Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

TECH NEWS

Cannondale Synapse 2018: Lighter and stiffer frame, wider tyres and disc brakes only

First look at the all-new 2018 Cannondale Synapse, which gets lighter, stiffer, disc brakes and 32mm tyres

Key features:

  • 950g carbon frame
  • Disc brakes and Flat Mount
  • 12mm thru-axles front and rear
  • 32mm tyre clearance
  • Mudguard mounts
  • SAVE Systembar
  • 25.4mm SAVE seatpost

First introduced in 2006, Cannondale’s Synapse has been a hugely popular bike with UK cyclists, it even won road.cc's bike of the year award in 2015, and for 2018 there's an all-new Synapse. To create the new bike Cannondale has built on the solid foundations of the previous version but finessed every detail to create arguably a bike that better meets the need of today’s endurance/sportive cyclist.

The new Synapse aims to provide better ride comfort with more speed and performance. While it retains a similar aesthetic to the previous model, the new Synapse is built entirely around disc brakes, is lighter with a frame weighing a claimed 950g for a size 56cm, accommodates 32mm (measured) tyres, has mudguard eyelets and a new integrated handlebar that boosts front end comfort. It's a case of evolution rather than revolution.

- The making of the new Cannondale Synapse - Interview with David Devine and Ian Surra

2018_Synapse_SAVE_Micro_Suspension_02.jpg

Synapse goes on a diet and gets stiffer

A primary goal for the new Synapse was to create a faster and higher performance bike for the rider who doesn’t want to sacrifice speed for comfort. 

“For those who think that to get the all-day capabilities of an endurance machine you have to give up the go, we say think again. The all-new Synapse is built to go hard, longer,” explains Cannondale.

So it has focused its attention on reducing the frame and fork weight, increasing stiffness and introducing an asymmetric and size-optimised design approach wrapped up with the tried and tested geometry of the previous Synapse.

The previous Synapse could hardly be described as a heavy bike, but Cannondale has taken a scalpel to the new bike and shaved away loads of weight. It’s claiming an impressive 220g weight reduction for the frame, resulting in 950g frame a 56cm. That’s for the Hi-Mod version - the slightly more affordable regular carbon Synapse does without the high-modulus carbon. The fork is down by 116g, coming in at 367g.

Cannondale tells us the 950g frame weight makes it one of the lightest in its class. It’s certainly up there with the lightest though the Focus Paralane comes in at 907g with a similarly featured frame.  With no paint the frame actually weighs 918g, dropping down to 841g for a size 44cm and rising to 1,053g for a size 61g.

Stiffness has been increased. Cannondale tells us the 9.4% increase narrows the stiffness gap between the Synapse and SuperSix Evo more than ever before. With its size-specific frame development, the head tube stiffness increases as you go up the size range.

Much of the weight and stiffness improvements have come about as a result of the asymmetric design of the new frame, intended to better manage the different loads from rider input and the disc brake forces.

The two halves of the rear triangle are totally different. The non-driveside chainstay is 18% larger in key areas compared to its opposite number, and the seat tube and downtube are asymmetrically offset around the 73mm wide BB30a bottom bracket. The fork also has a bigger left leg and directional carbon layup to resist flexing under heavy braking.

Size-specific with three fork offsets

Cannondale has used a size-specific approach to the new Synapse, something it first used on the SuperSix Evo, and is intended to offer the same handling traits regardless of the frame size.  It optimises both the carbon layup and tube dimensions on each frame size, tailoring the stiffness for each size.

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 5.jpg

But Cannondale takes it a step further and has developed three forks with different offsets and headset bearing diameters. The smaller frame sizes have a shorter offset, the larger frame sizes a bigger offset, to produce the desired handling traits across the size range.

Frame sizes 44cm and 48cm uses a straight 1 1/8in steerer tube with a 60mm offset. Sizes 51cm and 54cm uses a tapered 1 1/4in steerer with 55mm offset, and 56, 58 and 61cm frames have a tapered 1 3/8in steerer tube 45mm offset.

What the heck is offset and why is it important?

