Cannondale SuperSix Evo
Cannondale’s racing legend and 2020 Bike of the Year
YEAR LAUNCHED !"##
As with Giant, Cannondale has often featured in our Bike of the Year line-ups, and its SuperSix EVO took the top spot as recently as 2020. But the SuperSix’s story begins in 2008 when it was ridden by the Liquigas team, with the EVO debuting three years later in 2011. This was not only significantly lighter than the 2008 model but was the first to explore comfort as a performance benefit. The 2015 second-generation EVO was lighter still and retained the same excellent handling, but o ered a much-improved overall ride. This was then inevitably followed by a disc-brake version.
But it was that second-gen SuperSix EVO that was the genuine milestone. One of the machines that defined the era of lightweight carbon, it was phenomenally light in its day and even now is still a flyweight proposition. But it wasn’t just the lightness that defined the EVO – it also had the perfect balance of low weight and handling that wouldn’t leave you feeling beaten up. That it did this via a frame with a traditional shape and mostly round tubes added class to what is probably set to become a modern classic.
When the SuperSix was first released there was an arms race among manufacturers to make the lightest bike out there. Brands such as Storck, Stevens, Canyon and others were aiming at making frames weighing as little as 600g – but the resulting bikes, while sti and low in weight, su ered from harsh rides, the usual skinny 23mm tyres not helping when it came to boosting comfort levels.
Even today the EVO 2, as it will now be known, is tech ed Warren’s personal benchmark for handling, the one against which all other race bikes are judged. It’s also worth remembering that even in the final year of its production, 2019, it was still being ridden to victory in Classics such as the Tour of Flanders.
Even today, the second-gen EVO is senior tech ed Warren’s personal benchmark for handling: all other race bikes are judged against it