# Confused! Synapse 2014 Carbon 6 105 / 2014 Disc 5 105 / 2013 Carbon 6 Tiagra



## jkbatca

Been looking at a Cannondale Synapse as I really like a comfortable road bike geometry. However, there are too many choices here!


2014 Carbon 6 105
2014 Disc 5 105
2013 Carbon 6 Tiagra

OK, here are the questions / observations I have. The 2013 carbon is cheapest by a couple of hundred dollars. The Disc 5 has disc brakes which I really like over standard rim brakes (used to disc brakes on my mtn bike). The 2014 carbon apparently is a new frame design. Does the 2014 carbon frame have any big advantages over the 2013 carbon frame? Is it worth the few hundred dollars more? Would a cheaper carbon frame with Tiagra be better than 105 alloy with disc brakes?

I guess the real way to find out is to ride them myself, but if anyone has been down this road already, I would appreciate if you had some observations on this. Especially on differences in riding comfort between the three above. Thanks in advance!


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## bikerjulio

No personal experience, but if you go to Youtube and look up 2014 synapse, you will get some further info. Frame was a serious redesign for 2014 and obviously Cannondale think it's an improvement. It has a unique "BB30a" BB shell which is 5mm wider and assymetric.

edit.

sorry, not familiar with all the different Synapses. My comments were directed at the carbon version of the 2014 Synapse which has the new BB30a system. The alloy version is still straight BB30.


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## Srode

Really depends on what you want the bike for. The disc version is heavier for sure, a 54cm 105 disc at the local shop weighed 22lbs without pedals or bottle holders. The disc brakes should be better for wet conditions. The carbon 105 will have a bit smoother ride compared to the disc version obviously because it will suck up road vibration better. 

I took my Synapse Ultegra disc for a ride the first time yesterday and with 28mm Conti GP 4 Season tires on it, the ride was very nice, no road buzz and it sucked up pavement irregularities nicely. My main road bike is a 5.2 Trek Domane so that's what was really my basis for comparison. As far as comfort the Domane did better with larger bumps, equal with road buzz from coarse pavement but it has 4000s Conti's on it and 25mm tires. The weight difference Between the aluminum Synapse and the Carbon Domane is noticable, with the Domane accelerating, and climbing easier and generally feeling more responsive but the weight difference as ridden is around 4lbs so that's to be expected. Also Domane has Zip 101s on it, and the OEM Synapse wheels are heavier at around 2000 grams without skewers, discs or cassette so the feel climbing and accelerating is to be expected, then there's the tire difference between 28s and 25s too which adds some rotating mass to the Synapse. 

I haven't taken it out in wet weather but plan to this morning, I got it to be my Winter / wet weather bike because of the discs. On the mostly dry roads yesterday the disc brakes had the same stopping power as rim brakes, no more and no less. They are easy to modulate

I think the difference between the 13 and 14 Synapse is the geometry is more relaxed, taller stack and shorter reach for each size, but could be wrong as I really didn't look at the 13s, just started looking at them around Christmas time. 

So how you plan to use the bike is what it's going to boil down to I think. If you aren't planning on riding the bike is wet weather, I wouldn't get the disc version, they don't add anything but weight IMHO. But the disc version is Aluminum so that is going to be less sensitive to frame damage from accidents and impact etc. The forks are the same CF so no difference there.

On Edit - Just got back from a 1 hour ride in a steady rain at 36 degrees, the bike did exactly what I bought it for. The brakes work every bit as good in the wet as in the dry and the fenders kept the spray off me, and the drive train. 

The brakes modulate well, no noticeable delay in engagement from wiping the surface and seem to have the same power as dry. The front made a bit of noise braking which was different than dry but otherwise the same - stopping power and control in the wet is going to be limited by tires and the road, not the brakes on this set up.