We should probably explain what offset is. The offset is simply how far ahead the front axle is offset from the steering axis. Changing the offset affects the trail of the bike, and it’s trail that influences the handling.

2018_Synapse_Size_Optimized_Design.jpg

If you draw an imaginary line through the centre of the head tube to where it hits the road, and another vertical line from the fork axle to where the tyre contacts the road, the distance between the two lines is the trail. The smaller the offset the longer the trail, and generally longer trail leads to slower handling, or more relaxed, handling.

As well as different offset, the fork stiffness changes across the size range. As the size increases, the fork stiffness increases, with the larger headtubes also allowing for stiffer downtubes.

Disc brakes I'm afraid

Disc brake haters look away now, the new Synapse is only available with disc brakes. That follows the current trend in the endurance road bike category, with other manufacturers making the same wholesale switch to disc brakes on bikes that are designed to meet the demands of non-racing cyclists riding for fun and tackling long distances in all weathers and road conditions.

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 7.jpg

Disc brake standards have seemingly settled down now, and so the Synapse uses 12mm thru-axles front and rear with flat mount calipers across the entire range. 

Comfort is king

The Synapse is all about providing a comfortable ride, whether it’s for the Cannondale-Drapac team to do battle on the pave of Paris-Roubaix (where the new bike first made its public outing) or cyclists tackling long rides on a variety of road surfaces, generally from rough to rougher around my part of the world.

SAVE micro-suspension technology has been a key feature of the Synapse throughout its history, and it’s something Cannondale has refined in the search for extra compliance to soak up the vibrations and impacts generated when riding along a bumpy road.

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 16.jpg

SAVE boils down to a series of flex zones built into the frame and fork, and really is the heart and soul of the Synapse. It’s about precise tube shaping and carbon layup that allows the tube to deflect and absorb shock without unwanted flex or twist.

Found in the chainstays, seatstays and fork legs, and now also in the new Systembar and seatpost, SAVE has been refined on the new Synapse. Cannondale has sought to retain the comfort whilst boosting the stiffness in key areas to provide a higher mix of performance.

Cannondale resisted going down the road of adding actual suspension or moveable parts as in the new Specialized with its Future Shock or Trek’s IsoSpeed decoupler. 

The SAVE Systembar

One of the key developments for the new Synapse is a new two-piece integrated handlebar, called the SAVE Systembar. Cannondale wanted to provide more front end compliance, and after finding nothing suitable on the market, it began developing its own solution

The result is a handlebar with an elliptical profile (similar to the chainstays) with the same circumference as a round bar, that plugs seamlessly into a separate stem.  It provides in the region of 4-6mm of deflection, a lot more than a regular handlebar. Cannondale even let on that under extreme testing it produced up to 15mm of deflection. Wow!

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 21.jpg

“The SystemBar’s ergonomic and elliptical SAVE bar shape feels great in the hands and provides riders more deflection than a standard bar. The SystemBar works with the rest of the bike’s SAVE features to really smooth the ride and increase control,” said David Devine, Cannondale Senior Product Manager, Road.

It offers the appearance of an integrated bar but offers a full range of fit adjustment. Stems range from 80-130mm with -6° negative rise, and 70-110mm with +6° rise, and with 8° of pitch adjustment, the rotation of the handlebar. That means you can really dial in the fit of the Synapse as easily, more or less, a regular stem and handlebar setup.

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 24.jpg

To enable the easy fitting of Garmin computers and lights, Cannondale has also developed a special mount. There’s even a neat new Fabric light that has a Garmin mount built into the top, so you can light up and navigate while still keeping the handlebar area clean and uncluttered.

The Systembar will be included on six bikes in the Synapse range.

SAVE seatpost

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 14.jpg

The seatpost retains the same skinny 25.4mm diameter of the previous Synapse, but it’s an all-new design using the company’s SAVE tech. It’s intended to help soak up vibrations and road chatter and provide more seated comfort when you’re 5 hours into a ride. Cannondale is claiming a whopping 36% extra deflection compared to non-SAVE posts with no weight penalty. The seat clamp is hidden inside the top tube, accessed from underneath, and that allows more seatpost to be extended for extra available deflection.

