The Cannondale Synapse and the Trek Domane are held in the highest regard when it comes to the endurance road bike market. But which bike is best? Sam Gupta and Simon Smythe drill down into the differences between the bikes to try and figure out which is best for those wanting a more comfortable road riding experience.
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00:00The Cannondale Synapse and the Trek Domane have long been the pinnacles of the road bike endurance
00:05category. The question that we've been left with is how do these two new kids on the block really
00:10stack up against each other and which one should you really choose? So we're going to compare both
00:16bikes against ride quality, aesthetics, their features and of course the whole range option
00:22and the value in which they provide. So first off let's start with the features of the bike
00:26and you've got a pretty headline worthy feature. Tell us what it is. Yeah so I mean there are two
00:33main things to unpack for the Synapse and one is the bike itself and the other is the smart sense
00:39and that's really the the headline feature of the Synapse I would say this time. Let me just
00:43read how Cannondale describe it. It's integrated lights and radar designed to provide enhanced
00:48awareness while also creating heightened visibility so the rider can more effectively
00:52see and be seen. I mean the theory and the idea is a pretty rock solid one but in terms of execution
00:59and you know we're looking at this now from over a year on from when the bike was released
01:04how do you think it's played out for them? I think the problem with smart sense is that you can't
01:08choose your lights you're stuck with the ones that are there which are made by Lezyne. They're
01:11decent lights you know I thought they were good but yeah you know you just don't have the choice
01:15you're stuck with those lights and there's the battery on the down tube as well I mean you could
01:20take it off but it's going to leave the sort of cradle so you can't opt out of the smart sense
01:24system unless you go with the bottom of the range which is the four which doesn't have smart sense
01:29but is smart sense compatible so you could retrofit it if you wanted to. Does the Synapse have any
01:34other really key features worth mentioning? I mean there's the endurance geometry which mostly
01:38consists of a taller front end the size 56 which I rode has a almost a 60 centimeter stack height
01:45if you want comfort then it's all about that high front end. So tell me about the Domane so
01:50ISO speed decoupler? Yeah so that you've absolutely nailed it that is kind of the big feature of the
01:55Domane is that ISO speed functionality however there's a big difference between the Gen 3 and
02:01the Gen 4 version of the bike so previously you had two ISO speed points one in the head tube
02:06and one at the seat cluster and the one at the seat cluster was adjustable however it is no longer
02:13adjustable they've also stripped out obviously the one at the head tube so you're left with one
02:17ISO speed decoupler and it is non-adjustable now the reason why they got rid of that adjustability
02:22is because they found that riders weren't actually ever adjusting it now this has had kind of two
02:28really key benefits one is simplicity and looks it's just a lot cleaner and a lot smoother but
02:35also by making it non-adjustable and dinching the front end ISO speed so much lighter I think they
02:41managed to drop around about 800 grams out of the frame alone just by getting rid of and changing up
02:48their ISO speed system so that's the key headline feature for this bike the second one which is
02:54slightly less exciting and it is something that came across from the Gen 3 it's nothing new
03:00but I still really like it is actually the internal frame storage you've got a little access
03:05port down on the down tube where you can open up a door and then pull out the Bontrager tool roll
03:10that you can fill with all your spares and then pop it back in the frame which just means that
03:14you might not need to use a saddle bag or have a load of tools you know pulling down
03:18on your jersey pockets which is always nice so yeah those are the kind of the two key features
03:22from the Domane so Simon tell me about the Cannondale Synapse's ride quality so I think
03:32that um probably when I rode the original Synapse and we're talking about 16 years ago now
03:37it felt really really comfortable but that's probably because the race bikes at the time were
03:41so harsh the tires were very narrow the clearance was very tight so it felt really comfortable but
03:45now I think that the new Synapse is not really all that different from race bikes and mostly this is
03:51because of the tires race bikes now come with really wide tires and so does the Synapse the
03:57difference really is not that great between the Synapse and a race bike I think with with the
04:01Synapse where the difference really is is in the position the rider position you've got a very tall
04:06front end um the 56 that I rode the stack height was nearly 60 centimeters so it puts you in a very
04:11tall position where you're kind of you know you're looking over the roofs of cars which is great if
04:15you're using it to commute on if you if you're struggling a bit with a bad back it means you
04:19can sit more upright and you're more comfortable so all the all of the comfort really is in the
04:22position rather than the the bike itself although having said that Cannondale's built in these flex
04:27zones into the rear triangle adds a bit more compliance but I didn't really feel those um I
