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TECH NEWS
Cannondale 2018: Featuring the new Synapse, Supersix Evo, CAAD 12 and more
Cannondale is consistently one of the most popular bike brands with road.cc readers and with new 2018 bikes starting to arrive in the shops, here's an overview of the new range, with highlights including the revamped Synapse endurance bike. There's also the race-ready SupserSix Evo, Synapse Alloy SE, CAAD12 and CAADX SE.
As you know if you’re a regular reader of road.cc, the big news for Cannondale in 2018 is the launch of the completely updated Synapse, the company’s endurance bike. A lighter and stiffer carbon frame, wider tyre clearance, mudguard mounts and revised SAVE comfort-boosting technology amount to a lot of changes for a bike that has long been popular with UK cyclists. You can read all about it from the launch and watch our exclusive first UK ride on the brand new bike here.
- Cannondale Synapse 2018: Lighter and stiffer frame, wider tyres and disc brakes only
If you are on a budget, Cannondale offers the new Synapse in aluminium and we picked the Synapse Disc 105 SE (£1,299.99) model because of its Special Equipment moniker that ensures it stands out from the rest of the range. An understated paint finish along with WTB tan sidewall tyres mark this bike out as a bit special. We like a lot.
There are no changes to the SuperSix Evo into 2018. It was last updated in 2016 with the addition of a disc brake version along with a number of other changes aimed at lowering the weight and upping the stiffness and comfort. The stunning black and chrome bike in the video is the £4,999.99 SuperSix EVO Hi-MOD Disc Dura-Ace model. We'll hopefully be getting our hands on this very bike to review later in the year.
Here's a bonus SuperSix Evo for you. This is the £ 5,999.99 SRAM Red eTap model and we're LOVING the grey and yellow paint job. And yes, we know, that saddle angle... don't blame us.
Lots of love for aluminium both from us here at road.cc and from Cannondale. It's one of the few big bike brands that still believe in aluminium, the material that the US company originally carved its reputation with before transitioning to carbon for its top-level race bikes. The CAAD12 is the latest in a long line of CAAD models and is now available with either rim or disc brakes. Both frames are lighter, stiffer and more compliant than the previous CAAD10. The model we've picked in this video is a brand new Tiagra-equipped model which makes it the most affordable CAAD12 to date.
Lastly, Cannondale is in an interesting position in being one of the few big brands not to offer a dedicated adventure/gravel bike. Okay, there was the Slate, a 650b Lefty suspension bike, but Cannondale UK isn’t bringing it into the UK next year. Instead, it has taken its cyclocross bike, the CAADX, and through a change of components has modified it for adventure riding, the tyres and gearing being the key changes. It'll be interesting to see this bike and see how it fares against the latest crop of adventure-specific bikes. There’s also a pricier SuperX SE but that wasn’t ready for the launch event.
Full 2018 model list and prices
Supersix
| Model | RRP |
|---|---|
| SuperSix EVO Disc Black Inc. | £10,999.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Black Inc. | £9,499.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Hi-MOD Disc Team | £8,499.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Hi-MOD RED eTap | £5,999.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Hi-MOD Disc Dura-Ace | £4,999.99 |
| SuperSix EVO RED eTap | £4,799.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Dura-Ace | £3,699.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Ultegra Di2 | £3,199.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Disc Women's Ultegra | £2,699.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Disc Ultegra | £2,699.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Ultegra | £2,099.99 |
| SuperSix EVO 105 | £1,799.99 |
| SuperSix EVO Women's 105 | £1,799.99 |
Synapse
| Model | RRP |
|---|---|
| Synapse Hi-MOD Disc Dura-Ace Di2 | £7,799.99 |
| Synapse Hi-MOD Disc RED eTap | £6,499.99 |
| Synapse Hi-MOD Disc Dura-Ace | £4,999.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Disc RED eTap | £4,999.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Disc Dura-Ace | £3,999.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Disc Ultegra Di2 | £3,799.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Disc Women's Ultegra Di2 | £3,699.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Disc Ultegra SE | £3,249.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Disc Women's Ultegra | £2,699.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Disc Ultegra | £2,699.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Disc 105 | £2,199.99 |
| Synapse Carbon Women's 105 | £1,599.99 |
| Synapse Disc 105 SE | £1,299.99 |
| Synapse Disc Women's 105 | £1,199.99 |
| Synapse Disc 105 | £1,199.99 |
| Synapse Disc Women's Tiagra | £999.99 |
| Synapse Disc Tiagra | £999.99 |
| Synapse Disc Women's Sora | £849.99 |
| Synapse Disc Sora | £849.99 |
CAAD12
| Model | RRP |
|---|---|
| CAAD12 Disc Dura-Ace | £3,499.99 |
| CAAD12 Disc Ultegra | £2,199.99 |
| CAAD12 Ultegra | £1,899.99 |
| CAAD12 Disc 105 | £1,699.99 |
| CAAD12 Women's 105 | £1,399.99 |
| CAAD12 105 | £1,399.99 |
| CAAD12 Tiagra | £1,099.99 |
CAADX
| Model | RRP |
|---|---|
| CAADX Ultegra | £1,699.99 |
| CAADX 105 SE | £1,299.99 |
| CAADX 105 | £1,199.99 |
| CAADX Tiagra | £999.99 |
SuperX
| Model | RRP |
|---|---|
| SuperX Di2 | £4,299.99 |
| SuperX Force 1 SE | £3,249.99 |
| SuperX Force 1 | £2,999.99 |
| SuperX Apex 1 | £2,499.99 |
More at www.cannondale.com
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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26 comments
I'm currently on the first Synapse Carbon Ultegra Disc.
The new Ultegra builds are not interesting as an upgrade. You can't get Hi-mod, only some versions include the spider cranks or suspension seat post and handlebar, no new r8000 rotors either.
For now I'm just upgrading mine with r8000 and see how far I get.
Maybe next year's models are more interesting.
Just chiming in to correct the incorrect information here. Tri UK, a Cannondale dealer of some twenty odd years, has been purchased outright by the Sports Direct Group, a global company with businesesses in many countries.
Tri UK will continue to be managed and operarated by the original owners and staff, the only change is that they now have significany financial backing to open more stores, the first of which will be in Nottongham early next year.
Cannondale, like many of Tri UK's other long term suppliers, will of course continue to work with Tri UK in the new businesses.
Cannondale (along with GT, Charge, Fabric, Sugoi and Sombrio) are part of CSG (Cycling Sports Group), a global ccompany owned by Dorel of Canada. Dorel also own Pacific Cycle who own the Mongoose, Schwinn and Iron Horse brands. Dorel is a $2.8bn company who also own many childcare brands we probably all use such as Maxi Cosi car seats.
So basically a shop has been bought out but the suppliers continue to supply the shop.
Cracking paintjobs on these, love the satin-finish forest green in particular.
Are they still sticking with press-fit BBs? Interested to see if the CAADX will finally have decent rack and guard mounts.
If I buy a used caad12 on eBay he doesn't get a penny, am I rite?
Yes. He probably gets nothing even on this year's (already imported) models. Anything newly released will be adding to that massive wad he likes to flash around. He's no Donald Trump though, his money is actually his rather than a Russian investor's, so that at least is to his credit!
I thought Ashley had just bought Tri UK and not CSG?
Isn't CSG a US company? I'm guessing they'll keep at least US distribution, if not everywhere but the UK. Ashley only has UK rights, so you could still import your own Cannondale without funding that fat, abusive, gambling addicted liar.
CSG were / are are owned by Dorel Industries who are Canadian.
I am not clear whether he bought CSG or Tri UK which were owned by CSG. I have only seen references to the latter and if so he would not be the UK Distributor?
Granted these are RRP's, but the Supersix's have totally lost their value. Five G's for the cheapest Hi-mod offering. Why haven't they got a mechanical ultegra rim brake version? I was recently in the market for a £3k bike (insurance payout from stolen bikes), this would have been sufficient for a hi mod only a few years ago.
Yet a non Hi-Mod Ultegra build for £2K looks pretty good value in comparison.
Scoob, change of direction, instead of putting lower end parts on a Hi Mod frameset, we're now putting higher end parts on the carbon frameset. For 2018 you can get a carbon Supersix Evo with Dura Ace and full carbon clinchers for £3699 RRP, a much better package than anything we've offered before.
The carbon fameset is 150-200 grams heavier than the HiMod but still one of the lightest around in its category.
As Sniffer points out, ultegra mechanical for just over £2K with mavic wheels, you could upgrade to a set of carbon wheels and have change of £3K for this bike with most shops.
So the only difference between a hi mod and the standard frame is a bit of weight? Thats not the impression we used to get from marketting and reviews. What was great about the previous years cheaper hi mod options was that you could get the ultegra version and use whatever carbon clinchers you had at the time, or buy the ones you wanted rathert than the ones that may come with a more expensive offering.
Yep, mainly a weight difference. Some people comment that they prefer the 'feel' of a certain model, for example Warren Rossiter of BikeRadar and Cycling Plus fame says he prefers the feel of the carbon Synpase over the Himod but that's his preference based on his experience with the bike. From an engineering perspective weight is the main difference, comfort and stiffness numbers don't change much and there are no 'missing features' on the carbon frame that are found on the Himod. You can still buy Himod framesets or hunt around the web for deals on 2017 models which have the same frameset as its unchanged. Cheers
It's in their interests to say that. I my experience if you can tell the difference between a Hi Mod and Standard bike with the same spec you're some sort of savant. Like everything else in cycling, the higher end models/options exist only to get extra £££ out of you. They will not make you faster or cycling easier. Not only, but they are more brittle and hence easier to crack the carbon in a crash.
I agree Robot that most of us 'normal' riders can't feel the subtle differences between a carbon and himod version in the ride quality, but with Synapse the new frameset for a HiMod 56 painted is approx 336grams lighter which most normal riders will benefit from and notice as that is a heck of a saving.
Robot, Cannondale make bikes at all price points as there are people out there that want to spend a higher budget, you have to cater for everyone. They will make you faster and make your cycling easier, a HiMod Synpase with carbon wheels and electronic gears at 7.3kg is undeniably going to give a faster ride than the Carbon 105 bike at 9.1kg. I guess it's a question pf perspective, if the cheaper bike ticks all the boxes you need then job done!
As an employee of Cannondale, I ride a 2018 Syanpse HiMod with carbon wheels, SRAM Etap and lots of trick parts and the bike comes in under 7kg but I don't own the bike nor have paid any money for it. If I had to buy a bike today with my own money in a shop, i'd buy a Synapse Carbon Ultegra mechanical bike (£2699 rrp) and put fancy wheels in. I'd probably have everything I need for £3.5K, less than half the price of my actual bike for 80% of the performance.
A lot of the difference is down to exchange rate.
Norton, if you look at the 2017 to 2018 pricing, they do not reflect the devaluation of the £, we've worked very hard to absorb as much of the costs of FX fluctation to still try and offer great value on Cannondales. You are right, exchange rates have increased the physical costs of getting bikes here but we've cut our cloth accordingly as no brand can afford huge price hikes in the current (very competitive) market conditions.
Sole UK distributor is now Mike Ashley. Make up your own mind but there's so much choice out there I won't buy a Cannondale any time soon.
[Editor's note: as other commenters mention below, this is completely and utterly incorrect. Cannondale is distributed in the UK by Cycling Sports Group UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cannondale's parent company Dorel. That Mike Ashley's company owns a Cannondale retailer, TriUK, is nothing to do with Cannondale distribution.]
No way!! Oh God! Sounds like Cannondale is about to go the way of Carrera
.
There are a few other brands too which I've forgotten, but look out for anything distributed by TRI Yeovil or TRI UK which he now owns and wants to make into a big cycling retailer.
Tri UK do not import or distribute brands, they are a retailer of brands.
So CSG (of Poole) are still importing and distributing Cannondale in the UK, and the only link to Mike Ashley is that CSG supply bikes to a retailer (TRI UK) that his company has recently bought?
In other words, if I buy a Cannondale from a different retailer in the UK - Primera for example - it will have nothing to do with TRI UK?
Tri UK is a 25 year Cannondale retailer which is now owned by a major corporation. We expect it to retain its values and ethos of the last 25 years. As example CSGuk is the distributor of Cannondale but was once a family business called Hot Wheels (1982-2009). CSG was created in 2009 but many of the staff remain as does the culture and soul. It's the bike industry and its prominence that create change. Cannondale will continue to be available in the best IBD's and some larger multiple location specialists (thats the best way I can think to describe them!)
Cycling Sports Group in Poole (CSG) are a wholly owned subsidiary of CSG Global, owned by Dorel Corp. So CSG is the distributor but also the owner of the brands. For example Extra is the distributor for Topeak and Time but they have a distributor contract and contracts can change. We can't 'lose' distribution of Cannondale as we are Cannondale.
If you buy a Cannondale from Primera then Primera and CSG get your money. If you buy a bike from Tri UK then Tri UK and Cannondale get your money. Technically Sports Direct own Tri UK so they will at some point profit from thier profit but Chris and Ali who own Tri UK are still running the business on a daily basis have the same staff on the same contracts and they all have kids to feed and mortagages to pay. Yes MR Ashley has a reputation but I doubt he's even aware that his company acquired Tri UK. Obviously everyone has a choice where they shop, Tri UK's business model remains the same, they've just got more financial backing to expand. Hope this helps clear it up a bit, looks like fake news isn't only an issue for old Donald! LOL!
Completely incorrect information, please see below.