Faster Everywhere X Wilton

Working Lunch

It’s lunchtime in leafy Wilton, Connecticut – the OG home of Cannondale. Two colleagues are gearing up to head out on a friendly(ish) spin together during their lunch hour.

Will Gleason, Product Manager in the Road bike category, and Dr Nathan Barry, Design Engineer and Aerodynamic Specialist, clip in and roll out for one of their regular loops with grins on their faces.

Other than the unseasonally sunny weather, what’s special about today’s lunch ride is the bike that the guys are on. One that the duo have been busy developing and working on with the team here at Cannondale for the best part of 3 years. The new SuperSix EVO.

Naturally, the SuperSix already has a special place in the heart of these lunchbreak breakaway (lunchbreakaway?) specialists. They’ve come to know every iteration, every evolution and every wind-cheating enhancement of the model over time.

Real World Riders

Sure, many of the performance bikes that Cannondale design and develop are ultimately destined for elite, world-class athletes. Professional racers who expect the very best in marginal gains-giving innovation to help them do their day jobs to the very best of their abilities and beyond.

But what about the rest of us? The real riders who aren’t lining up on the WorldTour, and who probably have a very different looking 9 to 5?

Well, with a bike like SuperSix, the speed, handling and performance really do start with the real-world riders who know it best. So, as well as the countless hours of wind tunnel time and pro-rider feedback, these kinds of punchy-yet-chatty lunch loops also become the natural testing ground for many of Cannondale’s most important bikes.

Of course, these gents do bring some serious performance pedigree to the table when it comes to turning the pedals themselves. Will G is Cat. 1 racer, regularly at the front of the pack on the U.S. Road Racing scene, while Nathan comes from a competitive road race and tri background in Australia, where he mixed racing with pursuing his PhD in cycling aerodynamics. So, the pair do know what they’re talking about from a performance perspective.

From Wilton to the World

A definite perk of working for a bike company where the ethos of riding is so important means rides like this are encouraged at Cannondale. Arguably the dream for any avid cyclist, right?

On today’s ride, the guys roll across the railroad tracks not too far from the station where the company first got its name. Back in 1971, the small, red-painted Cannondale station house played its role in kick-starting a tiny company in a loft above a pickle factory.

What started out as a workshop building bicycle trailers, packs and gear gradually turned its attention to bicycles. And it never turned back.

While the industry was still predominantly building bikes from skinny, flexy steel back then, Joe Montgomery and his team experimented with aluminum as a lighter, stiffer alternative. And cyclists loved it.

That “What-if...” mentality and healthy curiosity became the secret sauce for a company that’s still inspired by these same values today and still keeps game-changing innovation as its true calling.

And today, while Wilton is still the spiritual and corporate home of Cannondale, the company and team have embraced a more global shape. With its R&D Center in Freiburg, Germany, for example, the team can continue to lead the pack in innovation and development.

So, it’s easy to see that the same kind of curious collaboration that first kicked things off at Cannondale back at the start, still holds true and guides the company today – albeit on a slightly more global scale than the workshop above the pickle factory.