Cannondale's mind-blowing Simon electronic suspension system hands-on
By Tim Stevens 
posted January 9th 2010 12:43PM
posted January 9th 2010 12:43PM
If you're a bicyclist or just a tech-minded person with a hankerin' for cool suspension technology, you've got to check out the videos after the break. One is a short demonstration to whet your appetite, the other a rather longer explanation from Cannondale engineer Stanley Song of just how the thing works. What is this thing? It's Simon, a fully electronic and nearly-instantly adjustable suspension system that does away with all the complex mechanical internals of a traditional high-end suspension system (shims, springs, valves, needles, knobs...) and replaces it with an electro-mechanical device that can near infinitely vary not only suspension strength but also ride height instantly based on road conditions. It even has an LCD on the bars. Interest piqued? Click through to see it in action.
The genesis of the idea here seemed to be that, as bike suspension got more advanced, so too did the knowledge of the person tuning that suspension have to be to get it right. If you don't know how to properly tweak fast versus slow damping, rebound, preload, and other like parameters you could easily create a machine about as much fun to ride as a wet noodle. Cannondale's Simon takes care of that, automatically providing an initial configuration based on your weight (which you can override, if you wish) -- but that's just the beginning.
There are multiple modes that can be applied via a four-way controller near the left grip. One is set for general all-road riding, giving the bike more or less traditional handling. Another mode is for climbing, which shortens the fork quite a bit to ensure the rider doesn't flip over backward and maintains even balance. There's also a mode that provides a responsive, rigid-like feel, like riding a bike with no suspension at all, except for one major change: when the bike detects a bump through the Analog Devices accelerometers embedded in the fork it instantly and momentarily softens. That means get all the feel of a rigid but none of the risks and, in theory, a lot less back pain too.
The bike can also detect when the rider goes over a jump, prepping itself for landing and setting itself into "bottomless" mode where the damping resistance increases exponentially the further it progresses along its travel, preventing it from ever bottoming out. Running out of travel can be a bad thing when you're flying down a logging road and don't feel like getting launched into the trees.
It's pretty amazing technology that, proud father Stanley Song said, is nearly ready for prime-time -- but there's one problem: he's not sure exactly who would buy it. A natural application right now would be for racers, but the resulting 430mm fork weighs 4.5lbs, almost twice what Cannondale's racing forks weigh and weight is everything on a race bike. Things are a little less critical in that department for consumer applications, but likely only the geekiest of suspension nerds would be lining up to pay whatever the premium this kind of system would cost. But, Stanley said, expect this technology to show up on his company's bikes in one shape or another before too long, possibly simplified and streamlined a bit, but assuredly still quite impressive -- and easier on the wallet.
That's intense, but one I've never felt safe on a one stanchion fork nor have I ever wanted electronics to control my dropout or anything else. ehhhh Sketchy Still cool concept though.
@DefusedHero
The lefty's make it up in a huge axel though so some people say it is stiffer than a comparable two stanchion fork (SID, F100). But I guess it's like carbon rims where some people just don't trust them even though many love them. Guess it's just personal preference.
@DefusedHero
I completely agree that the lefty is a bit of a wonky design. Its a cool idea, but in practice the fork pulls to the right a lot. It's also really irritating to try to pull off the wheel b/c you have to remove the disk caliper, and adding accessories is a pain (large stanchion, and no right side)
This is another example of cannondale mountain trying to throw technology at problems instead of addressing real bikers needs. Lock-out already works fine. Don't they realize that no one liked ELO (electronic lockout where you controlled Lockout from a switch on your bars). And give up the Jekyll geometry. It bobs like a pogo stick and flexes way too much to accommodate heavy riders (which I have become in recent years).
Cannondale makes some great bikes, but this proprietary parts, newfangled technocrap, and the tried and failed frame geometry has to go before their mountain bikes will live up to the reputation that their road bikes enjoy.
Cool, I'll take one!
Sounds cool, can i buy one of those here in Pakistan? :(
@milkywayer - they are testing the market in Kerplakistan first IIRC.
cool carpet
Sweet, two of my favorite passions; tech and bicycles. Glad to see Cannondale is still innovating and pushing the envelope even after selling out to Pacific.
@cycler
But they forget to add dynamo thing - to charge this suspension when you moving your pedals. So you'll work for your bike - not for pleasure.
(i see a little battery icon on the display)
Looks like beefing it up would make it a good fork for downhill racing where the weight isn't much of a concern.
@tgbauer That would be a terrible downhill fork, you could not pay me to ride something like that. Weight is a huge factor in downhill racing by the way.
