Christoph Sauser's Cannondale Scalpel at the time not only had one of the best frames of its time. It was equipped with components that were not available to buy. A few came off the shelf and were modified. Many, however, were custom-made by his mechanic at the time, Patrick Griessen - one of the tuning popes among the World Cup mechanics of the time.

Lighter than most hardtails

The Scalpel frame was already the object of desire in the aluminum version. In the carbon version, it drove the flow of saliva unstoppably. What was special about it was that Griessen had every steel screw for Sauser's bike reproduced in aluminum or titanium in order to reduce the weight wherever it had no actual benefit. At 8.95 kilograms, the racing machine was lighter than most hardtails.

Sauser's Olympic bike shows just how much shifting trends have changed. While today a single, relatively small chainring at the front is sufficient and the cassette covers a huge range from 10 to over 50 teeth, back then it was the other way around.

Today, only a few high-end bikes have two chainrings at the front and a front derailleur. At the front, size 29 and 42 chainrings were standard for racers. Sauser made the chain jump with a Dura Ace derailleur from Shimano. At the rear, a 9-speed Sram cassette with 11-32 teeth was operated by Sram's X0 rear derailleur.
For the Olympic mountain bike race in Athens, Sram equipped 16 selected athletes with golden components such as Grip Shift twist shifters and a hollow-pin chain and cassette.

Lightweight stoppers

With the "Marta SL", the Swabian stopper specialists already had an extremely lightweight yet powerful disc brake in their portfolio. However, aluminum and titanium screws were not the only thing on the brakes where weight could be saved. Sauser opted for aluminum brake discs with a special coating. These weighed just over half as much as the steel discs normally specified, but the braking performance was also sufficient. It is all the more surprising that only a 140 mm brake disc was used at the rear.

No compromises

Even though everything on the Sauser Scalpel seems to have been slimmed down, he made no compromises when it came to ergonomics. For example, he steered his bike with a Syntace "VRO Ultralite Carbon" handlebar. The reason for this choice was that Syntace was the only manufacturer at the time to offer handlebars with a twelve-degree backward crank. This crank corrected the hand position, which resulted in less fatigue. At 580 millimetres, however, the handlebar width was significantly narrower back then than it is today. Fizik's Gobi saddle was also standard on Sauser's racing bikes for several years.

Mavic's Crossmax SL was used for the wheels. These were the benchmark among wheels at the time. For the races, however, they were modified to run smoothly with unsealed ceramic bearings. In training, however, Sauser only rode with standard bearings packed with grease. Mavic rims were fitted with Hutchinson's classic Python tires in 26x2.0 inch. Christoph Sauser rode this tire profile in practically all weather conditions. At the races, however, the heavy tubeless versions remained in the cellar. Instead, the light models had to be used, sealed with tire repair foam.

Incredible change in technology

The Cannondale team was the dream team of many athletes at the time, not least because of the bikes. The suspension fork - although technically not a fork - was and still is revolutionary and its electronic locking system was way ahead of its time. The gear ratio on the other hand - a 32 sprocket at the rear? Today, smaller sizes are used as a single chainring and rear sprockets with around 50 teeth.

Apart from the wheel size, the geometry has also changed considerably. Although the seating positions are still similar, the bikes have become more elongated under the rider. Tires, rims, axles and handlebars have become wider, and the suspension travel sometimes exceeds the hundred millimeter limit. Today, good downhill characteristics are also in demand: smooth running and stability as well as versatility, instead of just as little weight as possible and a maneuverable bike.
What the Olympic bikes will look like in 2036 is still open to speculation.