From Santa Cruz to Cannondale? A few years ago, such a change would have seemed completely unthinkable. However, the US manufacturer - with its legendary and golden years in the 90s - is now on an aggressive image offensive. Nick Larsen is not uninvolved in this. He founded the urban bike brand Charge Bikes in 2004 and really shook up the city bike scene, and not just with the Plug model. In 2009, Charge rolled under the umbrella of the Cycling Sports Group (CSG), which includes brands such as Cannondale, GT, Schwinn and Mongoose. Larsen had designed and built up the Fabric accessories brand for CSG - and has been working on an image correction for Cannondale for around two years.

Larsen's first idea is a new logo that is no longer italicized, but stands upright with a self-confident, retro feel. Another step towards a new look is the relaunch of the website in early summer 2018. The new Habit fully, which Cannondale will be presenting in summer 2019, is also very unusual. This trail bike features a Horst Link rear triangle for the first time and breaks with everything Cannondale stands for in terms of design language. No pull-shock damper, surprisingly little system integration - no Lefty, for example - and a shape that is more reminiscent of Specialized or YT, if forum posts are to be believed.

The involvement of Josh Bryceland fits in perfectly with Cannondale's new image. The 28-year-old Brit is hanging up his Santa Cruz bikes and showing off his talent on the fully Habit, which surprisingly still features Santa Cruz wheels. Bryceland aka Ratboy also leads a new crew of up-and-coming mountain bike talent at Cannondale, with Sam (aka Dave) Hockenhull, Max Nerurkar and youngster Sam Cofano on board.

chronicles.cannondale.com