On review we have the Jekyll Carbon 2, a bike that is so enduro from every angle.

We recently reviewed the all-new Cannondale Habit SE, the short travel trail ripper and we LOVED it. – Habit SE review.

Cannondale’s director of suspension technology, Jeremiah Boobar was in town recently and we grabbed him for a chat about mountain bike suspension, product testing, Cannondale, Lefty’s and setup. It’s worth a read for sure.  Interview: Turning Bumps Into Heat With Jeremiah Boobar.

The Frame

The Jekyll is about as unique as they come, with a wild looking suspension design and a pull shock at the heart of it all. The FOX DYAD rear shock looks more like an underwater breathing apparatus than a mountain bike part, but what it achieves is pretty cool.

The FOX DYAD rear shock. Our first experience with the FOX DYAD rear shock was with the Jekyll’s kid brother, the shorter travel Cannondale Trigger which we’ve spent some time on – Trigger review.

The FOX DYAD RT2 shock is a pretty wild concept. Rather than compressing like we are used to it pulls apart, and is actually two separate shocks in one unit. Using the remote lever on the bars, you can switch between ‘Flow’ and ‘Elevate’ mode, with short (95mm) and long travel (160mm) modes.

The adjustment subsequently has an impact on the bike’s geometry. We’ve seen Cannondale and Scott use this style of suspension adjustability to great effect, there is nothing like hitting that lever when the trails turn up, sharpening the angles, lifting the bottom bracket height and reducing the travel for better climbing efficiency.

Geometry: The Jekyll comes from Cannondale’s ‘Overmountain’ category, with a 67 degree head angle and a 592mm horizontal top tube measurement, it’s a long and slack bike, just how we like a 160mm travel bike to be. 

The chainstays are 440mm, that’s pretty long but will also translate to some serious high speed stability.

The Parts

First thing that stood out to us is the absence of a Lefty, and in its place is the more familiar RockShox Pike. Since the late nineties we have become used to seeing Cannondale’s distinctive Lefty up the front of their bikes but in our experience we’ve had mixed feelings with the unique single sided suspension ‘fork’, the Lefty has its benefits when it comes to weight and steering precision but also downsides when it comes to the damper when compared to modern FOX and RockShox forks.

The Lefty usually dominates our thoughts when reviewing a Cannondale, making this model Jekyll even more interesting, as everyone is familiar with the brilliant Pike by now.

It’s a SRAM show with the drivetrain and brakes, but Cannondale handle the cranks with the trick looking HolloGram SI crank and SpideRing one-piece chainring and spider. The cranks run through the big BB30 bearings, the whole crank area looks very neat indeed.

The wheels will need to be converted to tubeless before we get going on it. The tubeless ready Schwalbe tyres should seal up fine, but the rims will need tape and valves that aren’t supplied.

Righto then that’s the highlights, lets put it to the test.

Stay tuned for our review soon!