My New Road Bike

Now that the Buying A Road Bike series is done I can reveal which bike I ended up getting. Here was my shortlist of bikes:

1. Cannondale SystemSix
2. Cannondale Six13
3. Cannondale Synapse
4. Specialized Tarmac
5. Specialized Roubaix
6. Scott CR1

So, which one did I chose?

Well, after a few test rides and some honest reevaluation of my needs and goals I ended up getting the Cannondale Synapse 3. In the end, I reached the conclusion that I am not going to be a "racer" in the sense of doing a lot of criteriums so I didn’t need a bike designed primarily for that use. I also admitted that I am not willing to sacrifice comfort just to have a more aggressive (faster) position on the bike. When I rode the Synapse it just felt good. The position on the bike was "comfortably aggressive" and the ride was great. I ended up getting the bike at a local REI store, not the typical local bike shop but they were fairly knowledgeable. Plus, having ridden for a while, I had a good feel about what fit and what didn’t. I’d had a professional fit within the last year so I had valid "specs" to use. The bonus was that because I am a member of REI, I will get a dividend of about $240 at the end of the year, making the price very competitive and well within my budget.

I’ve had the bike for nearly three weeks and I really like it. The only issue I am dealing with is the saddle. For many people, the saddle that comes with the new bike just doesn’t work. I was ready to get a new saddle for my old bike anyway and now that I have the Cannondale I am just carrying over the search to the new bike. Other than the saddle, the Synapse has exceeded my expectations. It is a smoother, less harsh ride than my old bike, is plenty stiff for climbing, has a slightly more relaxed geometry that is less tiring on longer rides, and handles great. I’ve ridden a century on it so far along with a few 40-50 mile rides. This weekend I will take it up to the mountains and do some serious climbing with it.

I will do a more formal review of it in the next week or so. Stay tuned for that.