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## jkbatca

Srode said:


> Really depends on what you want the bike for. The disc version is heavier for sure, a 54cm 105 disc at the local shop weighed 22lbs without pedals or bottle holders. The disc brakes should be better for wet conditions. The carbon 105 will have a bit smoother ride compared to the disc version obviously because it will suck up road vibration better.
> 
> I took my Synapse Ultegra disc for a ride the first time yesterday and with 28mm Conti GP 4 Season tires on it, the ride was very nice, no road buzz and it sucked up pavement irregularities nicely. My main road bike is a 5.2 Trek Domane so that's what was really my basis for comparison. As far as comfort the Domane did better with larger bumps, equal with road buzz from coarse pavement but it has 4000s Conti's on it and 25mm tires. The weight difference Between the aluminum Synapse and the Carbon Domane is noticable, with the Domane accelerating, and climbing easier and generally feeling more responsive but the weight difference as ridden is around 4lbs so that's to be expected. Also Domane has Zip 101s on it, and the OEM Synapse wheels are heavier at around 2000 grams without skewers, discs or cassette so the feel climbing and accelerating is to be expected, then there's the tire difference between 28s and 25s too which adds some rotating mass to the Synapse.
> 
> I haven't taken it out in wet weather but plan to this morning, I got it to be my Winter / wet weather bike because of the discs. *On the mostly dry roads yesterday the disc brakes had the same stopping power as rim brakes, no more and no less.* They are easy to modulate
> 
> *I think the difference between the 13 and 14 Synapse is the geometry is more relaxed, taller stack and shorter reach for each size, but could be wrong as I really didn't look at the 13s, just started looking at them around Christmas time. *
> 
> So how you plan to use the bike is what it's going to boil down to I think. If you aren't planning on riding the bike is wet weather, I wouldn't get the disc version, they don't add anything but weight IMHO. *But the disc version is Aluminum so that is going to be less sensitive to frame damage from accidents and impact etc.* The forks are the same CF so no difference there.
> 
> On Edit - Just got back from a 1 hour ride in a steady rain at 36 degrees, the bike did exactly what I bought it for. The brakes work every bit as good in the wet as in the dry and the fenders kept the spray off me, and the drive train.
> 
> The brakes modulate well, no noticeable delay in engagement from wiping the surface and seem to have the same power as dry. The front made a bit of noise braking which was different than dry but otherwise the same - stopping power and control in the wet is going to be limited by tires and the road, not the brakes on this set up.


Thanks for the great feedback!

Even though it normally does not rain that much here, I'm used to disc brake performance from my Gemini 8" MTB rotors and coming from that, nearly all road brakes don't impress me that much. Some road rim brakes are OK, will have to evaluate. The other issues with road disc brakes are (a) need relatively unique hubs and (b) can have more options for tire widths on disc.

On another subject, just how "sensitive" are carbon frames to damage from crashes? Haven't done much research to date, but thought CF frames were better than when they first were introduced (relative to delamination). Note, not planning on crashing on road bikes, but things happen with me and have crashed on road bikes before...


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## Solidjake

Rule out the 2013 model right away. Seeing that you are looking at 105 component models stick with that, just decide if you want disk brakes or not. Can't go wrong with any of the carbon synapse 105 bikes!


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## jkbatca

I know it's been just about a year since I posted this, but got a deal on a Cannondale 2014 Disc 5 105 a couple of weeks ago. Been riding it frequently, went for a 20 mile ride last Saturday and must say I absolutely love this bike! The only mod I did on this bike to date is a shorter stem, Mr. Tuffy tire protector, and a Selle Italia Turbomatic gel flow saddle.

Bike frame feels stiff when cranking up a hill out of the saddle (and at 230 lbs, I put some stress on a bike frame), yet does not feel harsh as I wade through road cracks and debris. Geometry is super comfortable and encourages me to make me want to go on longer rides. Brakes provide plenty of stopping power on steep descents. As long as I'm wearing my cycling shoes, my heel very rarely comes in contact with the rear brake so I'm not looking to replace these brakes anytime soon.

About the only thing I'm looking at updating on this bike is to put a rear rack on it for work commuting; maybe a Tubus Fly Classic. Other than that, I'm really happy with this bike!


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## HawkeyeBike

I'm in the same market right now for a new road bike. I was at a shop this weekend and looked at the 2015 Disc 105 bike and they also had a 2014 Carbon 5 105 for roughly the same price as the 2015. I debating on which way to go.


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