Cannondale had one The goal of the Moterra SL is to create the lightest, most powerful electric mountain bike ever built. The hurdles are many, but there’s one big one: a powerful motor combined with a long-range battery can add enormous weight and stress to an agile, lightweight frame.
To solve this paradox, Cannondale needed to strengthen the frame while reducing weight. The company turned to a solution it designed long ago that is inspired by Formula 1 racing cars. The Moterra SL uses what the company calls FlexPivot, which it first used on its Scalpel XC Race BikeInstead of using the bearings and hardware of a traditional Horst Link suspension system, they replaced them with an ultra-light, thin piece of carbon that can flex into the bike’s chainstays (the tubes that hold the bike’s bottom bracket). Not only do these flexors look neat and eliminate maintenance, they also allow engineers to fine-tune the suspension.
However, FlexPivot technology isn’t enough to explain how this 20kg bike delivers serious power without feeling like a Sherman tank. Cannondale took a deep dive into kinematics, a physics term that translates as “the motion of systems composed of parts joined together.”
Photography: Stephanie Pearson
Three times the charm
There is a batch of pieces put together on this bike. The Moterra SL comes in three versions ranging from the high-end Lab71 to the low-end SL2 I tested, which sells for half the price. All have carbon frames that officially fall into the all-mountain category, but their slack head angles make them feel almost like an enduro bike.
All are Mullet models (29-inch wheels up front and 27.5-inch wheels out back) with a FlipChip to convert them to 29-inch bikes. All are equipped with a custom, energy-dense 601Wh internal battery and a Cannondale-tuned Shimano EP801 motor (with 85 newton-meters of torque) that offers four power modes (Eco, Trail 1, Trail 2, and Boost) that can be further adjusted in the companion app.
One interesting aspect of the electronic design is that if the computer on the handlebars seems too complicated and cumbersome, there is a button on the top tube that allows the rider to change power modes with ease. This allows you to get rid of the computer altogether and ride with a clear cockpit.
The SL2 build I tested has a mix of quality components: a Fox Performance 36 fork with 160mm of travel; an Acros Adjustable Angle headset, which is good for further fine-tuning the fit; a Fox Float X Performance Elite rear shock with 150mm of travel; a Shimano XT derailleur (which isn’t e-mountain bike-specific; I’ll come back to this), and Shimano Deore for shifting, chain, rear sprockets, brakes, and brake levers.