The eagle-eyed among us spotted those cryptic Lab71 logos on the bikes of the EF Education men’s and women’s WorldTour teams a little while ago. Throughout the team's training camps and during early season races, the Lab71 lettering has donned the seat tube of what is heavily rumoured to be a new Cannondale SuperSix Evo road bike (this is still unreleased to the public despite the pros already racing on it this season). Cannondale is certainly teasing us by drip feeding information about the new SuperSix, starting with a – sort of – explanatory statement about what Lab71 really means.
Cannondale describes Lab71 as “a new, elevated tier of products representing the highest expression of craftsmanship and the culmination of more than fifty years of cycling innovation, performance, and design.” It’s not the first time that the brand has come to market with a unique idea, Cannondale has never been afraid to release some innovative bike designs and push the limits of what has traditionally been possible in the bike industry. They explain that Lab71 is a continuation of this trend, representing the brand’s highest levels of craftsmanship combined with carefully curated components.
It’s likely that the Lab71 moniker will connote bikes with higher grade levels of carbon, top of the range groupsets and snazzy finishes. Henning Schroeder, Senior Vice President of Product Development for Cannondale, explains: “LAB71 is where we let our engineers, designers, and product managers run wild, where they get to build the bikes of their dreams. These bikes are what our athletes and fans dream of riding. We take our fastest, most innovative platforms and refine them with advanced materials, hand-picked components, finishes, and details that reveal layers of beauty from every angle.”
According to the UCI’s approved list, Cannondale has registered three versions of its new SuperSix Evo: the SuperSix Evo 4, the SuperSix Evo 4 Hi-Mod, and the SuperSix Evo 4 SL. While the Hi-Mod versions of Cannondale’s premium race bikes have been offered for a while now (they feature Cannondale's premium high-strength, high-stiffness carbon construction), it seems like the SuperSix Evo 4 SL model could sit above the Hi-Mod version in the brand’s range as the Lab71 edition, perhaps coming in at an ever lighter weight.
Cannondale itself is certainly excited about the release of Lab71, with Richard Prenderville, Chief Marketing Officer for Cannondale saying “The Lab71 product capsule is the best of the best of Cannondale. Every Lab71 product is premium in every detail and made to deliver best-in-class performance. Our designers and engineers know that every finish line has a new start line. Lab71 is where we see them chasing the impossible and revealing their unbridled passion for development and creativity.”
At the time of writing, Cannondale has no bikes publicly available in its Lab71 range, but it states that Lab71 products will be seen across Cannondale’s high-performance road, gravel, mountain, and e-bike categories, with individual models rolling out March 1, 2023 (which could be the date we finally get the details of that SuperSix Evo). Cannondale is yet to release any other information about the pricing or specifications of Lab71 bikes, but we can expect them to be stunning feats of innovation which represent the brand’s ultra-premium tier of performance products. In Cannondale’s words, they will be “the crown jewels of Cannondale’s product line…”
