I always had a soft spot for a Cannondale Bad Boy ever since its inception in 2000. I was relatively new to the whole cycling thing then, but that monochromatic theme made quite an impression to me (a kid) that I almost convinced my parents to buy me a 2001 Bad Boy Jekyll… from Copeland Sports, no less. A former race mechanic eventually steered us away from buying a Bad Boy to race high school cross country (he was right).
But the want factor remained.
Perhaps it’s the fact that Cannondale got into the whole murdered-out black color theme way before it was even considered cool, or maybe because the Bad Boy always carried a unique narrative within the Cannondale lineup parallel to that of an unassuming sleeper car. Over the years, proven technologies from both the road and mountain segments such as the HeadShock suspension fork, the one-sided lefty, and the SpeedSave rear triangle design all made their ways into the Bad Boy line up. The redesigned 2017 Bad Boy is no different. In fact, it’s a gem with all the subtle integrated details.
The rigid lefty fork design remained but with all the room inside the hollow rigid tube, designers at Cannondale integrated a LED light strip directly into it. Dubbed the LightPipe Lefty, the USB-rechargable strip is a continuous light with a claimed 24-hour run time that functions like an aftermarket front light would to increase visibility.
The LightPipe is by no means a replacement for your 1,000 lumen headlight, but the said model shown at InterBike this past September was plenty bright to be noticeable, not to mention all the light integration made the Bad Boy significantly less cluttered, more streamline even, as if the Bad Boy got hooked on Kondo Method and was a believer of marginal gains.
With the front LightPipe covered, Cannondale also added a built-in red taillight into its massive 31.6mm seatpost with three modes: Continuous, blink and wave. Run time, as I was told, will be about 50-hour in continuous and blank modes and 100-hour in wave. It’s powered by 2 internal AA batteries.
Yet the makeover did not stop at the lighted fork and seatpost. While the previous Bad Boys came with 700c wheels, the ’17 Bad Boy will have 650b wheels throughout. The frame is new too, most notably with its massive one-piece 3D-forged headtube and downtube assembly. The Bad Boy is available in disc-brake only, so plenty of power for those endless stop and goes around town.
The Bad Boy will come in four models in various built favors from $870 to $1,840. The top-of-the-line Bad Boy 1 will come with a belt-drive drivetrain with an eight-speed Shimano internal gear hub. So yay for less maintenance, no lube getting on your hands/pants, and a smooth silent ride.
It’s worth noting that only the Bad Boy 1 and 2 will have the LightPipe fork and illuminated seatpost.
The last detail worth mentioning is the rubber strip along the top tube to protect the frame from whenever it’s leaned on. It’s a simple design touch but nevertheless a refreshing sight to see a company go great lengths to execute a well thought out performance whip as opposed to a boring hodge podge commuter bike.
Obviously it’s not a bike for everyone’s taste, as some might still scoff at the idea of a single-side fork, or fat aluminum tubes even for that matter. If you’re looking for a well-designed, high performance commuting machine with an understated look though, look no further.
