Bike Check: Clara Honsinger's Cannondale SuperX has a Lil' Oregon at it's Heart
Clara Honsinger's National Championship Cannondale SuperX was inspired by a beer can and pays homage to her home state.
While the U.S. Cyclocross National Champion’s kit has become relatively standard in recent years, the elite athletes who win Nationals still have a lot of leeway in how they paint their bikes. Clara Honsinger’s predecessors Katie Compton and Stephen Hyde have done some cool things to personalize their bikes in recent years, and new Elite Women’s National Champion Clara Honsinger chose a similar approach with the Cannondale SuperX she is riding for the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld team in 2020/21.
Honsinger grew up in southern Oregon and has always had an affinity for the lush beauty of the Pacific Northwest forests. And what else is Oregon known for besides its natural beauty? Beer, of course. The only way the design of her National Champ’s bike could be more Oregon is if it was on the roof rack of a Subaru wagon. Well, and maybe if it was a singlespeed.
“Honestly, the overall idea was inspired by a beer can—an Oregon brewery, of course,” Honsinger said. “The can was covered in flora native to Oregon with little animals peeping out of the flowers. When the designer at Cannondale asked me if I had any ideas for the paint, I sent them a photo of the beer can and emphasized how I wanted landscape and environment to be part of the paint. From there, they came up with a few paint designs and this one really stood out to me.”
The beer can was for Da Shootz, an American Pilsner from Deschutes Brewery. The choice of Deschutes makes a lot of sense for Honsinger, with the Brewery hosting a Cyclocross Crusade race at its Bend headquarters each year and also serving as a sponsor of Virginia’s Go Cross. The Deschutes race was Honsinger’s first Cyclocross Crusade Elite race back in 2013, and she picked up her 2nd career Cyclocross Crusade Elite win at the event in 2015.
The last two seasons, bike profiles of the Kona Major Jake Honsinger rode with Team S&M CX became a regular thing during her rapid ascension to the top of North American cyclocross. Those bikes always had a few little bits of personalization, and her Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld SuperX is no different.
The Lil’ Clara nickname makes a repeat appearance, of course.
And perhaps foreshadowing Honsinger’s impressive performances at the hilly Gavere and Namur races, three Pacific Northwest peaks—Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Shasta—remind her of her climbing roots.
One really neat aspect of the profile of Honsinger’s Louisville Nationals-winning Major Jake was Honsinger had prepared her own bike profile that I was able to outsource a large part of the narrative to. At the time, Honsinger worked at Portland’s Sellwood Cycles and the profile gave her a chance to show off her attention to detail and knowledge of bike tech. I was really hoping she would do the same this time around.
“No bike profile this year, but I do still love the tech stuff,” she admitted. “It's been fun to switch to SRAM and learn all the interesting features of their components such as 1x, fluid clutches, and eTap wireless.”
The Cannondale SuperX is a versatile bike (it won the DK200 twice in the same year!) that has been a workhorse for Stu Thorne’s team since it was redesigned for the 2017 model year. The bike features Cannondale’s slack OutFront geometry and Asymmetric Integration tech that moves the drivetrain out 6mm for more tire clearance.
Honsinger is riding a 51cm frame this season.
The switch to SRAM is a good jumping off point for a look at Honsinger’s bike. Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld has partnered with SRAM since forever, and that partnership continues on this season. The team rode 1x mechanical Force 1 drivetrains through the 2018/19 season, but it switched to Red eTap AXS at the beginning of last season.
Honsinger rode a mechanical Shimano double in 2018/19 before switching to Shimano’s clutch RX805 Di2 rear derailleur paired with her trusty Ultegra front cranks with double rings for last season.
This season, Honsinger is running the 12-speed SRAM Red eTap AXS rear derailleur that is compatible with both 1x and 2x front setups.
She paired it with a carbon SRAM Red 1 Dub crankset with 170mm crank arms and a 38t X-Sync 2 chain ring. While the medium-cage mechanical Force 1 groupset rear derailleur has room for an 11-36t cassette and the long-cage version lets you spin on a 42t big cog, the rear cassette for the eTap AXS group sets maxes out at 10-33t, which means, say, a 44t front ring paired with a 10-33t is kind of intense.
Honsinger explained how she decided on the 38t ring. “38t because I ain't as strong as Curtis White!” she said. “Plus, who spins out in a 38-10 in a ‘cross race?”
A 3D-printed chain keeper helps keep her drive train in line.
