brakes, and HollowGram SAVE carbon bars and a Cannondale DownLow dropper. The wheels are WTB KOM Trail i30 32h rims with Formula hubs.
The Jekyll 1 is available in Beetle green or Graphite and retails for $6,100.
The Jekyll 2 comes with a RockShox Zeb Select 170mm fork with a Fox Float DPX2 Performance Shock, a Shimano Deore 12-speed drivetrain with Deore M6120 hydraulic disc brakes, WTB STX 30mm rims, and Maxxis Assegai and Minion DHR EXO+ tires. The Jekyll 2 is available in Graphite or Purple Haze and sells for $4,400.
More info at Cannondale.com.
