First Ride: Cannondale Slate 'New Road' Road Bike
If you ride on the road for fun, fitness, or adventure, you should pay very close attention to the newly available Cannondale Slate. This road bike turns things upside down with 42c tires mounted to 650b rims, for the same outer diameter as a 700x23c setup; a 1,170g, road-specific, 30mm travel Lefty suspension fork; and a modern 1,200g aluminum frame. I’ve ridden every type of bicycle under the sun and thought I knew what the Slate would be all about—but even I was in for a few pleasant surprises.
Above all else, the Slate can be defined as a multi-surface road bike: It has drop bars, road bike-like geometry, road gearing, and slick tires. Cannondale calls it New Road, which I like; the oft-used designation of gravel bike makes me cringe—isn’t every gravel road still a road? But the Slate really does bring something new to the road, and it’s pretty incredible.
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Cannondale gave me the opportunity to take the Slate on a first ride starting on the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, California. The bike is offered in three models that all share the same frame, fork, rim, and tires: The Slate Disc Force 1, with a claimed weight of 18 pounds ($4,260); Slate Disc Ultegra ($3,520); and Slate Disc 105 ($2,980). My steed for the day was the Ultegra model. I typically ride a 58cm road bike and fit perfectly on a size XL Slate.
Right away I was impressed by how fast the large tires rolled when aired up to a mere 45 psi. It reminded me a lot of riding a mountain bike with FatBoy tires way back in the Cactus Cup days of racing a few decades ago. The Slate's rider position and bike handling made it feel just like a road bike, albeit a very stable one. The other sensation is sound—a hollow sound emanates from the large tires in a way that’s unusual but pleasing.
As we turned off the PCH and started climbing Encinal Canyon Road, I expected the bike to lumber along due to weight and perhaps some resistance from the huge tires—but that wasn’t the case. Darn if it didn’t feel a lot like the regular old road bike I'd ridden the day before. Sure, the Slate is heavier, but that’s mostly noticed when accelerating or closing a gap. Once up to speed, it cruises along really nicely. And with the Lefty’s hard lockout, it didn’t bob or feel inefficient, either.
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Up to this point, it was just your average road ride, but things got interesting when we turned off the pavement and onto the Backbone Trail. This dirt singletrack, which runs along the Santa Monica Mountains, is smooth and somewhat boring on a mountain bike, but challenging and fun on the Slate. The hardpacked surface was covered with loose sand and gravel, making traction a bit touchy, but the Slate’s tires gripped surprisingly well and rolled incredibly fast—faster, perhaps, than even a typical 'cross bike setup. Taking smooth arcing turns and feathering the brakes evenly are key to going fast and staying upright.
Since I was in the dirt, I opened up the fork’s lockout and found it had a firm feel with very little, if any, sag. It’s not plush like a mountain bike fork, but it’s just plush enough to take the edge off bigger hits and add a little control, giving the front end a more planted feel.
Cannondale brought out cyclocross star and all-around nice guy Tim Johnson to lead the ride; trying to keep up with a rider of his caliber proved rather challenging. His leadout made me push the bike harder than I normally would have, and I was more surprised by what it could take in the dirt than what it couldn’t. The tires would grip tenaciously then let go all at once, so you had to be ready for it. In other words, everything is great until it isn’t; but even then, the Slate was good enough to keep me off the ground the entire ride.
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As we turned down Decker Canyon and descended back to PCH, I got my first real shock of the ride. The oversized footprint of the tires combined with hydraulic disc brakes and spot-on geometry had me charging into corners like I never had before on any other bike. Broken pavement, sand, and other debris didn’t even phase the Slate. I braked later and harder, leaning farther into the bend and gaining trust with each corner, until I was starting to scare myself a bit. I’m pretty sure the fork was compressing on the tighter corners, loading the front end and pulling it through the faster, tighter turns, too. The descent created sensations that I’ve never felt on a bicycle before, and it was flat-out amazing. I consider myself a capable, above-average road descender, but this machine bumped me up a notch or two.
As we saddled back up after a pit stop for some fuel, Storage Wars reality TV star Barry Weiss started admiring our bikes as we checked out his sweet vintage Triumph motorcycle. After explaining our route, his asked incredulously, “You rode those things on the dirt?!”
As unforgettable as the ride was up to this point, the best had yet to come. As we pedaled the five or so miles up PCH back to our cars, I dropped back from the group and meandered alone. I watched the surfers out in the water as the beautiful shoreline scenery passed and the balmy coastal air surrounded me. At some point I forgot I was even riding a bike—there in a moment I disconnected from everything around me, including turning over the pedals. It may sound corny and a bit crazy, but coming down from the stoke I felt from the day’s ride combined with the stable nature of the Slate. with its large smooth-riding tires, really let me zone out. Roadside construction cones and a disappearing shoulder forced me back to reality, but for about three miles I wasn’t riding—I just was, and the Slate took me there.
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