The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of Cannondale's HeadShok

In the 1990's, the HeadShok was one of the smoothest suspension forks out there, but eventually certain limitations forced Cannondale to rethink their design. What came next was the one legged 'Lefty' fork, which used technology from the HeadShok and lives on to this day. Both are extremely smooth, and had/have a cult following.

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[garthflint]

I was a Cannondale mechanic from 89 to 99. Headshoks were a pain in the rear. The boots cracked. The slightest bit of dirt and it was a complete teardown. Getting those bearing slides back in was pure joy. There were two types of Headshok. One with oil and a dampner, another with a rubber bumper. Hot days the bumper was mush. Cold days it was a brick. But they rode so much better than regular forks.

[FloppyWaffle]

Love this type of content as I'm almost 50 and those old 90's bike like that were and still are a dream of mine to own.

[KarlosEPM]

The brake levers on that bicycle are also a historical innovation. They allowed you to set more or less mechanical advantage to suit your preference. Precursor of servo-wave, which is now commonplace for hydraulic brakes. Cool stuff all around.

[Adrian_de]

my dad gave me his 24year old cannondale with a headstock just a few days ago. Its a piece of MTB history, such interesting bikes! Stoked to learn more about it! Super entertaining and informative as always Seth!!

[johnmorrison]

I’ve had several Leftys over the years and they have been incredible. I would love one again. I worked at a Cannondale dealer back in the day and had Headshock service training, so have no fears about keeping them running sweetly

[danggerraham]

I worked at a Cannondale dealer for six years. I honestly loved working on HeadShoks and Lefty’s. Even if you got a completely rusted out one you could just replace the races and/or the bearings and you had a (better than) new fork. Plus if you knew what you were doing you could customize the pressfit damper by changing the shim stack and/or oil weight. Also, as you ride the needle bearings and races polish so an older fork (that’s properly maintained) often feels better than a newer fork. At the time they were impressive technology.

[srabes]

I rock a 2003 F600 with an ultra fatty dl80. It’s new enough to have disc brakes and sports “Handmade in USA.” I also switched it to single speed and put 1.5s on it. Great little city assault bike and has a great orange to yellow paint job. Bought it a long time ago for a few hundred bucks and will never give it up.

[BryceLovesTech]

Thank you mate for making this video. I’m a huge Cannondale fan since my first one back in 1990. They were such an amazing company and they were the Apple of the 1990s bike industry. It’s a shame they fell so hard.

[sperrtechnik]

your the man, i tried to service my forke in 1997. let me tell you, without the internet and no help at all. it is not easy. Greetings from germany

[shawnwakeman]

First, I love that the YouTube algorithm sent me directly here after watching “now, in the 90s“(a retro video game review channel) it seems really fitting. Second, I basically lived in a bike shop in the 90s, I definitely remember that goofy head shock picture but it was a gigantic poster, the size of my whole body on the south end wall of the bike shop. (I was nine years old in 1995.) thank you Seth for the stellar content.

[BBouffardD]

I still have my Cannondale M800 / R900 from 93! Love them! they will stay in the bike army for ever.

[jnxmck]

I've just picked up an F900 from '00 because I wanted a cool retro bike with a headshok. So far I am loving it!

[mackymaca]

Cannondale did come up with some great innovations. Great vid!

[creepingjesus]

I still have a smile and nod for any Headshok Cannondales I see out and about. It's mostly fellow old gits these days, but it's good to recognise that quality engineering lasts.

[tuul]

My coil sprung lefty max is to this day the most sensitive, and stiff fork I’ve ever owned. The needle bearing system is leagues better than conventional bushings. It’s a shame they never went mainstream. Superior chassis

[carsonfiero]

Thanks man. Brings me back to my glory days. My 1998 F1000 is still in dad duty pulling the kids in the double chariot.

[TomKing.]

Seth, loving these retro bike videos, brings me back!

[Aveal]

Hey Seth, i don't know if you are reading YT Comments but i want to say that i absolutely love those videos on Bike History. As a kid growing up in the 90's i was living and breathing Mountainbiking and Actionsports as a whole. So your videos are tickle my nostalgia synapses immensely and i would be very happy to see more of them. But i am fine with every content you make!

[Doc.Holiday]

I had/have one of their “Prophet” Lefties MTB bikes. I have thousands of mtb / X country miles on it. I get tired of commenters that have never seen one before. It requires more maintenance than a normal suspension fork. Other than that it works.

[Strann]

i remember going to The Bicycle Shop in Jacksonville, NC to drool over the Cannondales with the Headshok. That and that fat down tube! I remember when that was a thing too, but it's almost commonplace now. Thanks, Seth!