04:32think the comfort was all in the tire pressures for me and the rider position okay so then how
04:37did that translate towards how the bike was like to ride in terms of a if you wanted to you know
04:42show it a bit of aggression what did it feel like in those moments yeah I mean I think it's probably
04:47it's more performance orientated I would say and uh and like I was saying there's not really all
04:52that much difference between the kind of ride feel of the Synapse and I've been riding the Cervelo S5
04:56at the moment and you know it sounds crazy because the S5 is a pure race bike but really there's not
05:01that much difference in the ride quality it is a fast bike it's responsive you know it has the same
05:06sort of angles um classic sort of geometry as a race bike um so if you want to ride it fast and
05:12you know if you want an exciting ride then it can it can give that okay that's really interesting
05:17because I'd say that's in pretty stark contrast to what the Domane has been feeling like to ride
05:23I would say that actually it kind of wants me just to stay in the saddle when I do get out the saddle
05:28and try and you know throw it up a climb or get a little bit more aggressive it always makes me
05:33feel like it wants me to calm down and just sit in the saddle and just turn the pedals turn the
05:38watts out and it's something that kind of makes the bike feel a little bit lazy so it sounds like
05:43between the Domane and the Synapse actually the Synapse may lend itself slightly more towards
05:49those that do want to kind of be a little bit more aggressive rather than doing pure endurance miles
05:55why do you think it is that the Domane doesn't want you to push it really?
05:58It's a really good question actually I think there's probably a couple of things in that
06:02not only do you have the IsoSpeed technology so obviously that in itself does make the ride
06:09itself quite comfortable um but I think it's also the geometry of the bike so you've got
06:14um pretty decently long wheelbase it's over 100 centimeters from sizes 50 to an up and then you've
06:20got a pretty slack head angle as well because that's around about 71 degrees across the size
06:26range and obviously that does differ from size to size but it's all generally around 71 to 72
06:30when you do get out the saddle and you do stand up I find the the slackness of the head angle
06:36does just put me back down again that's how it's felt like to me oh that's pretty interesting
06:40because the Cannondale actually has the in the size 56 which I tested the wheelbase is just under
06:44100 centimeters so it's still got the kind of short responsiveness but it that's not to say
06:49it's not stable as well probably due to the front end the one thing that I didn't mention just then
06:53was that the Cannondale is actually quite heavy it's 9.5 kilos for that size 56. How does that
06:58compare with the Domane's weight? Well so the bike that I've been riding actually is in a
07:03specification that isn't available to buy so we don't have a direct comparison for the bike that
07:08you were riding and the bike that I was riding however if we look towards both Dura-Ace models
07:13of the bike there's a very big difference here so the Domane in the SLR version of the bike which
07:20uses their 800 series carbon that bike comes in at 7.25 kilos well and I believe the Synapse in
07:28its Dura-Ace configuration comes in at 8.3 kilos that's right yeah now there's a couple of caveats
07:34to this obviously the SLR version of the Domane will have that 800 series carbon and the Synapse
07:42does have SmartSense as well which is potentially going to add around 500 grams according to
07:47Cannondale so that's where you're going to have a pretty big difference in terms of weight but
07:53even if you strip away that 500 grams from SmartSense you've essentially still got this 500
07:57gram difference which can either be pegged towards the carbon that's used on the frame
08:02or perhaps the components that are used down to kind of wheels and tyre choices. Yeah like you say
08:08Trek uses the 800 series carbon for the top bikes whereas the Synapse just gets one carbon frame for
08:13all the models for all the Synapse carbons. Yeah absolutely so one thing that does make a big
08:18difference to how a bike feels is of course the tyres what was your Synapse running? Well
08:23unfortunately it comes with quite low end tyres the Vittoria Rubino Pros in a 30 millimetre size
08:28so they're quite big tyres and if they're cheap which they are it means they're going to be a bit
08:32heavier they're going to add quite a lot of rolling weight. Yes absolutely so I guess it's not
08:37only the rolling weight that's going to kind of bring it down but it's also the suppleness of the
08:43tyre as well because those Rubinos are actually quite harsh and they don't they don't kind of
08:47offer much so you can look at that either way obviously most people do tend to change their
08:52tyres over time but it means that you know there's potentially quite a big gain to be had if you were
08:58to upgrade your tyres say for example to some of the GP5000 either in a 30 or 32c size you would
09:04actually potentially feel quite a vast improvement in the ride quality. Absolutely and I think the
09:09other thing about the Synapse or in that build that I had which is the Altegra mechanical build
09:13is that you get these quite cheap heavy wheels which are Fulcrum Rapid Red 900 so I think they're
09:19just an OEM wheel and if you change the wheels as well upgraded the wheels and then you'd lose
09:23some weight and get a better ride quality with those as well.
