Wasatch Solo: Cannondale Topstone, Gravel Bike Review

New bike: Cannondale Topstone Carbon RX, view SE of the Wasatch Mountains from the City Creek Canyon overlook on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Wasatch Peaks (left - right), starting with the white face just above the left grip of the bike:

Gobblers Knob (10,246 ft)

Mt. Raymond (10,241 ft)

Wildcat Ridgeline (varies between 9,400-9,800 ft, but ending at 10,241 ft on Mt. Raymond)

Hobbs Peak (9,410 ft)

Dromedary Peak (11,107 ft)

Sunrise Peak (11,275 ft)

Broads Fork Twins (east peak 11,330 ft, west peak 11,328 ft)

Mt. Olympus, in front and below of Broads Twins, (9,026 ft)

Pfieferhorn (11,326 ft)

Chipman Peak (10,954)

Thunder Mt. (north peak 11,150 ft, south peak 11,154 ft)

Bighorn Peak (10,877 ft)

Lone Peak (11,253 ft)

I've been tormented the last several years with an interanl debate of whether or not to buy a gravel bike. I've fought the fight and held it at arms length, but this Covid 19 isolation thing has me messed up. I have had too much time reading reviews, comparing specs and shopping for best prices, and I lost the battle - I bought a gravel bike. To be clear, this is a need, not a want. It will bridge the gap between my road bike and mountain bike (Specialized Tarmac and Specialized Epic). Plus it will provide another way to access ski terrain locked behind gates and dirt roads.

April 18, 2020, I rode from home up to the snow line on Skyline Drive above Bountiful, which was about a half mile above the site of the old Buckland Flats Campground, at around 7,000 feet. Skyline Drive is a total cluster-F@*CK on weekends with shooters and ATVs everywhere. I saw gunners at every pullout, very large people shooting high powered firearms from the tail gates of their trucks, at targets just a few yards from the heavily used public road. Skyline Drive switchbacks up the mountain and too many of those shooters were aiming at targets in direct line with the road above (less than a quarter mile above) albeit at a lower angle. Ricochets are real. I would never feel good about shooting knowing there are people directly ahead, even if 200 feet above. Guns are great, but shooting is much like back country skiing, done enmasse it's dangerous and no fun.

Skis on gravel bike, ready to roll up City Creek. I had big plans for Saturday, April 25th to ride up City Creek Canyon then ski Grandview Peak (9,420 ft), but we had too many family functions that day, so I pulled the plug. It's still on the calendar for this spring, but temperatures are on the rise with low temps forecasted for the mid-50's at 5,000, which means freezing will be at over 10,000 feet. I checked the temperatures last night (April 26-27) at Alta (mid mtn. weather station at 9,662 feet, ) which showed the low temperatures in the upper 30's. The low temperature last night at the Farmington Canyon Snotel (7,901 feet) was 40 degrees, which occurred at 1:00AM, with temperatures rising to the upper 40's by 7:00AM. The long-range forecast is for temperatures to be 10 degrees greater than average for the foreseeable future.

My intent was to ski corn, not wet cement, so my Grandview ski day is temporarily on hold. If nothing else I don't want to toy with wet-slides. I've done that enough already. Wet slides are usually easy to avoid, but, based upon the ground base, they could become a glide slide, which are catastrophic and deadly. Unlike a true wet slide, a glide avalanche has immense speed and powder due to large volumes of wet snow sliding at high speeds. Cottonwood Gulch, the access to Grandview from City Creek Canyon, doesn't have large slabs of rock, typical of terrain where glide-slides occur, but Cottonwood Gulch has no forests, it's open terrain so it mimics areas that are above timber line. With no trees there are few anchors for unstable snow.

Safety is a concern but since when has that stopped me? The bottom line is when wet-slides happen, the skiing sucks. I'm hoping the snow will last for awhile in Cottonwood Gulch, until temperatures cool and there is a solid refreeze. That is the only recipe for skiing corn.

Cannondale Topstone Gravel Bike Review:
The realization is not lost that I'm a total princess/elitist to even think I need to bridge that gap. I've always hated the OCD aspect of the biking community, especially the road biking community. You know who I'm talking about, it's the folks who must ride at least 50 miles every day, winter, spring, fall and summer, or else their lives are total shit. They'll vacation with their spouses in Hawaii but spend most of their time cycling, only dipping their big toe into the Pacific once or twice, and only for the obligatory beach photo. When I go to Hawaii I go surfing. Fuck that bike, it's time for real fun. I like calm, collected, well thought-out decisons in everything, but I HATE obsessive-compulsion in anything, whether it be career, politics, religion, skiing, climbing, biking, you name it, I'm only there for a good time. I gravitate towards free thinkers who can walk away from anything and try something new, just because they feel it. One really expands their mind only when one is brave enough to look at the other side of any equation. Religion tells us that one must experience the bad to know the good, but very few look beyond their own walls. I'm not suggesting that you go shoot-up heroin, or heist a money-truck just for the experience, I'm arguing that getting trapped in a narrow mind-set is not good for one's long-term growth. That said, I'm not a risk taker in the least, one reason I'm trapped in a lower middle-class existence, so my diversions are small and calculated and non-committing, but I find real satisfaction in trying new things and breaking away from my inner-idiot mind-set. When I'm not challenged I get bored, and a bored mind is not good for anyone.

