Road cycling is changing. There’s been a noticeable move towards all terrain accessibility for drop bar bikes over the last few years and the classic boundaries between bike types are ever blurring. Where you used to have clear distinctions between road bikes and off-road bikes, the gaps between are filling up with models that previously wouldn’t even have been dreamt up. 

The current epitome of this is Cannondale’s new Slate. It takes what’s great about road bikes, mixes it with a bit of cross bike and slaps in a touch of mountain bike for good measure. It’s a beast, there’s no two ways about it.

While it might offend traditional roadies’ sensibilities, the Slate is a bike aimed as someone who wants to ride on the road as well as have the option to cut across a trail or two should it take their fancy.

Coming in at £2,499.99 it features a Lefty Oliver fork (worth £1,000 on its own) that offers 30mm of travel and zero sag as well as being the stiffest fork currently on the market.

Seatpost is a 27.2mm option. Cannondale could have gone with the 25.4 like the Synapse and the Supersix, but sticking with 27.2mm means that if you want to you can add a dropper post to the Slate.

Another interesting feature is the wheels: they’re 650b. Crazy as it sounds, there is method to the madness. Basically, the 650b wheels with the 42mm tyres on them are the same fit as 700c road bike wheels with 23mm tyres, meaning they’ll offer the same manoeuvrability and handling but at the same time a whole lot more comfort – important if you want to take the Slate into genuine off-road territory.

Frameset is 6069 alloy on all three models, and the trio also all feature the same Cannondale Lefty Oliver carbon suspension fork. As you may have guessed, axle at the front is a through axle (Syntace 142×12, since you asked), but the rear has a though axle too, another way in which this bike is ahead of the curve if you’re looking from a road perspective. The geometry is interesting too. Cannondale describe is as ‘Full Fun’, and what that means is short chain and seat stays which keep the back agile, paired with a slacker head angle and longer front-centre to provide more stability. Cannondale say fit sits between the full on race of the Supersix and the Endurance of the Synapse.

What changes between the three models is groupset. The lower end model is Shimano 105 paired to R505 hydraulic discs, middle is Ultegra with R685 discs and the range topper is SRAM CX1 with their hydraulic disc system. It’s also worth noting that the frame is Di2 ready in case you fancy an electronic upgrade.

Pricing on the three Slate models is:

Force CX1 – £2,999.99
Ultegra – £2,799.99
105 – £2,499.99