It is worth noting that although the team is running the top-end Red eTap AXS gruppo, they opt for the black Force cassette thanks to its mud-shedding abilities. Honsinger runs the 10-33t cassette with her 38t front ring.
One part of Honsinger’s setup that is super familiar for her is the Challenge tubulars she ran with Team S&M CX. After a partnership with Vittoria that lasted a few years, the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld team returned to Challenge tires again this year. The team is riding the catchy red sidewall Team Edition tubulars. I’m not going to lie, as cool as the red is, I was a bit disappointed the Cannondale squad didn’t get Challenge to make them matchy-matchy green tires. Next year, next year.
Challenge is a bit unique in that it offers two mud treads in the Baby Limus and the Limus. Honsinger had Baby Limuses mounted up when our Euro correspondent Ethan Glading peeped her bike before World Cup Namur, but she ended up riding the Limuses during her head-turning second-place rides at both Namur and Dendermonde.
“I actually raced Limus at Namur because I wanted a bit more dig in the mud,” she explained. “We've been alternating between the Limus and Baby Limus for most races this year since it has been so wet. I prefer the Babies for a grittier or more stable soil course, such as Hulst, whereas the Limus treads are great when it gets soft and slippery.”
Zipp returns as the team’s wheel sponsor. Honsinger is running 38mm-deep Firecrest 303 carbon tubulars with the easily-spotted dimples.
Another small change for Honsinger this season is a narrower handlebar. She ran a 42mm on her Kona, but this season, she switched to a 40mm Zipp SL-70 carbon bar held by a Service Course SL stem. “I went narrower this year to see how it felt and really liked the tighter fit and handling,” she explained.
I also asked Honsinger about the hood position for her Red eTap AXS levers because they looked a little high (?) to me at a quick glance. IDK, it seems to be either a team thing or maybe even a SRAM thing, looking back at White’s bike from last season.
“Hey, are you saying my hood position looks wrong?! Joking, joking,” Honsinger joshed. “I just fiddled with moving the hoods around on the bars until it felt like a good balance. Honestly, I'm not that fussy about my bike fit. I know the general range of measurements and angles for where the contact points should be, but I mostly eye what feels right and then just set it the same on all my bikes.”
One final new-for-this-year-most-bizarre thing for Honsinger is with the new team, she has had to develop a new relationship with the team’s mechanics. Throughout the fall, the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld program worked on putting together a European squad, and team mainstays Mike Berry and Gary Wolff are living with Honsinger, Curtis White, and Kaitie Keough and doing all of their bike maintenance.
“They are meticulous, extremely knowledgeable and have been a lot of fun to work with this season. It feels very familial and supportive because they are a very kind and caring crew,” she said about Wolff and Berry. “Perhaps because we're also all housemates as well,” she also added.
The transition comes after working with Brenna Wrye-Simpson, who traveled with the Team S&M CX program for the last three seasons, and then went on to become the first woman to work as a pit mechanic for a national team during last year’s post-Nationals Euro block. “I do miss Brenna a ton, not only because she is a stellar mechanic, but also a wonderful and supportive friend,” Honsinger admitted.
After going full throttle through the Kerstperiode period, Honsinger now gets a short break before the stretch run to Worlds in Oostende, where she will be looking to continue her impressive run of results.
For more on Honsinger’s bike, check out the specs below.
Clara Honsinger’s Cannondale SuperX Specs
Frame: Cannondale SuperX, carbon, 51cm frame, 12mm thru-axle, flat-mount disc
Fork: Cannondale SuperX, 12mm thru-axle, tapered carbon steerer, flat-mount disc
Shift/Brake Levers: SRAM Red eTap AXS Shift-Brake Levers
Brake Calipers: SRAM Red eTAP AXS HRD, flat mount disc
Rotors: SRAM Centerline
Crankset: SRAM Red 1 Dub, 170mm crank arms
Chain Ring: SRAM X-Sync 2, 38t
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Red eTap AXS
Cassette: SRAM 10-33t, 12-speed
Chain: SRAM Red
Wheels: Zipp 303 Firecrest carbon tubulars
Tires: Challenge Team Edition S3 Limus and Baby Limus tubulars, 700c x 33mm
Stem: Zipp Service Course SL, alloy
Handlebar: Zipp Service Course SL-70, alloy, 40mm
Seatpost: Zipp Service Course SL, carbon
Saddle: Fabric Line Pro shallow
Pedals: Shimano PD-M8100 Deore XT SPD
More Info: cannondale.com