Cannondale 2015 sybapse carbon Ultegra vs carbon Ultegra disc/di2 ?
 

I'm 58, 6', 215 lbs and ride 60 to 120 miles a week. I've been riding a Cannondale CAAD10 3 alloy Ultegra.Just had my second Back surgery and am looking at the synapse for a more comfortable ride. Live in north fl where the roads are mostly flat with rolling hills. There are some steep hills to challenge but not many. I enjoy riding 70 to 100 on the occasional weekend. I ride in groups and solo. I've tried the di2 and really liked the shifting but I was happy with the Ultegra too when it was properly adjusted.Disc brakes don't bother me as I have them on my mountain bike.I'm not sure about having them on a road bike.I can get the mechanical ultegra rim brake model for $2600 or the disc.di2/disc model for $4050. Weight difference is 17.2 vs 18.1 lbs. I plan to upgrade the wheelset later. Is it worth the the 1450 price difference for the di2/disc. I'm sure I'd be happy with either. Was thinking I could get the Ultegra mechanical model and spend the difference on a better wheelset and other goodies. Your thoughts? Thanks

Here are links to the different models

http://www.cannondale.com/nam_en/201...tegra-di2-disc

http://www.cannondale.com/nam_en/201...rbon-3-ultegra

I've been riding a road bike with Ultegra DI2 and rim brakes for about three years. A few months ago I decided to get a bike with disc brakes (a Volagi Liscio) and, of course, I had to have DI2 shifting again. I ride up and down some steep hills a lot so I've found the DI2 aspect very nice. I can shift frequently without even thinking about it, I can shift under power and it auto trims. I bought the disc brake bike because it allows me to do long descents on the hoods, which is great for my neck. So when people who also ride the hills around here ask me for advice on a new bike, I always recommend the DI2/disc combination (assuming they can afford it, of course).

I mention all of this because I'm not sure that any of this pertains to you since you live in Florida and you say that it's rather flat. I suspect that you shift a lot less frequently than I do and disc brakes won't be as much of a benefit. So, I would recommend the regular Ultegra with rim brakes unless you've got money to burn and want the latest stuff. If the latter is the case, go for it.

BTW, the Volagi Liscio is a very smooth riding bike. Check it out if you have a dealer in the area.

one advantage of the disc bike over the rim brake bike, at your age with your back problems, will be the ability to put larger tires on to smooth out the ride even more. IIRC, the rim brake bikes can fit a 27 tire and that's about it, the disc brake bikes will likely (and check with your dealer to confirm) be able to easily accommodate much larger (32+) tires. that's the only reason I can see for disc brakes in FL

if you ~want~ disc, get it with the di2 and be happy, as long as the money isn't an issue get whatever bike makes you happy.

Thanks for the input. The bility to add larger tires is a plus Bonz50. Robocheme has the di2 been dependable?

Bonz50 makes a good point makes a good point about the tire width. I run my 28 mm tires at 80 psig and it really does make the ride a lot smoother.

And yes, the DI2 have been reliable. The only problem I had was on the previous bike with a loose wire connection. Bear in mind that that bike was retrofitted from a mechanical Ultegra system. The area around the junction box looked like a bunch of spaghetti. You shouldn't have that problem with a new built system.

Another thought.There doesn't seem to be many disc specific wheelsets available at the moment. The wheelset spec'd on the Cannondale Synapse disc/di2 are the Mavic Aksium One with a centerlock disc hub. Wish I could get the Synapse carbon with UDi2 but without the disc brakes . To upgrade to di2 later would run another $1k plus.

I just had the same dilemma, I ended up going mechanical with the Synapse 3. I already had some Boyd Altamont's on my SuperSix, which I had to get the 11 speed conversion kit. While I like the Di2, I could not justify the price difference and figured if I wanted to go di2 later, I could with this frame. As far as he Disc wheelset. I have a set of Boyd Altamont's with Disc on my commuter, highly recommended. Also, with the Boyd wheels, Michelin Pro4 Service Course 25's size out to 28's anyway so you have a nice wide tire.

Ok. I pulled the trigger on the synapse disc /di2 carbon. Arrives next week. I can't wait.Thanks everyone :)

Curious if anyone else has either of these two bikes and what you think about it?

I test-rode the disc/di2 one and looooooooooooooved it. Rode it longer than I intended to and was a little late for my next thing.

My wife got an aluminum/105 synapse and I love that too, and it was around a quarter the price of the high end one, so I can see a lot of scope for finding a less pricy one that I would still enjoy a lot.