Cannondale Synapse And 105 10 Speed

Im in the same boat as you. I road an '06 r700 and loved it. I'm waiting to ride the synapse alloy frame to see how the more upright geometry fits me. My LBS has them in stock, just has a lot more in stock, too and needs to build them all. Supposed to go ride on Monday. Will let you know what turns out.

hdallengrady said:

Im in the same boat as you. I road an '06 r700 and loved it. I'm waiting to ride the synapse alloy frame to see how the more upright geometry fits me. My LBS has them in stock, just has a lot more in stock, too and needs to build them all. Supposed to go ride on Monday. Will let you know what turns out.

Excellent. Let me know what you find out...

A little while ago, my LBS gave me the opportunity to take a prototype Synapse Carbon for the day to test ride. Unfortunately the one they had was one size too small for me and I didn't really fit it right, but I rode it anyway 😄 Went for 60km over all sorts of roads, including the Kew Boulevarde (a local cycling loop infamous for its really jittery chip-and-seal surface).. and at the end it felt like I'd barely done 20. And this was on roads full of cracks, sealed cracks, poorly maintained bits, etc. etc. and a frame that clearly didn't fit me!

After the ride I was compelled to do some serious business talk with the LBS (you know how it is) and ended up working out a sweet deal where I could buy the groupset and parts off of the prototype, and they'd order a frame in my choice of colour (matte carbon, that blue is hideously 70s IMO) and size the first moment they could. The end result of all this stuffing about was getting the DA spec for the price of Ultegra, as the components were ex-demo.

I've had it for about 2-3 months now and love it. My first ride was planned to be 70km.. ended up being 105km 😉 It's that sort of bike. Must say though that I'm that sort of rider, too.. I don't race road, but [censored] any excuse I can to get a decent length ride in.

As far as its shock absorption, you still feel the larger thuds and bumps -- it's not a suspension bike -- but instead of them being a jarring shock, it feels more like a muted bump. Small bumps and irregularities all but disappear though. You don't really notice this aspect right from the first pedal stroke.. on a short ride, pretty much any bike that vaguely fits you will feel comfy, or at least not uncomfortable. The strange sense of comfort is a cumulative effect that you only really start to feel from half an hour in onwards (and really appreciate after a few hours! hehe)

Can't comment really on bottom bracket stiffness as my last bike was a CAAD5 with an Ultegra-10 groupset (incl. the new style crank), which is a pretty stiff combination already. The CAAD5 if anything may have felt just a bit sprightlier when you first start to crank out of the saddle, but that might just be due to it having a slightly longer crank length. The slightly shorter crank I ended up with on the Synapse (172.5 vs. 175) ended up working out quite nicely; it makes it easier to spin at a faster cadence, which fits right in with the whole compact crank idea.

Finally on groupsets; compared to 10 speed Ultegra, the premium you pay for 10 speed DA is a total waste of money (they both feel about the same). I'd also expect the 10 speed 105 stuff to be very good, if in doubt chuck an Avid Rollamajig on the rear derailleur, it really helps with the crispness of shifting.

rek said:

A little while ago, my LBS gave me the opportunity to take a prototype Synapse Carbon for the day to test ride. Unfortunately the one they had was one size too small for me and I didn't really fit it right, but I rode it anyway 😄 Went for 60km over all sorts of roads, including the Kew Boulevarde (a local cycling loop infamous for its really jittery chip-and-seal surface).. and at the end it felt like I'd barely done 20. And this was on roads full of cracks, sealed cracks, poorly maintained bits, etc. etc. and a frame that clearly didn't fit me!

After the ride I was compelled to do some serious business talk with the LBS (you know how it is) and ended up working out a sweet deal where I could buy the groupset and parts off of the prototype, and they'd order a frame in my choice of colour (matte carbon, that blue is hideously 70s IMO) and size the first moment they could. The end result of all this stuffing about was getting the DA spec for the price of Ultegra, as the components were ex-demo.

I've had it for about 2-3 months now and love it. My first ride was planned to be 70km.. ended up being 105km 😉 It's that sort of bike. Must say though that I'm that sort of rider, too.. I don't race road, but [censored] any excuse I can to get a decent length ride in.

As far as its shock absorption, you still feel the larger thuds and bumps -- it's not a suspension bike -- but instead of them being a jarring shock, it feels more like a muted bump. Small bumps and irregularities all but disappear though. You don't really notice this aspect right from the first pedal stroke.. on a short ride, pretty much any bike that vaguely fits you will feel comfy, or at least not uncomfortable. The strange sense of comfort is a cumulative effect that you only really start to feel from half an hour in onwards (and really appreciate after a few hours! hehe)

Can't comment really on bottom bracket stiffness as my last bike was a CAAD5 with an Ultegra-10 groupset (incl. the new style crank), which is a pretty stiff combination already. The CAAD5 if anything may have felt just a bit sprightlier when you first start to crank out of the saddle, but that might just be due to it having a slightly longer crank length. The slightly shorter crank I ended up with on the Synapse (172.5 vs. 175) ended up working out quite nicely; it makes it easier to spin at a faster cadence, which fits right in with the whole compact crank idea.

Finally on groupsets; compared to 10 speed Ultegra, the premium you pay for 10 speed DA is a total waste of money (they both feel about the same). I'd also expect the 10 speed 105 stuff to be very good, if in doubt chuck an Avid Rollamajig on the rear derailleur, it really helps with the crispness of shifting.

Man, that was a nice review. I've often heard that Ultegra and DA were close on performance and different in finish and weight only. It'll be interesting to see how 105 compares to Ultegra and if the gap has narrowed there as well.

FWIW, I decided to purchase a new rig this weekend and bought a saffron '05 C'dale R700 Triple for $875. That's about 1/2 of what I would pay for a Synapse 2 Alloy and with the type of riding I want to do I couldn't justify the extra expense. And the CAAD7 is a tried and true design so I think I'll be pretty happy with it for a long time...

14max said:

Man, that was a nice review. I've often heard that Ultegra and DA were close on performance and different in finish and weight only. It'll be interesting to see how 105 compares to Ultegra and if the gap has narrowed there as well.

FWIW, I decided to purchase a new rig this weekend and bought a saffron '05 C'dale R700 Triple for $875. That's about 1/2 of what I would pay for a Synapse 2 Alloy and with the type of riding I want to do I couldn't justify the extra expense. And the CAAD7 is a tried and true design so I think I'll be pretty happy with it for a long time...

Glad you got your bike. I did test out the alloy synapse today. Nice bike. I must say, I had to do a double take and look down at the frame. The rear triangle absorped a lot of the road vibration. All in all, a very good impersonation of the carbon synapse. The only disappointing bit was that it was built up with tiagra components. I'm going back tomorrow for a full fitting, this time with the new 105 grouping.

hdallengrady said:

Glad you got your bike. I did test out the alloy synapse today. Nice bike. I must say, I had to do a double take and look down at the frame. The rear triangle absorped a lot of the road vibration. All in all, a very good impersonation of the carbon synapse. The only disappointing bit was that it was built up with tiagra components. I'm going back tomorrow for a full fitting, this time with the new 105 grouping.

Let me know about the ride with 105. I like the Charcoal Grey of the Synapse 4. I wish the 2 would come in that color...

I'm all over the Synapse also but now the lbs has a 05 Specialized Tarmac Pro that i might be able to get for 3K otd. I'm looking to replace my steel Fuji with a better long distance bike for a better ride. I'm getting old.