Yes, my formula is a formula for mediocrity. I've never excelled at anything, especially career, cycling and religion, but somehow I still love road biking. That said, I need ample diversions into mountain biking and trail running, just because too much time on a road saddle gets pretty damn boring, pretty damn quick. I am a skier and climber at heart, but cycling and trail running fill the gaps when I can't ski or climb, they calm the mind and maintain strength and endurance for the the things that I really love, skiing and climbing. And when I say skiing and climbing, it is backcountry skiing, away from the crowds, and climbing long alpine routes, like in the Tetons or Wind Rivers, not sport climbing at the gym or the over-used quartzite or granite at the popular routes just 20 feet off the Cottonwood Canyon highways.

I rode LOTOJA five times, the first three were fun, the fourth I was questioning "I'm totally Lance Armstrong, but he was a dick, so why am I doing this?" The fifth time I was thinking "this is total bullshit, I'm riding in a lemming-line of 2,000 gumbies - for hours and hours - and there' not an original thought among any of these jokers." When I pulled into Jackson that evening, I looked longingly up to the Grand Teton, wishing I was climbing rather than riding. That was my last LOTOJA.

View NE from the City Creek Canyon overlook. I rode from home to Tunnels Park, up the Bonneville Shoreline Trail on the double track to the Beck Street Antennas, then, on the single track to the overlook. Bountiful Ridge on the left, Black's Peak (8,650 ft) the first high point when following the ridge l-r, and the high point (middle) is Burro Mine Peak (8,958 ft)

I did a lot of research and reading of reviews before buying the Cannondale Topstone. It's tough for me to believe any review without knowing the reviewer, otherwise I really can't separate personality from fact, so the best way to really review something is to try it out, experience it for yourself. I did a short demo of the Topstone and I was impressed, so I bought it.

After four rides here are my impressions.

Pros
1 - Light, 18lbs 6oz, with pedals (Shimano XTR pedals), which is just a bit heavier than my road bike, a Specialized Tarmac (expert build), presumably due to the wider tires. My Tarmac and the Topstone have similar components: Shimano Ultegra shifters and derailures, double chain-rings, hydraulic disk brakes, carbon-fiber frame, carbon-fiber rims. It's tough to single-out one or two items as the big difference in weight, so I'm going with the wider tires.
2 - The Topstone feels quick, sporty and responsive in the dirt, as much so as my Tarmac on the pavement.
3 - Low-gearing so climbing feels easy (thats a relative term coming from a 58-year-old, fat-accountant (5ft8in 162lbs)).
4 - Rear suspension seems to be a real thing. Cannondale says the Topstone has 30mm of travel in the rear frame and it did feel smooth on the rough trail, at least in the rear.
5 - The biggest surprise was how it handled the trails. In short, it tracked much better than expected and gripped the loose sections much better than expected. I was worried that I'd loose my line when those skinny tires (700x37mm) encountered loose rock gardens or deep, sandy spots, but the Topstone tracked right through them, not as well or as fast as my 29x2-inch tires on my full-suspension Specialized Epic (albeit a minimal travel suspension XC bike), but surprisingly well. I was worried about the front tire getting captured by the loose sections, and tossing me, but I never got tossed and never had to unclip due to the bike not handling the trail. Granted, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail is an intermediate single-track at best, but still, a big relief that the Topstone took it well with no major explosions.

Cons
1 - Bouncy ride on more technical single tracks (rock gardens, root gardens, tire trenches). With zero front suspension, I had to be much more selective in my line because the Topstone doesn't roll over terrain the way my 29" Epic does. The Topstone is much lighter than the Epic, but the Epic is faster on mixed terrain if only because it rolls over obstacles without a thought. For example, when I got to my turn-around point at the City Creek overlook, one of my arm warmers had fallen down from my shoulder to me elbow, like over-sized socks falling to your ankles. That has never happened before while riding my mountain bike or my road bike. It's an indicator of the rough ride on the Topstone compared to a mountain bike with a front suspension.
2- Slower descending. Without a front suspension and without the 29x2in tires, I don't have the confidence to let it rip, so I rode the breaks much more than I do on my full suspension mountain bike. I'm sure a rider with better descending skills than I could descend almost as fast as a mountain bike, but the fact remains, smooth equals speed and this bike is not as smooth as a full-suspension bike. That said, on a wide gravel, non-technical road such as Skyline Drive, my descent speed was over 20mph and I was passing cars, if only to get in front of their dust.
3- Upper Body Fatigue. My upper arms, shoulders and neck got tired more quickly than when riding my mountain bike on single track trail due to harder impacts. It was noticeable but not a show stopper. Our bodies adapt to what is thrown at it, with time I should get stronger where it's needed, but only if I ride the Topstone repeatedly on similar terrain consistently.
4- Braking. My mountain bike is easier to brake because of the handle bar logistics. On the Cannondale I kept feeling like my hand was going to slip off the grip and I'd go off the front, but when I looked down at my hand position I had plenty of grip above my hands, so not likely my hands would come off. Another equipment "I'll get use to it" as I ride it more and more. When down in. the drops this wasn't an issue.

I should've gone with Crank Bros Eggbeaters - no platform.

XTR SPD Pedals
Just one thing to say, I love my Crank Brother Eggbeaters, the pedals I've used for years on my mountain bike. I regret buying the XTR SPDs for the gravel bike. I've only used them four times now, but they are much more difficult to clip-in and clip-out and I almost fell on my face at the CC overlook because of it. I haven't done that in years. A a few seconds of terror fighting to unclip on a rocky hill-top. The hikers sitting there almost had a great laugh, ok, they did anyway, watching me 'Harry-Houdini' my way out of a trap, but I barely saved it. Hopefully it's just operator inexperience and I'll get use to them. After four rides I'm ready to buy another set of Eggbeaters for the gravel bike.