09:31We'll move on to aesthetics now and that is of course something that's quite subjective
09:35but what do you really think of the Synapse's look? Well okay so it's got an angular kind of
09:40look I mean it's it's all straight tubes and I like that I like the straight angular tubes a
09:44very compact main triangle very heavily sloping top tube and drop seat stays underneath that so
09:50the Synapse frame is all about responsiveness and comfort because you've got the long
09:54seat tube and seat post. Do I like the look of it? I mean I think it's not particularly striking I
09:59have to say but I think what is striking about the model I tested is the beetle green colourway
10:04you know you see a sort of an ordinary looking frame with the straight tubes and you think oh
10:08that's just another bike but the beetle green colourway it looks sort of green but in the
10:14sunlight it turns into this coppery bronze colour so it's a really nice little twist and something
10:19that you don't really expect. I quite like the way Cannondale has kept the logo small so you've
10:23just got you know it's not sort of huge branding all over it so so yeah I mean I have to say I like
10:28the look of it it's not the most exciting looking bike ever but the paint is quite exciting. No
10:33that's really interesting for me looking at the Domane I'd say in some ways it's it's a bit of a
10:39weird thing to say but it's a very bike looking bike you know there's nothing really offensive
10:44about it but at the same time there's nothing really super inspirational about it. I think it
10:49looks quite elegant I like the it's it's a little bit curvier than the Synapse I think it looks to
10:54me like quite an elegant bike. Absolutely I mean I'm a really big fan of a classic bike frame shape
10:59I do love it when a bike doesn't have drop seat stays and I do like the sculpture on the head
11:05tube as well it's something that you do see across a lot of the Trek models so it's nice seeing that
11:09kind of design language you know being consistent across them and then one other thing that I will
11:14mention is that on some of the other Trek models like the Madone and the Émonda you do get a really
11:19big Trek decal logo on the down tube whereas on the Domane it is just a little bit smaller which
11:25is nice it's still large especially comparatively to the Cannondale but I think they've gone for
11:30a really nice set of color schemes just really bold colors with a pretty unoffensive looking
11:35logo and the frames just generally look pretty clean. So Simon is it fair to assume that we're
11:41in agreement that we both prefer the look of the Domane? Yeah I think in terms of looks it has to
11:45be the Domane for me. Yeah me too. Finally we are going to discuss the build options and the value
11:55that those represent and actually I think they make for a really interesting comparison because
12:00the Domane is available in so many more builds and that's because you can buy the Domane with a SRAM
12:07groupset whereas at the moment you can't do that on Cannondale. So run us through Simon what do
12:12you think about the Synapse's build options and the value that they provide? Okay so first of all
12:18I've just got to say that the one that I reviewed which was the Altegra Equipped 2 RL is £900
12:23more expensive than the outgoing Synapse and that sounds like quite a lot of money and I'm guessing
12:27that that is probably to recoup the costs of the R&D, the SmartSense and the new bike
12:34you know that's mostly where the costs are going to be. But actually if you look further down the
12:37range it starts with the AL, the aluminium versions and those bottom three are actually
12:42looking like quite good value for money I would say. You've got versions with Sora Tiagra and
12:47Mechanical 105 and they come without SmartSense but they're still SmartSense compatible. Then
12:52there's one Synapse Carbon that comes without SmartSense and that's the only one as we mentioned
12:57earlier. Sounds crazy to say but the higher up the range you go the better value it looks. Which is
13:02genuinely mad to say but this is the thing when you do compare it against the Domane which
13:07at the moment is what we're using as the point of comparison, the gaps become even bigger so
13:13at the bottom for the Sora Equipped aluminium version of the bike you've got a difference of
13:19£150 here in the UK. However when you get to the top end and you look at the Dura-Ace Carbon models
13:26you've then got a difference of £3,500. That's absolutely huge. Why do you think that is?