Wider tyres

When the previous Synapse launched it had tyre clearance for 28mm tyres, and we considered that wide at the time. You need to remember that four years ago wider tyres were really only just starting to win favour with road cyclists. The goalposts have moved a lot in the intervening years, and there’s a growing appetite for even wider tyres.

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 6.jpg

The new Synapse, in going all in with disc brakes, offers tyre clearance for up to 32mm tyres. That’s not to say the Synapse probably couldn’t go wider, bike manufacturers always err on the side of caution for legal reasons, and so we reckon, depending on tyre and rim combination, you could go wider. Bikes across the range will be specced with 28 and 30mm tyres.

Mudguard mounts

Some of the newest endurance bikes that have launched in the last 12-18 months have been noticeable for their lack of mudguard mounts, and I’m thinking of the Specialized Roubaix and Canyon Endurace as prime examples here of bikes scoring an own goal when it comes to versatility.

Cannondale sees no reason why, considering the acres of tyre clearance and usefulness of mudguards for bad weather riding, that mudguards can't be an option. But it wanted to add the option without any unsightly mounts or eyelets, so the eyelets are hidden neatly at the frame dropouts and inside the fork blades, and there’s a neat removable seatstay bridge.

Geometry

Cannondale’s heritage is in making race bikes so the stack is lower and reach and shorter than rival endurance bikes. It reckons the Synapse strikes the ideal balance between race bike aggressiveness and upright comfort. It’s also proud of the smooth stack and reach changes through the size range from smallest to tallest.

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 3.jpg

There are some subtle geometry revisions. The head angle is a touch steeper, the wheelbase and head tube shorter, but the stack and reach figures are the same, 590mm and 386mm respectively. 

Revised cable routing and more details

Another key change is the improved cable routing. It’s fully internal and compatible with all current mechanical and electronic groupsets, with the main entry port on the top of the downtube. That's a similiar approach we're seeing on quite a few new road bikes at the moment, such as the Specialized Tarmac and BMC Teammachine.

Cannondale Synapse 2018  - 10.jpg

A choice of inserts can be used depending on the groupset, if using Shimano’s Di2 the junction box can be mounted in this port, much like on Pinarello’s Dogma F10 or BMC’s Teammachine SLR01.

Double chainsets, whether compact or standard, are still the main choice for road bike groupsets, but recognising the growing popularity of SRAM’s 1x11 drivetrain, which combines a single chainring with a wide-range cassette, Cannondale has made the front mech mount removable. So if you do ditch the front mech, you can also ditch the mount to clean up the appearance, and save a few grammes.

The Synapse range

As with the previous Synapse range, there will be two versions of the Synapse, HiMod Ballistec Carbon and Ballistec Carbon. The former makes use of high-modulus carbon for the real weight savings, but it’s more expensive to utilise so it bumps the price up. The Ballistec Carbon frame makes do without the high-modulus carbon, so it’ll be a tiny bit heavier, but saves a significant chunk of cash

2018_M_Synapse_HM_Disc_Red_eTap_BBQ.jpg

There will undoubtedly be an aluminium version along soon but we’ve not had any details on it.

Here’s the full range of bikes at launch:

Hi-Mod

  • 700 M Synapse HM Disc D/A Di2 £7,799.99
  • 700 M Synapse HM Disc Red eTap £6499.99
  • 700 M Synapse HM Disc D/A £4,999.99

Carbon

  • 700 M Synapse Crb Disc Red eTap £4,999.99
  • 700 M Synapse Crb Disc D/A £3,999.99
  • 700 M Synapse Crb Disc Ult Di2 £3,799.99
  • 700 M Synapse Crb Disc Ult SE £3,249.99

More at www.cannondale.com

Tune into road.cc tomorrow for a first ride report on the new Cannondale Synapse.

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

Add new comment

32 comments

Avatar
macrophotofly | 6 years ago
0 likes

Massively disappointewd they have messed with the Geometry. The 2016/17 model had a perfect Reach/Stack for me and I love riding it.  I guess it will be a different brand for me when I come to replace that indecision

Avatar
madcarew | 6 years ago
3 likes

"Synapse goes on a diet and gets stiffer". 

