Home > Bike Types > Mountain Bike

Meribel World Cup XC Pro Bike Checks – Cannondale & Bianchi

10 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

fumic cannondale scalpel 29er world cup mountain bike race bike

Cannondale Factory Racing pro rider Manuel Fumic placed third at Meribel. He opted for his full suspension Scalpel, and he was among many of the top finishing men in using front and rear suspension. Most of the top placing women, however, opted for hardtails…just something we found interesting, particularly since the Meribel course wasn’t particularly rough save for a few rock gardens.

Behind it is teammate Marco Fontana’s FSi hardtail 29er. Check the weights and details for both, plus Team TX Active rider Gerhard Kerschbaumer’s Methanol SL, below…

fumic cannondale scalpel 29er world cup mountain bike race bike

Fumic’s running Cannondale’s OPI stem on his Lefty with a massive bend to keep the bar low. Then, he flipped the handlebar to get just a hair lower.

fumic cannondale scalpel 29er world cup mountain bike race bike

Rockshox’s Full Sprint dual hydraulic lockout seals up the compression ports for both the Lefty XLR and the Monarch rear shock.

fumic cannondale scalpel 29er world cup mountain bike race bike

Decked out with Hollowgram SiSL cranks, XX1 drivetrain, FSA bar and post, Prologo saddle and foam grips, Schwalbe Thunder Burt tires and Enve 50fifty wheels. it comes in at 10.02kg (22.04lb).

fontana cannondale FSi 29er world cup mountain bike race bike

Fontana’s FSi hardtail uses a virtually identical build but with a straighter stem.

fontana cannondale FSi 29er world cup mountain bike race bike

fontana cannondale FSi 29er world cup mountain bike race bike

His hit the scale at just 8.8kg (19.4lb).

BIANCHI

kerschbaumer-bianchi-methanol-sl-mtb-pro-bike-check

Gerhard Kerschbaumer’s an Italian racer on an Italian brand. He opted for a 27.5″ wheeled Methanol SL despite not being a shorter fella. I asked why he and his teammate, also probably about 6′ tall, weren’t riding 29ers and they said the smaller wheels are faster. Or maybe they said “quicker”. There’s a difference. Either way, it carried him to 5th place in the XCO.

kerschbaumer-bianchi-methanol-sl-mtb-pro-bike-check

kerschbaumer-bianchi-methanol-sl-mtb-pro-bike-check

Like the Cannondale boys, he’s running his bar upside down, too. Could just be to get a more wrist-friendly upsweep (or, rather, downsweep).

kerschbaumer-bianchi-methanol-sl-mtb-pro-bike-check

FSA cranksets join the branded cockpit, but without any sort of narrow/wide chainring, he bolted on an FRM carbon chain guide.

kerschbaumer-bianchi-methanol-sl-mtb-pro-bike-check

Extra cable adds weight.

kerschbaumer-bianchi-methanol-sl-mtb-pro-bike-check

Bianchi-branded and red anodized Carbon-Ti red water bottle cage bolts give it that little something extra.

kerschbaumer-bianchi-methanol-sl-mtb-pro-bike-check

Wheels are Crank Brothers Cobalt 11 carbon rimmed models with Hutchinson Black Mamba tires.

kerschbaumer-bianchi-methanol-sl-mtb-pro-bike-check

Complete bike weight was 8.9kg (19.62lb).

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

10 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
MsC
MsC
9 years ago

The Cannondale Scalpel 29 must be one of the ugliest bikes ever, even more in the fugly 2015 colors.

JC
JC
9 years ago

Leonardi Racing stem on the Scalpel, FYI. Aftermarket part.

Tommy Mac
Tommy Mac
9 years ago

Form follows function and the Scalpel doesn’t disappoint! I think it looks awesome too.

Luiggi
Luiggi
9 years ago

@MsC: Did you get past it and reached the Bianchi? Italians better keep doing cars and motorbikes, their MTBs are usually uglier than a kiss from a giant varano lizard…

MsC
MsC
9 years ago

My stomach didn’t let me to ….

ErPallas
ErPallas
9 years ago

@Luiggi… If Italians only made cars and motorbikes, there would not have been a cycling industry in the U.S.

Look at FM Bike, Paduano, Titici… Etc… (deleted)

Luiggi
Luiggi
9 years ago

@ErPallas, I certainly commend the excellent work of artisans like Leonardi or MDE, but most of the MTB market in Italy seems driven by numb graphic designers who never actually rode a bike. I know this is a matter of personal taste, but I’d rather stick to the “form follows function” paradigm.

jonas l
9 years ago

On the Scalpel it’s not a Cannondale stem. It’s a Leonardi Racing stem.

Really like the Menthanol look 🙂

Juan
Juan
9 years ago

The methanol has the beauty of classics, buy I would preffer 29er

Xluossa
Xluossa
9 years ago

Scalpel is best looking bike ever made, and fastest. Lucky me!

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.