@hamburglar
I've actually abused the hell out of my Cannondale Prophet, which has a Lefty-based fork. As far as the ride is concerned, they're surprisingly normal.
@(Unverified) It's a personal choice on what kind of fork you like. I feel like they are way to flexy for my liking. Cannondale is always trying to think outside the box though which is always pretty interesting for the mtb community.
Tech and MTBs... my two main interests combined
Simon says ride that bike and lose some fat...=)
This is a really cool piece and the second longer video is worth watching. I gotta give props to the Canondale engineer, Song, as well. He is obviously very knowledgeable and he is a good speaker.
I would buy it, although I probably can't afford it. $3000 would be reasonable for the whole bike, but it will probably cost more than at least at first.
@m854
Probably more like $10,000.
@m854
$3000 is just scratching the surface of the high end full suspension class, this would go for at least $6000 depending on the rest of the components.
Hey, a Cannondale bike I'll never be able to afford! In these turbulent times when dynamic is the new static, it's nice to see some things do not change.
Nice little change-up in content there on the part of Engadget. There ARE other gadgets out there other than tablets and notebooks and MP3 players worth covering. Cool article, and I definitely hope to see this on my bike in the near future.
@doboy
that's cute. you think engadget still covers MP3 players.
no cell radio, no love.
at most: passing dismissal.
@c w j
Sorry, what are you getting at?!
I'm pretty sure they still cover MP3 players just like any other technology blog out there: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/samsung-myfit-step-counting-pmp-hands-on/
would be cooler on a motorcycle
I'm a mountain biker (who even happens to ride a Cannondale Gemini) and loves technology. And I think this thing is really cool as an academic experiment.
But I'd still request that electronics stay the heck out of mountain biking. Don't mind them showing up in auxiliary systems (e.g., bar mounted gps) but I'd be scared to death to rely on electronics on a mountain bike. One of the things I find attractive about MTBs is that they are purely mechanical.
As far as the lefty goes...don't worry about the structure of single sided suspension. Ran one of these for a while, including a season of DH riding at Big Bear, it held up quite well. At the time mine was made, it had greater rigidity about all axes than comparable high-end two-sided forks. If you look at the design and think it's an engineering abomination, go take a look at the main landing gear on an F/A-18: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FA-18.engines.RAAF.jpg They're single-sided and hold up quite well to some "significant" impacts.
All I want to know is when I can get one of those awesome Snow Crash skateboards.
nice bike. but i will need the two little wheels mod
I want to give you a vision of the future of cycling:
With the invention of Dura Ace di2 road electronic shifting I can see how mt biking would be the perfect application of electric shifting. You could have a completely sealed system that would shift amazingly in any conditions.
Pair that with the programmable front and rear suspension, add GPS mapping and an ant wireless powermeter in the same head unit on a 2-3 in display and the electronic revolution will arrive.
Think of it, riding in the wilderness, knowing right where you are, how hard you are going, not having to get off and adjust the suspension, and flawless shifting.
Just go out and enjoy the ride.
Some purists will not like adding the electrical component as some road cyclists enjoy the whole mechanical continuity, but I would guess mt bikers would be more open to an electro bike.
Of course it would cost $15k but we can all dream.
All terrain mountainbikers maybe, possibly racers.
Definitely not Downhill riders, and especially not free riders. There's simply too much to go wrong with electronic systems when you're pushing your machine to the very limit.
Pretty cool, but I think the high end mechanical stuff that's out there is pretty damn good already. So I'll stop short of saying this is unnecessary until after I've ridden one.
Who cares about the bike - that engineer is hot
But does it work on potholes and lousy city roads.
@Wwhat
That was one of the neater features in the video (did you watch it?) - it can have a stiff suspension, but one that instantly softens to absorb potholes and road issues, then stiffening again automatically after the bump. Effectively, it can absorb shock -- and only shock -- without giving bounce.
It's amazing to me that as things get more complicated, the same tech can be used to simplify everything. I would love to use this rather than constantly fiddling with my bike.
We just spoke about this on our sports tech podcast if anyone is interested. http://thesportscircuit.com
WOW! Thanks for that post! I love to ride but I don't know what's what. I've got a friend in the biz who hooks my up. But that is sooo cool, thanks Stanley!!!
No word yet on when Cannondale plans on launching its new fully active suspension system, but Design News (a trade pub for designers) just interviewed engineers who developed the servo valve and published more details on how it works and the design tradeoffs. We’d love to hear from the mountain bike community – have engineers made the right performance trade-offs and what would you be willing to pay?
http://www.designnews.com/article/443620-Future_Shock.php