Exclusive first ride review: Cannondale Habit Carbon LT 1 2023

The Cannondale Habit, which is possibly one of the American manufacturer’s most popular mountain bikes, has undergone an extensive update for 2023. While Cannondale shy away from bling top end components, the Habit is available in two different travel variants, with both a carbon and an alloy frame option. Simple, straightforward and functional?

Although the new Habit 2023 is still classified as a trail bike on Cannondale’s website, it’s available in two different travel variants, allowing you to choose your bike according to your needs and riding style. The Habit LT generates 150/140 mm of travel (f/r) while the classic Habit combines 140 mm at the front and 130 mm at the rear. Both versions are available with either an alloy or carbon frame, with prices ranging between € 2,499 and € 5,999. To change the travel, Cannondale simply fit forks and shocks with different amounts of travel, making it easy to convert from a short to a long travel bike.

The Cannondale Habit Carbon LT 1 in detail

Cannondale took the safe route with the redevelopment of the Habit, relying on simple yet proven solutions. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for all of the model variants: the tool mount on the top tube, for example, is exclusive to the carbon frames. The alloy versions instead come standard with Cannondale’s proprietary StrapRack, which allows you to secure a spare inner tube and other trail essentials directly to the frame. However, both the carbon and alloy variants come standard with a bottle cage and generously sized protectors on the chainstays and down tube.

Additionally, the down tube protector of the carbon bike can be removed to access the cables. The latter are routed internally and enter the frame through cable ports rather than through the stem. Although Cannondale forgo cable clamps in the ports, the Habit is pleasantly quiet on the trail. In addition, a small mudguard behind the seat tube protects the cables from grit and dirt.

The spec of our Cannondale Habit Carbon LT 1 2023 test bike.

For this review, we tested the Cannondale Habit LT1 Carbon flagship model, which retails at € 5,999. For the spec, Cannondale deliberately forwent bling components and focused on offering the best value for money possible. The most blatant example is the RockShox suspension, consisting of a 150 mm Lyric Select+ Charger 3 fork and matching 140 mm Super Deluxe Select+ shock. The fork is only available as an OEM component, and employs the same damper as its top-tier Ultimate counterpart, but does not feature the proprietary Buttercup vibration damping system. The cable-operated SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain ensures smooth gear shifts without breaking the bank, coupled with a small 30t chainring which allows you to negotiate even the steepest climbs.

Braking is taken care of by SRAM Code R brakes. The basic R levers forgo SRAM’s Swinglink technology and bite point adjustment, which comes standard with the high-end RSC variant. The DownLow dropper post is built in-house by Cannondale and offers 170 mm of travel across all sizes. While this ensures decent freedom of movement on most frame sizes, the biggest XL frame could do with more travel to accommodate the needs of long-legged riders. The Habit rolls on a WTB Kom Trail alloy wheelset, which has performed flawlessly in this test, but has given us problems on other occasions, especially in terms of durability. MAXXIS supply the tires, combining a Minion DHF at the front and DISSECTOR at the rear, both in the lightweight EXO+ casing and harder MaxxTerra rubber compound. While both the casing and rubber compound are perfectly suitable for moderate trail riding, we would have preferred the softer MaxxGrip compound upfront. Heavy riders and those spending plenty of time on rocky trails should upgrade to the more robust DoubleDown casing.

Tuning tip: Tires with softer MaxxGrip rubber compound at the front | Dropper post with more travel

The geometry of the Cannondale Habit 2023

The Cannondale Habit LT is available in 5 sizes, XS to XL. The smallest XS frame is paired with 27.5″ wheels, while all other sizes roll on big 29” wheels. Cannondale forgo a flip chip altogether, but Cascade Components have already released a link that allows you to convert the Habit to a mullet bike. Reach values range between 400 and 510 mm, with our test bike in size L sporting a pretty standard 475 mm. The seat tube is on the short side in almost all frame sizes (445 mm in size L), ensuring sufficient freedom of movement on the trail. That’s unfortunately not the case for the biggest XL frame, which at 500 mm, has a massive seat tube that makes it harder to move around on the bike. In size L, the chainstays are 440 mm on the carbon frame and 445 mm on the same-size alloy version, growing with the frame size regardless of the material. This is meant to provide consistent handling across the range.

Size	XS	S	M	L	XL
Top tube	527 mm	583 mm	590 mm	617 mm	654 mm
Seat tube	360 mm	380 mm	400 mm	445 mm	500 mm
Head tube	100 mm	110 mm	120 mm	130 mm	140 mm
Head angle	64.7°	64.7°	64.7°	64.7°	64.7°
Seat angle	77.0°	77.1°	77.1°	77.1°	77.1°
BB Drop	34 mm	34 mm	34 mm	34 mm	34 mm
Chainstay	434 mm	435 mm	435 mm	440 mm	445 mm
Wheelbase	1132 mm	1174 mm	1203 mm	1237 mm	1281 mm
Reach	400 mm	425 mm	450 mm	475 mm	510 mm
Stack	578 mm	626 mm	635 mm	644 mm	653 mm

The Cannondale Habit Carbon LT 1 2023 on the trail

When riding on level ground, the Cannondale Habit Carbon LT 1 places you in a central, slightly front-heavy pedalling position, which comes in at the expense of riding comfort on flat sections but comes in handy when riding uphill. Here the pressure on the hands ceases and the front wheel keeps tracking without having to actively shift your weight, even in steep sections. Suspension bob is marginal and doesn’t distract you from focusing on the climb ahead, with the rear end always generating decent amounts of traction. That said, we recommend reaching for the shock’s climb switch on long gravel climbs.

When you point its nose downhill, the Habit integrates you nicely between its wheels, inspiring huge amounts of confidence in the process. The weight is evenly distributed between the front and rear, meaning that you don’t have to actively weight the front wheel in open corners. The suspension offers good support and a decent amount of pop, allowing you to pull off ledges and surf your way back into the valley in a leisurely manner. In combination with the intuitive handling, this encourages you to play with the trail – and sometimes even to make some poor decisions :-) The Cannondale is the right bike to gap obstacles and pull manuals, and also inspires confidence on steeper trails, where the short seat tube allows you to move around the bike – and a longer dropper would offer even more freedom for tall riders.

Who should take a closer look at the Cannondale Habit Carbon LT 1 2023?

The Cannondale Habit is a great choice for anyone looking for a solid, clean and well-thought-out trail bike, who doesn’t care about fancy looks and high-tech gimmicks. The solid spec renounces bling components but still delivers a tremendous performance on the trail. If you’re looking for a playful trail bruiser for creative lines and tons of air miles, the Cannondale Habit might be exactly what you’re looking for.

The Cannondale Habit is an understated yet clean, elegant trail bike with countless clever frame details. Moreover, you can choose from countless configuration options, including different frame materials, suspension travel and wheel sizes. On the trail, the Habit Carbon LT 1 makes you feel at ease from the get-go, with the intuitive handling and balanced weight distribution encouraging you to play with the terrain, commit to bold lines and gap obstacles.

For more information visit Cannondale.

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Words: Simon Kohler, Peter Walker Photos: Mike Hunger