Pro Bike Check: Mona’s All-New Scalpel

Sometimes the making of a champion comes down to the details: the particular ways and places they train, the specific equipment, the strict schedules, the disciplined diet. In racing, when the difference between winning and losing can be a fraction of a second, the little things can become the big things.

For Cannondale Factory Racing star Mona Mitterwallner – whose list of career victories and championships is astounding, yet she’s only 22 years old – one of those “details” is the sheer number of hours she spends riding. Hours, upon hours, upon hours, every week. That's a lot of time to get to know your bike.

“With the new bike, descending feels like flying. It’s easier to roll over rough stuff. It feels light, and flows down the trail. I feel like a unit with my bike and nothing can stop us.”

– Mona Mitterwallner

That’s also a lot of time to dial in your machine just the way you like it, and Mona’s particular preferences in her build reflect that. Among her CFR teammates and crew, she’s infamous for paying intricate attention to her bike, especially the interactions between it, her, and the parts and configurations with which she experiments.

With an all-new Scalpel launching in 2024, almost everything has changed on Mona's machine (excluding the small strap around her seat tube, attached to every bike in every race she’s entered since her mother gave it to her as a gift before her very first competition). After countless development hours, she’s sorted it all out for her new season. Take a look at what she’ll be riding: