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TECH NEWS

Exclusive first ride - Cannondale Synapse 2018

Cannondale has replaced its venerable Synapse with a new model, David takes it for a first UK ride to see what's what

The update to the road.cc Bike of the Year winning Cannondale Synapse has been one of the most hotly anticipated releases this year. I got to ride it at the worldwide launch in Italy many months ago, but I finally got to ride it on more familiar UK roads earlier this week, and you can watch that first ride in the video above.

This is an exclusive first ride - the full range has just started to land in shops across the UK. I took to the roads of Dorset with Cannondale’s George Huxford and picked his brains on the many changes and advances in this new model. There’s a test bike winging its way to road.cc so we’ll be following this first ride up with one of our usual in-depth bike reviews soon.

- Cannondale Synapse 2018: Lighter and stiffer frame, wider tyres and disc brakes only

The yellow bike I rode is the Synapse Carbon Disc Red eTap that costs £4,999.99. The frame dispenses with the expensive high modulus carbon fibre of the higher-end Hi-Mod Synapse but is actually lighter than the old Hi-Mod Synapse. It does lack the distinctive Power Pyramid split seat tube found on the Hi-Mod Synapse, but more critically it gets all the key features such as 32mm wide tyre clearance, flat mount disc brakes with thru-axles, refined geometry and SAVE technology and hidden mudguard mounts.

- Cannondale 2018: Featuring the Synapse, Supersix Evo and more

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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