Here's the deal, I'm torn between the CAAD and a Synapse.
I'm currently on an old M900 XC bike with road tires that happens to have a frame that's way too small, (52cm and i'm 6'4") and short gears that never get used. I always ride the road and it's pretty flat here. Although it's a nice bike it doesn't fit my riding style and with a combination of a pretty aggressive riding position and overly high seat position, it's uncomfortable to ride more than an hour. In fact I find that my hands go numb. The entire bike is a compromise in both fit and use.

I want to get into some group rides and train for a century. And want a more comfortable bike that I'll be inclined to ride more. So...I'm ready to buck up and purchase my first road bike.

My LBS has both a CAAD 10 with 105 groupset ($1600) that I absolutely love the look of with its white black and green paint scheme. They also have a Synapse Sora in stock in black and green ($1030). I absolutely love the look of the CAAD bike and... it has a better group set, but for some reason most of the Synapses with similar groupset have the personality and appeal of a barbecue grill in my opinion. I just can't stand the dull semi gloss two color black and white fad.

Am i a glutton for punishment in considering the CAAD10? Or do you think I would really be happier on the Synapse? Keep in mind I'm coming from a bike with a horrible fit. Can anyone with experience riding both give their opinion on the actual differences in riding experience?

To clarify, do you mean a CAAD12? That would not be a good price for an older 10. I think you mean 12—I bought the same model but upgraded a lot of the components with what I had lying around.

I've ridden both, and honestly I don't really see a difference in terms of ride quality, but I'm no pro. Personally I'd go with the CAAD since it's the absolute pinnacle of engineering for aluminum and a wonderful frame to upgrade around. Do you mean the Synapse Carbon or alum?

And for the love of god get yourself a 58 or 60. Your back must be a pretzel.

CAAD10/12 have a pretty profound geometry difference compared to a Synapse. Average riders or newbs would be more comfortable on a Synapse including this long time rider.
Most bikes come in more than one color. Shop around. Try to find a Synapse or equivalent comfort bike like a Defy, Roubaix etc with 105 and you should be happy. You need quite a large frame. Don't settle. Frame size and geometry is most important thing. All name brand bikes are good...how they became name brand.

I'd go with the CAAD. I like the Synapse, but the ones I've seen are increasingly coming with disc brakes and I prefer caliper brakes (that's a whole other thread). I also prefer aluminum to carbon. I had a bad experience with carbon a few years back and just don't have the coin to replace carbon frames if things go wrong.

Here is a link to the 2016 Cannondale Bicycle catalog:

https://issuu.com/cannondale_usa/doc...og_issuu_final

The CAAD's start on page 29 and the Synapse Alloy on page 51. Hope this helps.

It was actually a 2015 caad 10 105 series with the FSA crank, I accidentally put 12 on the thread title.
And the Synapse would be the aluminum Sora version.

And yes my current bike is a torture rack

I have looked at the full offerings on Cannondale's website. And truthfully the Synapses that catch my eye are above my budget. I've been nothing short of impressed with how light, tough and responsive my current older CAAD framed bike is however.

I guess it comes down to a slight reduction in comfort for a better bike. Or sacrifice buying a bike I don't particularly care for the look to get a comfortable bike with like components.

The CAAD 10 is a race bike. Some say it might be the best bang-for-the-buck race bike ever. I have several teammates who ride them, could afford much more expensive bikes, but prefer the CAAD.

However, if you don't race, you might prefer the Synapse.

If you are willing to spend 1600 for an older CAAD, just spend a very little more and get the carbon Tiagra Synapse. Or if that's too much, the alloy synapse also in Tiagra also has a glossy paint job.
https://www.cannondale.com/en/USA/Bik...9-d0d717b8725a

I'm biased. I like my Synapse. I don't want a frame that has a race geometry.

