The 2025 Topstone Carbon marks the third generation of Cannondale’s gravel platform, featuring a fully redesigned carbon frame that retains the hallmark Kingpin rear suspension—a 30 mm travel system where the rear triangle flexes via a thru-axle pivot—now refined for even smoother compliance across all frame sizes. Select builds include the third-gen Lefty Oliver suspension fork, now offering 40 mm of travel, upgraded damping, and a more refined ride on rough terrain.
Gravel-riding versatility is front and centre. The Topstone Carbon features integrated StashPort downtube storage, perfect for essentials and tools, and maintains numerous mounting points for bottles, bags, and bikepacking kits. The geometry has also been updated with a lower standover height, balanced stack-to-reach ratio, and improved stability—while Proportional Response construction ensures consistent ride feel across sizes.
Outfitted for varied terrain, the rigid fork versions allow up to 56 mm tyres, while models with the Lefty fork can accommodate up to 47 mm due to the fork’s dimensions. This lets you choose between maximum grip or enhanced front-end compliance.
The Rift
This summers challenge was The Rift in Iceland. The Rift isn’t just a gravel race. It’s a 200km journey through ancient lava fields, black sand deserts, glacier-fed rivers, and windswept valleys that look more like Mars than Earth. The scenery is nothing short of epic — but so is the challenge. The Cannondale Topstone 3 1 x GRX and the Carbon 1 Lefty AXS were our chosen bikes for the adventure. If there was ever a proving ground for a gravel bike, this was it.
Our tyre choice -
Vittoria Terreno T50 Mixed tyre in size 50mm paired with Vittoria Gravel Inserts as we knew the terrain was going to be rocky.
As if 200km off road wasn't demanding enough, the weather added to the toughness. A 6am start in the pouring rain with a 25km ride to the start line meant we started the event freezing. But we were in Iceland, we knew we'd get all sorts of weather.
The terrain? Classic Iceland: volcanoes, black sand, ancient lava fields, river crossings, punchy climbs, and long, bone-rattling stretches of gravel. A place where mechanicals lurk around every corner and any weakness—bike or rider—is exposed fast. Our Topstone builds were put through the wringer. Mud-caked drivetrains, soaked chamois, and chilled fingers couldn’t dampen the confidence the bike gave us. The 2025 Topstone felt at home here — stable on the rough, responsive on the climbs, and surprisingly comfortable through it all. The Kingpin suspension soaked up the washboard descents. The tyre clearance gave us the grip we needed. And the geometry kept us composed, even when the wind nearly blew us sideways into the lava fields.
After hours of battling the elements, eventually the skies brightened and the Icelandic sun showed its face. Rolling across the finish line under blue skies felt like a reward only Iceland could deliver. Cold, soaked, aching — but dry at last, and smiling.
The Rift is not for the faint of heart, and this year’s conditions pushed every rider and every bike to the limit. But our 2025 Cannondale Topstones rose to the challenge and got us through every brutal, beautiful mile.
A Great Value Option Even on a Budget
CyclingNews recently singled out the Topstone Carbon 3 GRX as one of the best budget-friendly bikes for suspension performance: it delivers the ride-smoothing benefits of the Kingpin system and generous tyre clearance without breaking the bank.
Pop into The Ark Cycles today to take a look at one of the beauties for yourselves.
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