A lightweight precision racing machine, the Cannondale Scalpel is better than ever.
 FACT: The Cannondale Scalpel has captured more World Cup XC podium spots than any other full suspension bike on the market. FACT: It's the ONLY dual suspension XC bike to win a World Cup Championship without the athlete using the drug EPO.
What do Christoph Saucer, Tinker Juarez and other number 1 racers in the world know that you need to know? Read on..
The redesigned Scalpel frame weighs 100 grams less than the original
design, or just 4.9 pounds including the shock and all hardware.
The new frame derives its weight savings from a number of  areas,
including new forged dropouts, a new derailleur hanger, and a new
one-piece shock link that alone saves 20 grams. The new welded aluminum
seatstay assembly and shock link also boost the rear end's lateral
rigidity for greater pedaling efficiency, and the shock link's one-piece
design simplifies shock mounting and removal for easier servicing.
Our engineers have also slackened the bike's head angle ½ degree
for more stable handling. Add to that the "optimo" down tube and titanium link mounting bolts that attach the shock link to the front triange and save you an additional 12 grams, and you've got yourself one light weight ride... in fact, the Cannondale Scalpel is the lightest full suspension frame to pass the German EFBe durabilty test.
FOX RP3 Rear Suspension
Now with the lightest shock on the market today, the Scalpel runs the FOX RP3 with 3 different external compression adjustments as well as external rebound adjustment. But as everyone here will agree, the key to the Scalpel's suspension are its unique carbon fiber
chainstays which deliver 2.7 inches of rear wheel travel. The chainstays'
unique shape and the careful orientation of their fibers during
fabrication force the stays to bend at a precise point mid-way along
their length. (As opposed to other designs with flexing chainstays,
where the stays bend throughout their length.) By isolating the
point at which the stays bend - in reality, the pivot point around
which the swingarm rotates - our engineers are able to dictate the
performance characteristics of the rear suspension.
 Before
the chainstays ever bend upward, though, they are bent downward.
Preloading the Scalpel's shock absorber also preloads the chainstays,
bending them downward at the pivot so the suspension is extended
an additional 1" at the rear dropouts. The natural inclination of
the stays to spring back to their resting (unloaded) state functions
as an integral negative spring that dramatically enhances small
bump response.
Preloading the stays also moves the rear wheel's axle to a level
just below the Scalpel's mid-stay pivot. The result is that, through
the first part of its travel, the rear wheel is able to move back
out of the way of impacts as it also moves upward. In the latter
part of the travel the pivot is below the rear axle, eliminating
chain growth, pedal feedback and bobbing.
As the swingarm goes through its travel, the suspension also morphs
from using the chainstays' decreasing negative spring (for plush
initial response) to using the shock absorber's ramping, positive
air spring to add greater progressivity toward the end of its travel
(to prevent harsh bottoming out).
Front Triangle
The Scalpel's front triangle is hand-welded, heat-treated 6061-T6
and Optimo aluminum, and features the Power Pyramid Optimo down tube. The Power Pyramid
simultaneously increases in diameter and decreases in wall thickness
throughout its length. As a result, the down tube has a weight-saving
thinner wall and a super-rigid, oversized profile at the bottom
bracket shell to resist pedaling forces. At its upper end, the Power
Pyramid has a slimmer diameter for compatibility with the head tube
and a beefier wall for added strength.
The Scalpel also boasts easy portagability, with an open, uncluttered
front triangle that places all of the suspension components aft
of the seat tube. And for enhanced stand-over clearance, the Scalpel's
top tube has a downward bend just forward of the saddle - a feature
that we fittingly call the Crotch Notch.
Unified Composite Seatstay
 The Scalpel comes equipt with composit, lightweight carbon fiber seatstay assembly that's featured on selected high-end models. This three-sided, one-piece, reinforced assembly is 25 grams lighter than the aluminum version it replaced.
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