I started with a synapse and later moved up to a supersix, which has a similar geometry to the caad12. While the geometries were very different, I personally found the supersix to be as comfortable as the synapse on rides up to sixty miles (I have never ridden longer than that). I found the geometry of the race bike to be much more fun than the synapse.

At the end of the day, this will come down to your own personal preference, so you should test ride both frames. However, as long as you purchase the correct frame size and have the bike properly adjusted, there is no reason why the caad should not be comfortable.

I love CAADs. They are very comfortable for an aluminum race bike. If you are 6'4 and riding a 52 you should be perfectly comfortable on a properly sized CAAD. But $1600 is basically msrp so if you are going to spend that much why not just get CAAD12?

1. To repeat what others have said, do NOT pay 1600 for the 105 caad 10. You should be able to get a 105 caad 12 for about that price.

2. The carbon synapse has better reviews than the Aluminum synapse. So while there's nothing really special about an aluminum synapse, there is something special, and substantially unique about the Aluminum Caad.

3. If you are already riding a 52 cm bike, I don't think you will have any trouble getting comfortable on a properly sized caad 12 (if you want to spend 1600), or a caad 10 (which is now old, and should be on sale for closer to 1300, imo.). The geometry differences will not be as big as going up 3-4 sizes.

It sounds like you want the CAAD over the Synapse, I would say like the others get the CAAD 12 if you're paying $1600 or see if LBS will negotiate on the CAAD 10.

I'd take the CAAD over an aluminum synapse any day, but I love the fit of my carbon synapse over a CAAD frame.

I have a 2011 CAAD 10 w/DuraAce that I prefer to my 2009 Madone 6 series Project One w/SRAM Force.

I like my supersix more every mile I ride it, mine is a 2014 105 which is the "old" 105. I'm old and slow but the wind is my friend sometimes :-). The ONLY thing I am starting to hate about it is the PF30BB.

There is a $75 fix for that, if I was shopping a few year behind anything that has PF30 I'd try to negotiate the Praxis BB installed as part of the deal :-).

The biggest tire I would run on my Supersix rear is 25mm, sounds like the 2016 will take 28's.

Right tool for the job again. Consider the roads you'll be riding. Rough or smooth. Do you want shock absorption over stiffness or vice versa. For me, I have a lot of big hills around on smooth roads, so, something as light and stiff as the CAAD works well here.

Man. My old Allez must have been awful, because I ride a CAAD10 now and it feels like a recliner. Just the stock set of headtube spacers that most come with are enough to set the bike up pretty high for most. I have ridden it on some rough roads around here, and I know there is chatter, but I wouldn't want to NOT feel any of it. I guess I like to feel that connection to the road. I haven't ridden the synapse, but I think that the CAAD can be made comfortable enough with the right fit/tires.

Well, I pulled the trigger and bought a new bike today. Here's my old M900 that's getting retired.



And my new CAAD10!
I test rode the aluminum Synapse and for some reason I felt like I was up on stilts. It was a little noisier, way less responsive, and shifting was noticeably rougher with the Sora groupset.

I ended up really liking the way the CAAD10 rode. The difference in positioning on the bike is more agressive, and you could definitely feel the bumps more, but it felt way crisper, quieter, and ,more responsive. I didn't think the positioning on the bike was too severe or uncomfortable. After getting 25% off the sticker price, and 15% off the accessories, the CAAD was a no brainer.

Looks good, ride the tires off them rims now.

Gorgeous. What frame size? Just ditch the dork disc and you're ready to go

Awesome bike. I like the matching bottle cages and computer. Get the matching green bar tape when its time to replace

Nah .... get a Giant TCR Pro with Ultegra (or better).... best bang for buck IMHO, especially on the used market. Some really good ones in very good condition that are reasonably priced

Took it out for a 56 mile break in this morning. I had originally signed up for the 30 mile route and not the 50. I have No regrets buying the CAAD3 instead of the Synapse. Bike was phenomenal to ride.

It's a 60. Just took it off this afternoon

Great result mate - now, enjoy it!

cheers