My wife just read that over my shoulder and told me I have to get on that diet right now! 

Avatar
reliablemeatloaf replied to madcarew | 6 years ago
0 likes

madcarew wrote:

"Synapse goes on a diet and gets stiffer". 

My wife just read that over my shoulder and told me I have to get on that diet right now! 

 

Please leave your personal life out of this!

Avatar
part_robot | 6 years ago
1 like

@oshsan: Surprisingly, perhaps, the stock Endurace is more relaxed than the 2015 Synapse. And of course it's even more relaxed than the 2018 Synapse here which is more of a racing geometry than its predecessor.

The Ultimate, meanwhile, is much closer in geometry - especially reach. The illusion of the old Synapse being quite upright partly comes down to the head tube being extra tall; this is a mix of that 10mm bump on the top plus the higher bottom bracket which, combined, adds about 20mm bars-to-ground over the Ultimate. (I have both bikes).

Avatar
Oshsan | 6 years ago
2 likes

"I’m thinking of the Specialized Roubaix and Canyon Aeroad as prime examples here of bikes scoring an own goal when it comes to versatility."

The Canyon Aeroad isn't designed to be versatile, it's an out-and-out aero race bike! Guessing you're thinking of the Endurace here?

Avatar
pablo | 6 years ago
0 likes

I'm a total cannondale fan boy. Have an evo but should probably really ride a synapse. 32mm tyres is huge! All day comfort should be impressive not to bothered about disc.

Avatar
pablo | 6 years ago
3 likes

I'm a total cannondale fan boy. Have an evo but should probably really ride a synapse. 32mm tyres is huge! All day comfort should be impressive not to bothered about disc.

Avatar
part_robot | 6 years ago
2 likes

Totally agree about the Spidering looking awesome. Was really sad the day I had to get rid of mine in order to fit a power meter.

Avatar
peteimpreza | 6 years ago
0 likes

Are they going to sell the handlebars separately?

Avatar
ibr17xvii replied to peteimpreza | 6 years ago
1 like

peteimpreza wrote:

Are they going to sell the handlebars separately?

+1 for this, they are lovely.

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
1 like

Making out that a 950g 56cm frame is lightweight.

2012 61cm Scott CR1 SL (endurance bike) 910g WITH hanger AND paint!

They've kept the weight off with that skinny seattube but pound for pound I don't think this is an overly impressive bike as it's a neither here nor there bike. 28mm tyres with mudguards I suppose is okay but then why compromise when disc brakes allow for bigger tyres, isn't that one of the USP of discs?? You wanted to have mudguards AND the 32mm tyres that you'd ride for comfort otherwise what's the point in having to come down to 28s when the weather gets inclement/muddy tracks/roads and more slippery during the winter months so the 32s is what you'd want over the 28s in any case.

7/10

Avatar
Nixster replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
0 likes

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

Making out that a 950g 56cm frame is lightweight.

2012 61cm Scott CR1 SL (endurance bike) 910g WITH hanger AND paint!

They've kept the weight off with that skinny seattube but pound for pound I don't think this is an overly impressive bike as it's a neither here nor there bike. 28mm tyres with mudguards I suppose is okay but then why compromise when disc brakes allow for bigger tyres, isn't that one of the USP of discs?? You wanted to have mudguards AND the 32mm tyres that you'd ride for comfort otherwise what's the point in having to come down to 28s when the weather gets inclement/muddy tracks/roads and more slippery during the winter months so the 32s is what you'd want over the 28s in any case.

7/10

950g included paint, not sure about the hanger but you seem to have neglected the part about this being a disc frame.  I think in recent releases sub kilo is pretty light for a disc frame?

As I recall the CR1 was light for it's time but not really an endurance bike.  The geo was certainly more aggressive than a Synapse. IIRC it also had a rep for being flexy at the front but I suspect that was because tapered head tubes were the latest thing back then and the CR1 was straight.

I think carbon frame design has moved on in the intervening 6 years, just look at the complexity of the tube shapes and imagine the extra tooling required for the moulds. They're not going to do that for laughs.

