Anton Cooper (Cannondale Factory Racing) is racing onboard a size small꧃ Cannondale F29 for 2013 World cup and other cross countries (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Cannondale also provides his bottle cage (Image credit: Cannondale)
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A partial look at the front triangle of Anton Cooper's F29. Note: the special graphics for the New Z🅘ealand national champion (Image credit: Cannondale)
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An💎ton Cooper's Cannondale F29 will be raced🃏 on the 2013 World Cup circuit by the first-year U23 rider. (Image credit: Cannondale)
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There is a Lefty XLR Hybrid fork with 70mm travel and a re༺mote R🧜ockshox lockout (Image credit: Cannondale)
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A ꩲlook at the lower leg of the Lefty XLR H♏ybrid fork (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Avid XX World Cup front brake and 160mm rotor (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Avid XX World Cup rear brake, with 140mm rotor (Image credit: Cannondale)
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A look at the back end of Anton Cooper's F29 (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Anton Cooper is running Schwalbe Racing Ralp๊h tires, size 2.1 (Image credit: Cannondale)
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On the right side of the 💙cockpit, there are an Avid XX World Cup brake lever and SRAM XX1 rear shifter (Image credit: Cannondale)
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On the left side of the cockpit, there are an Avid XX World Cup brak𒁃e lever and lockout f🧜or the Lefty fork. (Image credit: Cannondale)
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The rear end of Anton Cooper's Cannondale F29 (Image credit: Cannondale)
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The bike has a SRAM XX1 drivetrain. (Image credit: Cannondale)
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An FSA K-Force (27.2mm diameter) seatpost, with 25mm setback 🐓h🌟olds on a Prologo X0 CPC saddle in custom Cannondale colors (Image credit: Cannondale)
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SRAM XX1 rear derailleur with a 10-42T cassette (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Things look clean🌊 up front w꧟ith a single 36T chainring on Cannondale SISL2 cranks (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Anton Cooper is racing Shimano XTR pedals (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Anton Cooper is using a special, custom-🐷made stem/ste꧂er to get his front end low enough. (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Special grap🍒hics for the New Zealand national champion are visible from the fron🍒t (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Anton Cooper's bike wi🧜th special stem (with negative 20-degree rise), holding on FSA SL-K bars with 9 degrees of backsweep and 4 degrees of upsweep (Image credit: Cannondale)
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Anton Co⛦oper's Cannondale F29 hardtail for World Cup and other cross country racing. It has a special paint job celebr🍌ating his recent win at the New Zealand National Championships (Image credit: Cannondale)
This article originally published on
When Anton Cooper was entertaining offers from teams for the 2013 season, he was concerned about making sure he'd sign for one with a bike that would fit🅷 him. Cannondale Factory Racing promised to take care of him. They don't make the carbon F29 in a small size, but for the junior world champion they were willing to make a special bike.
"Basically, I wasn't quite fitting on the medium bike – the reach was a little long," said Cooper, who is 1.64m tall (5ဣft 4in). "I discussed with [team manager] Daniel [Hespeler] if I could possibly get a small one made up and get that front end a bit lower. I never actually hopped on the medium, but I worked out from the measurements that the medium wasn't going to fit."
Cannondale sent him an alloy framed, s💙mall F29 as soon as he was on the team, and Cooper confirmed the sizin🌼g so they could move forward with a custom carbon frame.
However, even with the small size, the Lefty XLR Hybrid was going to put the front end 🐼too high with stock stems, so the next step was a custom stem. Leonardi Racing CNC-machined a Cannondale model per its One Piece Integ𓃲ration (OPI) technology, but with a negative 20-degree rise. Stock stems only go down to a negative 15-degree rise.
"Getting the bike low enough is an💧 issue with the Lefty, an🌼d it's cool to be a part of a solution working around that," said Cooper, whose fork is adjusted to have 70mm of travel. "It's an amazing fork."
The standard amount of travel on a production Lefty XLR Hybrid is 100mm, but Cooper doesn't need more than 70mm for modern World Cup cr𝓰oss-country racing, especially given his size. The lesser amount of travel is another way Cooper gets lower and into a more aggressive racing position.
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Cooper is happy with the lengths Cannondale have gone to accommodate his stature. "I was assured that something c🍌ould be done and they stuck to their word and delivered the bike ahead of time."
The first-year U23 racer won the💞 elite national title in🥂 New Zealand in February, on a bike similar to this one.
"I didn't ride this exact bike at the New Zealand championships. I had a bike like this, but it didn't obviously have the NZ national champion's colors. It had the team colors. I got this aಌfter I won the title. Now I can ride it – it's cool. It was a big surprise to come💧 into the service course and see it. It's so special."
Custom stem and small frame size aside, Cooper runs a SRAM XX1 drivetrain with a 36-tooth chainri﷽ng and 10-42T rear cassette. Avid World Cup brakes handle stopping duties (160mm rotor up front, 140mm in the rear).
ENVE provide their 29 XC wheelset with DT Swiss 240s hubs (left-specific up front) and DT Aerolite spokes. Cooper will race Schwalbe 👍Racing Ralph 2.1 tires with snakeskin sidewall re♎inforcement.
He's also running an FSA SL-K 600mm bar with 9-degree backsweep and 4-degree upswee🌠p. A Prologo X0 CPC seat💟, in custom Cannondale team colours, is mounted to an FSA K-Force (27.2mm diameter) seatpost with 25mm setback. Prologo also handle the grips.
Note the special graphics for the New Zealand national champion
Complete bike specifications
Frame: Cannondale F29 with team paint job Size: Small (custom geometry; small carbon frames not available for production) Rear shock: None Fork: Cannondale Lefty XLR Hybrid, 70mm travel, remote Rockshox lockout Headset: Cannondale Headshock SI Stem: Custom-made by Leonardi Racing (-20 degree rise) with Cannondale One Piece Integration technology Handlebars: FSA SL-K 600mm, 9 degrees backsweep, 4 degrees upsweep Tape/grips: Prologo Front brake: Avid XX World Cup, 160mm rotor Rear brake: Avid XX World Cup, 140mm rotor Brake levers: Avid XX World Cup Front derailleur: None Rear derailleur: SRAM XX1 Shift levers: SRAM XX1 (rear only, no front lever) Cassette: SRAM XX1, 10-42T Chain: SRAM XX1 Crankset: Cannondale SISL2 Bottom bracket: Cannondale SI, BB30 Pedals: Shimano SPD XTR Wheelset: See Rims/Front Hubs/Spokes Rims: Enve XC29 Front hub: DT Swiss 240S, Lefty-specific Rear hub: DT Swiss 240S Spokes: DT Aerolite Front tire: Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.1 with Snakeskin sidewall Rear tire: Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.1 with Snakeskin sidewall Saddle: Prologo X0 CPC, Custom Cannondale color Seat post: FSA K-Force 27.2mm diameter, 25mm setback Bottle cages: Cannondale Alloy
Critical measurements
Rider's height: 1.64m (5'5") Rider's weight: 60kg (132lb) Seat tube length, c-c: 330 Seat tube length, c-t: 390 Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 665 Tip of saddle nose to C of bars: 520 C of front wheel to top of bars: 630 Top tube length: 575 (actual) Total bicycle weight: 8.55kg (18.84lb)
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. Sh💜e coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
