Pete heads into the hills to see if a fork upgrade help the big yellow Cannondale Habit LT2 start to sing the same tune as the rear shock.
With only a slightly mis-firing fork holding back the big banana that is the Cannondale Habit LT2, how has a more refined fork changed the ride?
Photos by Pete Scullion.
Key features:
- Rockshox Lyrik Base 150mm fork
- Rockshox Super Deluxe Select shock
- Shimano XT/SLX 12-speed drive
- Shimano SLX 4-piston brakes
- WTB ST i30 TCS rims on Shimano MT400 hubs
- Cannondale DownLow dropper
- £3,500.00 RRP
- Cannondale.com
Geometry
The Cannondale Habit LT2 is available in XS, SM, MD, LG and XL.
Reach on the Medium (tested here) is 450mm with a seat tube 400mm long. Head angle is 64.7 degrees combined with an effective seat tube angle of 77.1 degrees. Chainstays are 435mm and the Medium wheelbase is 1204mm.
Last time I checked in with the Cannondale Habit LT2’s First Look Review, there was plenty of promise, plenty of speed, just held back by a misfiring Lyrik Base fork. Otherwise, the Shimano XT/SLX 12-speed drive train was as solid as you’d come to expect, the base model Super Deluxe shock far exceeds the on-paper performance, and Cannondale’s own finishing kit has been solid throughout.
Almost as soon as the First Look review was out, I swapped the Lyrik Base forks out for a set of Lyrik Ultimates, albeit with 10mm more travel. This was exactly what the Habit LT2 was missing. The opening laps had been typified by a bike that was almost too fast in many places, with that feel exacerbated by the rotors not making the most of the brake power available and the Maxxis Dissector being a bit too happy to lock whenever things got exciting.
With the forks now singing the same tune as the rear shock, which is high praise for the base spec Super Deluxe air unit, it was time to crack on and crack on we did. The better tracking and damping of the fork did just lead to higher speed but with more composure, which might, if anything, have highlighted the need for a better braking grip on the rear and the wooden feeling of the stamped rotors.
That Dissector does make for speedy climbs and on fast, flowing descents where braking is minimal, the speed is unreal. Geometry-wise, the Habit LT2 is stable yet lively, a real hoot in the tight and twisty, but also not twitchy when it comes to the high speed stuff. Obviously that’s in the context of a 140mm bike. A 170mm bike will be more stable on the fast stuff or a 120mm will be better in the tight, but for a 140mm full bouncer, the overlap is much greater than you’d expect.
At £3,500 list price, I was happy to forgive these foibles in exchange for the riot that was the descending experience on the Habit LT2. Few 140mm bikes go this hard, and the upgrades I would make aren’t exactly the most costly. The dicky forks would be fixed by the local dealer, the rotors and tyres might even be lingering about the shed if you’re lucky. You could drop another ~£500 on this bike and get the better fork damper, a grippier (although probably slower on the climbs) rear tyre and IceTech rotors.
Otherwise, I think Cannondale have landed on a very good balance of value and performance. Only when riding long, chundery trails does the rear shock start to get overwhelmed, but then it’s a 140mm bike. You could easily ride this bike hard all day every day and not have any complaints.
What do we think?
Put simply, there’s few bikes faster for the money than the Cannondale Habit LT2. A few inexpensive upgrades would really make this a rocketship.
We love:
- Point it down a hill, hold on tight
- Value and performance
Could do better:
- Stock forks are unrefined
