# What is the purpose of a "Lefty"?



## Wayne Meuir (Apr 28, 2011)

I have seen pics of bikes they call "lefty's" and I was just wondering what the purpose of them are. Why would you want or need a single fork bike?

Wayne


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## kestrel242 (Jul 11, 2008)

I've never tried one personally, but they have at least two advantages I'm aware of:

First, the diameter of the stanchion of a Lefty is really huge. You won't see them that big on a conventional fork because the weight would be out of control. Since lateral stiffness of a tube increases very rapidly as diameter increases, a Lefty will be both stiff and fairly light.

Second, as far as I know, all Lefty's slide on a carpet of hundreds (?) of needle bearings instead of through a bushing. That reduces stiction and improves small-bump sensitivity.

All in all, pretty useful stuff.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I don't think it's hundreds of needle bearings, but it is a lot.

Lefties also have very competitive weight. People have started putting them on the front of non-Cannondale bikes now that head tubes for 1.5" headsets are getting more common on other models.

A friend of mine had one of the lower-end models on her bike. I can't say I could feel a difference between it and another coil fork, but I only screwed around with it on the sidewalk. There are several different models of Lefty, with different spring and damping systems.


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## RogueSpear2023 (Apr 20, 2011)

They are light weight and very stiff, those are really the main points, I own a lefty and it is definitely very stiff even though it wouldn't seem that way. The tubes on the inside are square rather than round. Also due to the design if you have a side load say turning very sharp in theory they can absorb the shock better, because there is only on tube bending very slightly instead of two tubes bending more significantly at different rates causing them to bind.


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## jpeters (Nov 19, 2010)

My friend has a lefty and I must say it looks cool it feels great and its light


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## pfox90 (Aug 8, 2010)

So you can buy C'dale (lefty) specific parts. Sounds like fun to me when you gotta repair something.


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## RogueSpear2023 (Apr 20, 2011)

pfox90 said:


> So you can buy C'dale (lefty) specific parts. Sounds like fun to me when you gotta repair something.


Wouldn't think it would be anymore difficult then any of us who own a cannondale. It's not as hard to find parts as one would think, mom and pop bike shops out in the middle of nowhere may not have the part, but larger ones will.


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## Sideknob (Jul 14, 2005)

I have a Lefty - compared to my 100mm Reba SL with QR it's much stiffer. I don't know how the Lefty compares to forks with a bigger QR axle setup as to stiffness.

The Lefty does seem to require more maintenance - the bearings need to be 'reset' on a regular basis, for example.

Mine lost it's rebound damping and lockout recently at just over a year old - I waited *5 weeks* from the time it was sent off by my LBS (I'm in Australia) to whoever fixes these things down here.

Also, the proprietary stem and headset makes it harder and more expensive to swap stems around, source headset bearings and so on.

I wouldn't have another one, TBH.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

kestrel242 said:


> That reduces stiction and _reduces_ small-bump sensitivity.


I owned a Headshock for many years and have ridden a few bikes with Lefty forks. I don't think the Lefty and the Headshock are all that great with small bump sensitivity. They are relativley lightweight and they do stay on track really well (torsionally stiff).

I wouldn't have one because I have to remove my front wheel every time I take my bike somewhere (several times a week) and don't think highly enough of them to go through that every time I want to ride. Everyone is different though and their strengths/weaknesses may work out for you better than a conventional fork. Great that we have choices.


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## gabep (Apr 25, 2011)

As I understand it, the Lefty would be far more common on mountain bikes, but for Cannondale's aggressive patent litigation policy. They are very protective of their well thought out technology.


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## dapozer (Jun 10, 2010)

Sideknob said:


> The Lefty does seem to require more maintenance - the bearings need to be 'reset' on a regular basis, for example.
> 
> Also, the proprietary stem and headset makes it harder and more expensive to swap stems around, source headset bearings and so on.
> 
> I wouldn't have another one, TBH.


Project 321 conversions allow fitment to almost all bikes out there. and you can use the standard stem everyone wants to run, 321 makes it nice and easy.

Maintenance is not that big of a deal, resetting barrings takes less than 5 minutes or about 2 swallows of beer. I do mine 1x month if it needs it or not. Everything need maintenance, this is just easy.

Stiff and lightweight are the main factors, alloy Leftys weigh in around 3lbs and carbon is less than that.

Last cool thing a Lefty can do is changing tire or tube without dismounting the wheel. This speeds things up.

Not 100 needle barrings but 88 of those little suckers


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## Doug_H (Feb 17, 2011)

Good thread. I have wondered about those since I first saw one!


