Bicycle that completely changed how I enjoy cycling: Cannondale Topstone [Staff Bike Spotlight #04]

Hello. This is Shimi, from the staff.

This time, I'd like to introduce my Cannondale Topstone as part of our staff bike feature.

![Topstone full shot]

To start, I'm primarily an MTB rider.

Before I get into the Topstone, let me briefly explain my riding history. It might be a bit of a long preface, but please bear with me if you can.

I started riding MTBs at age 14, influenced by friends. Back then, XC was the main discipline. More accurately, MTB generally meant XC bikes, and there weren't many places to enjoy only downhill like there are now, so it just naturally happened that way.

Later, after moving to Hiroshima for school, I got into serious downhill riding and also became deeply immersed in dirt jumping. There was a period of several years where I did almost nothing but dirt jumping.

Now, downhill is my main focus. MTB is still at the center of my cycling fun.

I enjoy riding fast, but what's more important to me is whether it's fun. This has been my biggest criterion since way back and hasn't changed.

And among all my bikes, the Topstone is the one I ride most frequently now.

That doesn't mean I've quit MTBing and switched to gravel.

I ride the Topstone strictly as an MTB rider.

It's a bike that completely changed how I enjoy cycling.

The impetus was wanting to enjoy MTB even more

About 10 years ago, I ruptured a ligament in my knee, and I started riding a road bike as part of my rehabilitation.

By the time I had recovered enough to ride well, cyclocross was really gaining popularity, and I dabbled in it a bit myself.

However, by the time I joined Grumpy, my knee had healed, I had sold my road bike, and I was back to MTBing.

Amidst all this, I had the opportunity to go to the Sea Otter Classic in 2019 and entered an enduro race.

![Sea Otter scene]

That was quite an intense experience.

During the liaison sections in the latter half of the race, both my legs felt like they were going to cramp, and I was barely managing to push through. Yet, as I struggled forward, a group of older gentlemen, clearly about a decade my senior, cruised past me effortlessly, chatting and laughing.

That was truly cool.

"I want to be a cool old guy like that."

At that moment, I genuinely thought that.

However, did I immediately start training after that? No, I didn't. I just thought, "I need to get fitter," but I didn't change anything in particular and continued enjoying MTB as usual.

Well, that's human nature.

My wish was once fulfilled by an eMTB

After that, I encountered eMTBs.

That was also quite a shock.

You can enjoy any terrain even without much physical strength, and you can easily ride up places where climbing used to be a struggle. Being able to climb repeatedly to enjoy the descents was a feeling I hadn't experienced before.

The desire to "enjoy the mountains with ease" that I had seen at Sea Otter was, in a way, effortlessly achieved by riding an eMTB.

However, after riding it for a while, I rediscovered the joy of pedaling with my own legs.

It's like, precisely because there's assistance, the fun of riding without assistance becomes clearer. That's the feeling.

Gradually, I started to think, "I want to be able to ride more with my own legs," and I wanted to improve my fitness to enjoy MTB even more.

That's when the thought of "maybe a road bike for fitness training" came to mind.

Leave a comment

Back to Blog