Avatar
STATO replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
1 like

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

They've kept the weight off with that skinny seattube but pound for pound I don't think this is an overly impressive bike as it's a neither here nor there bike. 28mm tyres with mudguards I suppose is okay but then why compromise when disc brakes allow for bigger tyres, isn't that one of the USP of discs?? You wanted to have mudguards AND the 32mm tyres that you'd ride for comfort otherwise what's the point in having to come down to 28s when the weather gets inclement/muddy tracks/roads and more slippery during the winter months so the 32s is what you'd want over the 28s in any case.

7/10

 

As the article states, 32mm need to be run at such low pressure you get sidewall instability when riding agressively.  I fitted 32mm to my 'endurance' bike and think ill be going down to 28s soon, I loved them for gravel and tracks but on the tarmac the front tyre squirms and drags when climbing out the saddle or cornering aggressivley.  Its not terrible but irritating enough to change.  I'll suffer low pressure quirks for cyclocross where grip is king, I dont need that low on the road so 28s are enough.

Avatar
part_robot replied to STATO | 6 years ago
0 likes

STATO wrote:

 

As the article states, 32mm need to be run at such low pressure you get sidewall instability when riding agressively.  I fitted 32mm to my 'endurance' bike and think ill be going down to 28s soon, I loved them for gravel and tracks but on the tarmac the front tyre squirms and drags when climbing out the saddle or cornering aggressivley.  Its not terrible but irritating enough to change.  I'll suffer low pressure quirks for cyclocross where grip is king, I dont need that low on the road so 28s are enough.

 

It's partly your rims not being wide enough; even 28s are too wide for many road bike wheels. My Hunts are the first I've seen that hold larger tyres in the right shape; my Mavics pretty much let my 28s spill over the sides.

Avatar
harman_mogul replied to part_robot | 6 years ago
0 likes

part_robot wrote:

STATO wrote:

 

As the article states, 32mm need to be run at such low pressure you get sidewall instability when riding agressively.  I fitted 32mm to my 'endurance' bike and think ill be going down to 28s soon, I loved them for gravel and tracks but on the tarmac the front tyre squirms and drags when climbing out the saddle or cornering aggressivley.  Its not terrible but irritating enough to change.  I'll suffer low pressure quirks for cyclocross where grip is king, I dont need that low on the road so 28s are enough.

 

It's partly your rims not being wide enough; even 28s are too wide for many road bike wheels. My Hunts are the first I've seen that hold larger tyres in the right shape; my Mavics pretty much let my 28s spill over the sides.

Yet Audaxers have been riding 28mm tyres (eg Conti 4 Seasons) on Mavic Open Pro rims for donkey's years without complaint — those rims have a 13mm inner width! But I do agree, a bit wider is better, 19mm the sweet spot for 28–32mm tyres like Vittoria Corsa, Schwalbe Pro One, and Conti GP 4000.

Avatar
alotronic replied to harman_mogul | 6 years ago
1 like

harman_mogul wrote:

part_robot wrote:

STATO wrote:

 

As the article states, 32mm need to be run at such low pressure you get sidewall instability when riding agressively.  I fitted 32mm to my 'endurance' bike and think ill be going down to 28s soon, I loved them for gravel and tracks but on the tarmac the front tyre squirms and drags when climbing out the saddle or cornering aggressivley.  Its not terrible but irritating enough to change.  I'll suffer low pressure quirks for cyclocross where grip is king, I dont need that low on the road so 28s are enough.

 

It's partly your rims not being wide enough; even 28s are too wide for many road bike wheels. My Hunts are the first I've seen that hold larger tyres in the right shape; my Mavics pretty much let my 28s spill over the sides.

Yet Audaxers have been riding 28mm tyres (eg Conti 4 Seasons) on Mavic Open Pro rims for donkey's years without complaint — those rims have a 13mm inner width! But I do agree, a bit wider is better, 19mm the sweet spot for 28–32mm tyres like Vittoria Corsa, Schwalbe Pro One, and Conti GP 4000.

