It’s an incredibly effective system in terms of how well it erases road and trail chatter, but especially for larger and/or heavier riders, or riders that run more saddle setback and have jerkier pedal strokes, IsoSpeed can also be prone to unwanted movement even when the road surface is perfectly smooth. The crown-to-axle on the rigid fork and Oliver is the same, making it handle the same when things are smooth or locked out. Buy now: Cannondale Topstone Carbon Ultegra RX at Cyclestore for £3493.99. Sometimes the pushiness has paid off, sometimes not. A 103cm wheelbase matched with a 41.5cm chainstay, offering room for 47mm, 650b tires. A few years later Cannondale went big and introduced the Well, it looks like Cannondale stayed inspired enough with the overall concept of the Slate to introduce a new, fully suspended version of their Still using their proprietary Kingpin rear suspension, the new Topstone frame is pretty much unchanged from its predecessor. The Oliver is similar to their most recent mountain bike version with a single crown, but the damping and travel have been fine-tuned for gravel and all-road use. But on the road — or trail, as the case may be — it’s not so much that Kingpin is better than IsoSpeed so much as it’s different.The Cannondale Topstone Carbon is a superb all-around carbon gravel bike, but it’s not without a few compromises.I personally find the IsoSpeed system on the Checkpoint to be more, well, isolating in how well it levels off the ground beneath you, but that’s not necessarily a positive depending on your preferences. Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive content, deals & events. Nope, at least not to me. When paired with the Cannondale app, it records your rides without needing a dedicated GPS head unit, and can also provide maintenance reminders.Cable routing is internal through the front triangle, but everything exits at the bottom bracket.From there, the rear brake hose and rear derailleur housing is zip-tied to the chainstays.Like CyclingTips? The newer, adjustable version of IsoSpeed largely addresses all of that, but at least for now, the Checkpoint is still outfitted with the standard non-adjustable design.In contrast, the rear end of the Topstone Carbon still offers up a distinctly muted and composed feel on bumps, almost as if you employed a helper to run ahead of you on the trail and round off all the sharp edges. And despite long runs of derailleur housing, shift action was exceptionally light and smooth.The brake rotors are borrowed from Shimano’s 105 groupset and lack the cooling fins of the Ultegra bits.The dramatically dropped seatstays require the rear brake caliper to be mounted up high, instead of on the chainstays. On the flagship Topstone Carbon model I rode at the bike’s debut in Vermont, it wasn’t quite as much of an issue. The bike is responsive and, like many of the other suspension-equipped drop-bar bikes, you can fly downhill with complete confidence. Tricky climbs that I usually clean on other gravel bikes, I cleaned on the Topstone; and likewise, ones that frequently elude me eluded me just the same.One other key element of the Topstone Carbon’s admirable ride quality is the shaped carbon fiber seatpost. In concept, Kingpin is a lot like Trek’s IsoSpeed system in that it allows the seat tube to flex more over bumps than it otherwise would without some sort of mechanical pivot in place. This would explain why the noise goes away right after external washing.”Speaking of creaks, it was only after I applied a healthy dose of grease and carbon paste to various parts of the internal wedge-type seatpost binder that that area managed to stay quiet.And those nifty 22mm-wide carbon rims? That’s not to say that Cannondale is lying, mind you, but rather that any effect simply wasn’t perceptible by me. Topstone Carbon Lefty comes with 650 x 47c tires for even more off-road ability and on-road comfort. “It is almost impossible to keep all moisture from getting in through the seat tube,” said Mackey, “but there is a generous 6mm drain hole in the bottom bracket shell to allow any moisture to pass through. For decades now Cannondale has been known as a bike brand not afraid to push the limits with new innovation. The Oliver fits the Lefty 50 hub that has been on the market for many years. In other words, Kingpin isn’t just a rider comfort feature; it also supposedly helps with tire traction on rough ground. Cannondale Topstone Carbon Force eTap AXS [German] Level 2 expert It scores highly with a balanced seating position and high comfort, especially on very rough ground, where the superior damping properties of the Kingpin suspension become noticeable. And as oversold as the benefit of the Kingpin at the pivot point is, it has never suffered from any problems in testing.The big news for the 2020 Topstone is the addition of the Lefty suspension fork, now called “Oliver,” that provides 30mm of rear travel. Things like their radical Lefty suspension fork have proven themselves over time, but it definitely took a while for it to truly get dialed in. As we head to the roads less traveled, the minimal suspension is appreciated, even when we are just doing some light off-road exploring.Heading for the hills is where our budget build starts to show its shortcomings. I wouldn’t quite characterize the ride quality up front as harsh — the bike still rides on 37c tires, mind you — but that huge down tube and head tube area flex about as much as you’d expect.There are lots of gravel bikes out there with ultra-long wheelbases, ground-scraping bottom bracket heights, and super slack front ends, all in the name of confidence-inspiring stability.Riders coming off of traditional road bikes that prefer similarly The front end of the Topstone Carbon feels as stout as appearances would suggest.Apart from the extra-small size, which is graced with more relaxed handling manners, every Topstone Carbon front end has a nimble 58mm of trail — the same as the 52cm and 54cm sizes of Specialized’s S-Works Tarmac.