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## RogueSpear2023 (Apr 20, 2011)

Another bonus is you get interesting looks from everyone, at least those that have never seen one. I know when I bought mine I really questioned how good they really are until I read review after review praising them.


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

My favorite aspect is that they have seemingly NO stiction. Meaning they are constantly active and have great small bump compliance. They are also, in a lot of cases, lighter and stiffer then traditional forks. 

Honestly I think they ride amazing, BUT I also HATE proprietary parts so I don't run one. And I even work at a Coannondale dealer and am good friends with one of the top Cannondale suspension experts in the country.


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## gabep (Apr 25, 2011)

*Hold on just one seconds...*



big_papa_nuts said:


> BUT I also HATE proprietary parts so I don't run one.


But those proprietary parts are what make them so superior to so many other forks.


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## bigbeck (Feb 15, 2004)

Propriety parts still stink even if they do work well. One of my buds was without his bike for half a summer because of a leaky Lefty. It had to go back to the factory twice for the same problem.-oil leaking on the brakes.


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## aerius (Nov 20, 2010)

Wayne Meuir said:


> I have seen pics of bikes they call "lefty's" and I was just wondering what the purpose of them are. Why would you want or need a single fork bike?


So you can change tubes & tires or fix a flat tire without removing the wheel from the bike.


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## mimi1885 (Aug 12, 2006)

big_papa_nuts said:


> .
> 
> Honestly I think they ride amazing, BUT I also HATE proprietary parts so I don't run one. And I even work at a Coannondale dealer and am good friends with one of the top Cannondale suspension experts in the country.


Proprietary parts are usually on higher end stuffs I wouldn't worry about changing components. It's not like you are going to run out and get new fork every time something come out. I have this argument with my buddies a few time and none of them upgrade their forks, the just get a newer bike. It's the same case as tapered steerer they are not proprietary but unless you háček 1.5 or tapered head tube it's not interchangeable either.

Plus it's not that hard to sell the lefty. I liked it when I had it, if I see one at the right price I'll grab one too.:thumbsup:


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## ratmonkey (Feb 10, 2011)

bigbeck said:


> Propriety parts still stink even if they do work well. One of my buds was without his bike for half a summer because of a leaky Lefty. It had to go back to the factory twice for the same problem.-oil leaking on the brakes.


Every single company making suspension for bikes has propriety parts in their products. it's how you distinguish your brand from brand x.


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## bigbeck (Feb 15, 2004)

aerius said:


> So you can change tubes & tires or fix a flat tire without removing the wheel from the bike.


Of course you can. But i would not even consider that an advantage. I mean, how much work is it to flip a QR lever.:lol: And if the tire is tight on the rim, you have to wrestle with the whole bike to get it off or remove the wheel.

Also,when you trash the front wheel, where do you get a replacement when the Cannondale dealer is closed?

The Lefty system works well - when it works. But when it malfunctions, it really sucks.


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## ratmonkey (Feb 10, 2011)

bigbeck said:


> Of course you can. But i would not even consider that an advantage. I mean, how much work is it to flip a QR lever.:lol: And if the tire is tight on the rim, you have to wrestle with the whole bike to get it off or remove the wheel.
> 
> Also,when you trash the front wheel, where do you get a replacement when the Cannondale dealer is closed?
> 
> The Lefty system works well - when it works. But when it malfunctions, it really sucks.


If you gotta wrestle a tire you gotta wrestle a tire. On or off the bike doesn't really matter at this point.
If the c'dale dealer isn't open I would suspect no one else is either. But what does that matter since your ride is ruined anyways, lefty or not. Not like theres a wheel shop at the trail head or anything. not many with regular wheels carry spares anyways either, that and theres still another 6 types of front axle on the market to deal with. How many run 20qr? 25mm? 15qr? This is not an issue no one else's forks don't face.

Any fork malfunctioning sucks, they all have unique ways of sucking. Just face it that you don't like it and will trash it for the same things your actual favorite brands do. There are no perfect forks out there, every brands had it's few things it does well and few things that blow.


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## mimi1885 (Aug 12, 2006)

ratmonkey said:


> Every single company making suspension for bikes has propriety parts in their products. it's how you distinguish your brand from brand x.


Yep, shock nowadays are custom valve for specific model. It may says Rp23 or has the same i2i and stroke as another brand but swapping them may not yield the optimum ride.

Like ratmonkey said if the fork malfunction it just sucks period regardless of brand. I have a top of the line Fox that's been sent back 4 times.


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