 

Well we used to, and some still do. But the more *ahem* progressive Audaxers are all over wider rims and tubeless as they are more comfy, better grip and less drag etc. Archtypes are common, loads of hunts, pacentis etc. For the record I rode 28s on mavic open pros (and indeed MA4s before that) as training wheels for, um, decades really and the wider rims p*ss all over them! The pro was light and strong enough and you couldn't really get aything else that performed as reliably and they were squirelly next to new wider designs. 19/20 is indeed spot on. As above I am cutting back from 32 to 28s, just because I like a slightly faster 'road feel' even if it actually slower!

Avatar
700c | 6 years ago
5 likes

A 'lighter, stiffer frame' to which they then fit disc brakes, 32mm tyres and a special flexible handlebar laugh What?!

Avatar
1961BikiE | 6 years ago
0 likes

If I was looking for a pure road bike the Synapse is one that's been on my list for a couple of years. This just looks even better. Bet they don't do a 46cm width for that bar but looks ace IMHO and would appear to have a reasonable range of fit and adjustment. Especially compared to a fully integrated bar/stem.

Avatar
Stef Marazzi | 6 years ago
3 likes

Lush bike. Shame about the BB30.

Avatar
ibr17xvii | 6 years ago
0 likes

Nice looking bike apart from the chainset which is awful IMHO.

Avatar
Boss Hogg replied to ibr17xvii | 6 years ago
0 likes

ibr17xvii wrote:

Nice looking bike apart from the chainset which is awful IMHO.

 

The SiSL2 chainset is one of the stiffest and lightest around.

Avatar
BarryBianchi replied to Boss Hogg | 6 years ago
4 likes

Boss Hogg wrote:

 

The SiSL2 chainset is one of the stiffest and lightest around.

 

Jezuz I hate all that chainset flex I keep getting.

Avatar
ibr17xvii replied to Boss Hogg | 6 years ago
1 like

Boss Hogg wrote:

ibr17xvii wrote:

Nice looking bike apart from the chainset which is awful IMHO.

 

The SiSL2 chainset is one of the stiffest and lightest around.

 

Maybe so but it looks dreadful.

Avatar
Sheffield_Rider replied to ibr17xvii | 6 years ago
2 likes

ibr17xvii wrote:

Boss Hogg wrote:

ibr17xvii wrote:

Nice looking bike apart from the chainset which is awful IMHO.

 

The SiSL2 chainset is one of the stiffest and lightest around.

 

Maybe so but it looks dreadful.

Do people think the chainset looks bad, I personally think it is pretty much one of the best looking on the market, much more elegant than the flabby ultegra 6800,  granted I think the new ultegra is an improvement on the old one.

Avatar
IanW1968 | 6 years ago
1 like

Starting at 3.3k, I'm out. 

Avatar
David Arthur @d... replied to IanW1968 | 6 years ago
0 likes

IanW1968 wrote:

Starting at 3.3k, I'm out. 

 

The range actually starts at £2,199, with another model at £2,699, we'll update the price list

 

The Synapse Hi-Mod Red Etap is £6,499 as stated in the article. SRAM eTap on a regular carbon (non hi-mod) frame is £4,999

Avatar
cjwebb | 6 years ago
0 likes

The hamster powering www.cannondale.com website seems to be struggling today with all the extra traffic!

Avatar
julianrh | 6 years ago
0 likes

Why do they only have Garmin mounts? I use a Wahoo and wouldn't buy this bike as the mounts are not compatible. 

 

Avatar
Broady. replied to julianrh | 6 years ago
0 likes

julianrh wrote:

Why do they only have Garmin mounts? I use a Wahoo and wouldn't buy this bike as the mounts are not compatible. 

 

 

Wahoo works too apparently.

Avatar
rjfrussell | 6 years ago
0 likes

I note that CW has etap at same price as Di2:

 

Hi-Mod models

Note: all Hi-Mod models come with the SAVE handlebar

Hi-Mod Dura-Ace £4,999.99

Hi-Mod eTap £7,799.99

Hi-Mod Dura-Ace Di2 £7,799.99

Pages

Latest Comments