Pro Bike Check: Mona’s All-New Scalpel

Photos by Michele Mondini, CUT Media & Rupert Fowler

By: Caffery Garff

World Marathon XC champ Mona Mitterwallner spends more time riding her Scalpel than anyone you’ll probably ever meet. Check out a close-up of the new one she’ll be dominating on in 2024.

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:

Frame: All-new, eighth-generation Cannondale Scalpel, size Small, Series 0 carbon construction


Rear Shock: Fox Factory Series Float SL (120mm travel), 95psi, six rebound clicks


Saddle: Prologo Proxim W650 Performance, 5.1° forward tilt


Seatpost: Fox Transfer SL (70mm travel)

Fork: Lefty Ocho Carbon 120 (120mm travel), 85psi, zero compression clicks, seven rebound clicks


Wheelset: FSA, carbon fiber rims, 30mm internal width


Power Meter: Stages


Tires: Schwalbe Flying Finn, 2.4” front and rear, 0.93 bar (13.5 psi) front with no insert, 0.95 bar (13.8 psi) rear with Tubolite SL insert

Drivetrain: Shimano XTR M9100, 1x12 drivetrain


Crank: Shimano XTR M9100 165mm crank arms


Chainring: Shimano XTR M9100 34-tooth front chain ring


Cassette: Shimano XTR M9100 12-speed 10/51 cassette


Chain: Shimano XTR 12-speed MTB chain


Brakes: Shimano XTR BL-M9100, RT-CL900 rotors, 160mm front and rear

Handlebar/Stem: SystemBar XC-One Flat, integrated one-piece carbon cockpit, internal cable routing, 5º upsweep, 8º backsweep, 60mm stem length with -6º angle, bar cut to 650mm width

Pedals: Shimano XTR PD-M9100


Bottle Cages: Elite Prism Carbon


Bearings: CeramicSpeed (hubs, bottom bracket, headset, and suspension pivots)

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