13:33It's hard to fathom actually because I think for any bike the flagship model with Dura-Ace Di2
13:41is normally going to be more than £9,000. This day and age yeah which I mean in itself is another
13:46point of discussion but like you say to get the range topping bike for you know four figures
13:52I mean it's not amazing but comparatively it's much better than the Domane. It is but actually
13:58I wonder if that's because as we said earlier there's just one carbon frame across all the
14:02Cynelapse models. They're not using a sort of super high modulus kind of very super light thing.
14:07Maybe that's part of the reason? I think that could be to come. As we know we have seen Lab 71
14:12bikes coming out of Cannondale very recently. It was launched with the Super 6. There's now the
14:17Topstone. It's pretty clear that they're using moulds that they already have so you know either
14:23maybe towards the end of the year or next it would not be a surprise to see a Lab 71 Cynelapse.
14:28So then it brings it up to the expected flagship price of £14,000. Yes exactly well and actually
14:33since the very top end Super 6 is £12,500 once you've mated that spec to a Lab 71 bike
14:41it would then be potentially matching the Domane exactly pound for pound. As I mentioned at the
14:46start the Domane does come in far more build options and I think you know we've discussed
14:52the top end it far exceeds the cost of the top end Cynelapse. However down at the other end with
14:59the aluminium builds the Domane does come in a Claris version whereas the Cynelapse only starts
15:06at the Soarer level. However there is again a caveat to this because the difference between
15:11the Domane Claris and the Cynelapse Soarer is only a difference of £50. So actually you could
15:18spend an extra £50 and then get yourself up by a whole group set level which is actually quite
15:24enticing. So I'd say those two bottom levels they're very similar money in terms of allowing
15:30yourself to get onto that platform but working up through the range with the Domane it is really
15:36nice that you've got smaller jumps and you can really fine-tune exactly how much you want to
15:41spend. If you have a budget there's a very good chance you're going to be able to find a Domane
15:45that suits that budget. So summing up what can we conclude from everything we've talked about so far
15:52about these two bikes? Do we like them? Do you like the Domane? Well I do like the Domane and I think
15:58as an endurance bike it is a fantastic tool for that job. If you do want to do some really
16:05comfortable really relaxed miles you know go and crush your first 100 mile sportive this is a
16:10brilliant bike to go and do that on. I love the fact that there's a huge range and essentially
16:15everyone can find a bike that suits their budget I think that's brilliant. As we've already mentioned
16:20we both really like the looks of the Domane it's just a very clean unoffensive nice looking bike
16:26you really can't get around that. I think the only thing for me is that as someone who does prefer a
16:32more performance orientated ride feel that's the only area in which I would say the Synapse
16:37clinches it. But what about you Simon what what do you think between the two bikes? Like you said the
16:42performance aspect is something that's quite important if you're after a sort of a racier
16:46bike if you like a racy ride feel if you like a fast bike then I think the Synapse has it but for
16:51me I would like to I would like it to be a bit lighter so I think I would have to do some upgrades
16:55on it it would need lighter wheels and lighter tires and I would go for a size down I would
17:00choose a smaller size the 54 and put a longer stem on it so that I had a more aggressive position
17:04instead of being so high at the front end. But the ride feel is great it is fast as a riding bike
17:09it's I do like it yeah. So I think we're pretty much agreed then in terms of what the bikes
17:14actually like to ride and what it feels like we'd both opt for the Synapse but in terms of aesthetics
17:20features and then just the sheer range that's available the Domane kind of wins in those areas
17:27so it's a tough one it depends what's important to you let us know down in the comments which bike
17:32would you go for I'd be really interested to hear all of your thoughts if you enjoyed the video then
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