Cannondale 29"er Rumors and More

Cannondale has a single 29"er model this year in the F-29 hardtail but that looks to change in '08. It would appear that the aluminum smiths in Bedford are actually going to do the single speed version after all. I had heard rumors that it was going to come out this year yet, but then I heard plans were scrapped on that. Now it appears the 1 FG 29"er will become a reality for the '08 model year after all.

Added to that is a newly tweaked Caffeine frame for the F-29. The '07 model had minimal clearance at the seat stay bridge for fat 29"er rubber. The '08 model has rectified that problem by having the seat stays reshaped and the bridge welded in differently to optimize clearance for up to a 2.5" tire. Nice! Plus it seems that the top tubes are going to actually reflect the lengths on the 26"er Caffeines. The '07 models all measured out too short in the effective top tube.

Look for at least the 1 FG 29"er, the tweaked F-29 frame in at least two spec levels, and possibly one other model. A Rush 29"er, perhaps? Or a Taurine carbon hardtail 29"er? Hmmm..........

More: Trans Iowa will once again be posting live updates throughout the weekend of the event. Unlike last year, you won't be getting those here, but you will get them at Ride424.com. Karl of Ride424 has graciously invited me to post up my reports via an audio link that should appear on the front page of his site. Click on the link to hear the latest from "Trans Iowa Radio" and keep tabs on the 30 plus hours of gravel grinding mayhem. I will post up a pre-race outlook soon, so look for that before the event.

The roster attrition continues. We're down to 101 guys and gals as of this morning. I fully expect that we will be under 100 before the start, but with good weather forecasted for this weekend, I doubt we'll see the numbers of "no-shows" that we did last year. My guess is we'll have 90 plus at the start line. It all works out in the end, doesn't it? 126 guys and gals seemed like alot when we decided to let everyone in, but Jeff and I figured that we'd end up with about what we'll have. Looks like we were right. At least we're right about something! Ha ha!