Cannondale Synapse 2025: completely revamped and ready to take you even further

Road 06/05/25 15:30 Migue A.

The Synapse turns 20, Cannondale's granfondo bike model and one of the pioneers in what is now called allroad or endurance bikes. The North American brand celebrates it with the launch of the sixth generation of a bike designed to guarantee the maximum comfort of the cyclist and make endless kilometers possible.

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To infinity and beyond on the new Cannondale Synapse

Although not as famous as its competition SuperSix, the Cannondale Synapse, its endurance bike model, has remained firm in the brand's catalog for 20 years to the delight of cycling enthusiasts who find in this model one of the most comfortable bikes available on the market.

Cannondale Synapse 2025: completely revamped and ready to take you even further — Cannondale takes advantage of the Delta steering developed for its SuperSix for internal cable routing

A bike that has also managed to have dynamic qualities that very few envy the competition models, even though we no longer see it in races like when Peter Sagan squeezed it on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix. In fact, the trend, as in the rest of the bikes now called allroad, is to prioritize comfort above all.

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However, Cannondale has not wanted to give up having a sufficiently lightweight bike or its great performance, so in this new model, it has put its Lab71 to work to achieve a top-of-the-range frame that lowers the psychological figure of 1,000 g. The conventional frame used in mid-range assemblies is not far behind, reducing its weight to less than 1,150 g, all while adding a certain shaping of the tubes to have minimal aerodynamic gains or the enormous absorption capacity that the Synapse has always boasted.

If that were not enough, Cannondale has equipped this new Synapse with gigantic wheel clearances, capable of accommodating rear tires up to 48 mm in actual size, while front tires of up to 42 mm can be mounted, allowing us to flirt with light gravel.

Of course, the wiring is completely internal, using the same Delta fork tube for cable routing through the steering tube that they designed for their SuperSix EVO. A steering system that is complemented in the higher models with an integrated SystemBar-R cockpit

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Capabilities that Latchlan Morton can attest to, who tested this Synapse on his monumental adventure around Australia.

Taking advantage of the frame renewal and the bond that the brand has always maintained with SRAM, Cannondale has not hesitated to equip this new Synapse with a UDH-type derailleur, indicating that its spectacular top-of-the-range assembly, Lab71, is done using the new SRAM Red AXS XPLR 13v.

Also, following the line of other models in this segment, Cannondale has not hesitated to include the increasingly common storage system, called StashPort, in the diagonal tube, designed to accommodate their StashBag to carry the necessary items to deal with any mechanical incident. Additionally, this new Synapse also incorporates threads for an upper tube bag and for mounting fenders, discreetly hidden if not in use.

The storage of the diagonal tube also serves as a housing for the battery that powers the new generation of the SmartSense system that Cannondale introduced in the previous version of this bike. A system that integrates an 800 lumen front light, a rear light that is a specific redesign for this bike of the Garmin Varia eRTL radar, a wheel sensor that allows detecting movement and automatically recording our routes in the Cannondale app, and, the great novelty, a cable that connects to the SRAM AXS derailleurs instead of their own batteries to provide them with almost endless autonomy.

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The SmartSense is compatible, in addition to the Cannondale app, with the main cycle computers on the market and also includes a charging port that allows connecting these devices or our mobile phone. Using the lights at maximum power, the SmartSense declares an autonomy of more than 4 hours, while in flash mode, it can be extended to more than 24 hours. Regarding the derailleur power supply, its operation is prioritized over the rest of the functions, dedicating energy solely to it when the battery level drops below a certain threshold. Note that 5% of the SmartSense battery is equivalent to a fully charged SRAM AXS battery.