Features hydraulic braking, disc-specific ENVE rims
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The 2014 Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc retails for US$9,750 (UK pricing TBC)(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
The 2014 Cannondale Synapse line was launched earlier this year, with standard brakes and completely overhauled geometry and frame construction(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Cannondale uses a smart spacer that incorporates a dual-LED light(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
The dual-LED spacer adds safety and functionality without cluttering the bike(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
SAVE Plus is Cannondale's descriptor for the heavily shaped seatstays and chainstays, laid up for substantial compliance(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
The 2014 Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc has perhaps the most aggressive internal cable routing for the hydraulic hose on the road market (with the same fork strength and stiffness as a standard Synapse, the company claims)(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Cannondale uses 28c tires on all its Synapse bikes except the top Hi-Mod Disc, which gets 25c Schwalbes(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Shimano has one Di2 hydraulic lever, but no name for it. This 'non-series' hydro/electric lever works with both Dura-Ace and Ultegra Di2 drivetrains, along with 'non-series' hydraulic calipers(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Shimano's non-series hydro/electric levers are simply labeled 'Shimano'(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
The 2014 Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc comes with 140mm rotors but can take 160mm as well(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
A top view of the curved black Cannondale Reach Around disc brake caliper positioning accessory(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
The 2014 Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc has a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 drivetrain with Shimano non-series levers - the only hydraulic/electric levers Shimano currently offers(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Cannondale requested that ENVE create a disc-specific carbon clincher wheelset (read: a slightly lighter wheelset thanks to the absence of a brake track and related reinforcement)(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Cannondale was founded in 1971(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Bigger might be better in some ways, but thinner means more comfort. Cannondale went for a 25.4mm seatpost on the 2014 Synapse line that, combined with the frame construction, supposedly means the Synapse has twice the compliance of another bike – other Cannondales included (Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
The primary signature of the Synapse is the arch in the seat tube. Cannondale claims this design improves torsional stiffness at the bottom bracket area without increasing weight by moving the mass to the outside of the frame(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
The seat tube and bottom bracket are asymmetric on the 2014 Cannondale Synapse. Note the placement of the cage bosses, which are centered over the bottom bracket but well offset on the seat tube(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Producing cranks in-house provides flexibility for frame design. The 2014 Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc has a BB30A bottom bracket, meaning an asymmetric design with 5mm of extra width on the non-driveside(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
This is what a Reach Around looks like. To position the caliper further back towards the center of the disc, Cannondale created the black arched piece that sits in the light blue protrusion(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
The 2014 Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc retails for US$9,750 (UK pricing TBC)(Image credit: Ben Delaney / Future Publishing)
Cannondale chose Eurobike 2013 to unveil a new addition to its performance endurance line. The new road bike is called the Synapse Hi-Mod Disc (US$9,750/£TBA).
Cannondale recently updated its Synapse line with new geometry and frame construction, and the Hi-Mod Disc builds on that racier endurance configuration with an all-new layup, along with disc-specific ENVE carbon rims and Shimano electronic shifting with hydraulic braking.
All the 2014 Cannondale Synapse bikes feature what the company calls SAVE Plus, a three-point comfort system that includes a particular layup, highly sculpted and compliant chainstays and seatstays, and a narrow 25.4mm seatpost in a compliant seat tube. Cannondale says this system provides twice the give of a similarly sized bike (even another Cannondale) with the same seat height.
BikeRadar has tested both the 2013 and 2014 Synapse bikes, and the difference in comfort is substantial. Our senior road technical editor gave the 2014 Synapse a rare five-star review.
The most notable frame feature of the 2014 Synapse line is the split lower seat tube, which Cannondale calls the ‘power pyramid’. The reasoning for this, aside from the visual differentiation, is to increase torsional stiffness at the bottom bracket without increasing weight.
"The material on the outside of the tube contributes more to the stiffness of the frame," Cannondale's road marketing manager, Jonathan Geran, told BikeRadar. "Removing material from the center of the tube allows us to add more on the outside without adding more material overall to the frame."
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As if there weren’t already enough bottom bracket standards, this bike has what Cannondale calls BB30A – a BB30 with the left side being 5mm wider (the ‘A’ is for asymmetric). The bike has the same Q-factor as earlier models.
Disc-specific features, aka the 'Reach Around'
Although the best manufacturers have figured out solutions for rim braking on carbon clinchers, these involve adding material – and therefore weight – to the rims compared to tubulars. With disc brake bikes, the friction and heat are removed from the rims and the lightweight promise of carbon hoops can be delivered.
For the Synapse Hi-Mod Disc, Cannondale worked with ENVE for disc-specific rims. ENVE is selling the disc-specific carbon road rims to anyone now, but it appears that Cannondale is the first major manufacturer to spec them.
The unique mounting bracket for the rear brake caliper positions the caliper further back
Adding disc brakes to road bikes means reworking the layup of the frame, and especially the fork, but Cannondale has added a frame extension to move the rear caliper further back towards the rear axle. The name for this curved caliper mount? The Reach Around.
Cannondale engineers wanted to avoid mounting the caliper on the seatstay because the strengthening required would compromise compliance, Geran said. Similarly, moving the caliper somewhat off the chainstay allows for better vertical flex of those stays.
Cannondale also has an alloy version of the Synapse Disc, which has a triple crank on the continental European model and a compact crank on the North American bike.
