EdaleJohn
New Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
I bought my bike unseen during a Covid-19 lockdown in the UK and relied quite heavily on reviews. This was my go-to website for real-life reviews when selecting the bike, so here are my early observations.
After deciding which bike I wanted, getting the right size was a bit of a conundrum. The Cannondale website put me near the very top of large and Smartfit online sizing put me very near the bottom of large. My calculations, based on my existing bikes, put me spot on the overlap between medium and large.
I went with medium on the basis I could make it a bit larger by changing components. It worked out to be a pretty good fit as supplied, with the saddle a tad further back than recommended. The bars are 35mm below my saddle height, which is a bit low for me these days. Fortunately the saddle to bar measurement is slightly shorter than my other bikes, which seems to compensate without feeling cramped.
Here are a few points not mentioned in the standard spec:
Stem: 105mm
Cranks: 172.5mm
Weight: 19.6kg
Toe Overlap with front mudguard (fender): just level (no overlap) with my size 46 Shimano SPD shoes, both road and MTB versions.
Rear mudguard fixings: the standard, removable bridge plus a brazed-on boss near the bottom rear of the seat tube and substantial stays to take the recommended maximum combined 16kg weight of 2 panniers. The rear mudguard ends short of the bottom bracket so I've added a bit of helitape to protect the motor housing from crud.
My impression of the ebike compared with my standard road bike, built around a Bob Jackson hand built, steel frame that rides superbly.
The Synapse definitely rides a bit firmer than my Bob Jackson. For the pot-holed country lanes that I mainly ride on I’m now running the 35mm tyres at the 3 bar minimum recommended pressure, front and rear, compared with the Jackson on 28mm tyres, 4 bar front , 4.5 bar rear. The Synapse is acceptable at that but did seem a lot less forgiving until I lowered the tyre pressures.
The steering is light but I find it a bit more sluggish than I expected. The slacker head angle, much greater trail and longer wheelbase combine to push the bike in a straight line, which is good at speed but taking a bit of getting used to when I’m riding slowly.
I haven’t noticed the wider Q-factor but do notice the extra 7kg or so weight when riding without the motor. Nevertheless it rides well, with or without the motor, and the overall feel is indistinguishable from that of a conventional bike.
The mechanicals - gears, brakes, motor - are all fine for me, as are the other components. The mantis colour is a bit darker than I expected. Army jeep olive might be a reasonable comparison.
The noise from the motor is obvious but not intrusive and it’s quieter than the Shimano STEPS E6001 on my wife’s Cannondale Quick Neo.
Overall the bike is well suited to my needs. A combination of aging and doing insufficient mileage to get beyond basic fitness has made steep hills a bit of a grind. The ebike has been something of a revelation. I’ve only used the bottom two power levels but that is plenty to take the sting out of climbs. I still push myself a bit but arrive home nicely tired and recover faster than previously.
After deciding which bike I wanted, getting the right size was a bit of a conundrum. The Cannondale website put me near the very top of large and Smartfit online sizing put me very near the bottom of large. My calculations, based on my existing bikes, put me spot on the overlap between medium and large.
I went with medium on the basis I could make it a bit larger by changing components. It worked out to be a pretty good fit as supplied, with the saddle a tad further back than recommended. The bars are 35mm below my saddle height, which is a bit low for me these days. Fortunately the saddle to bar measurement is slightly shorter than my other bikes, which seems to compensate without feeling cramped.
Here are a few points not mentioned in the standard spec:
Stem: 105mm
Cranks: 172.5mm
Weight: 19.6kg
Toe Overlap with front mudguard (fender): just level (no overlap) with my size 46 Shimano SPD shoes, both road and MTB versions.
Rear mudguard fixings: the standard, removable bridge plus a brazed-on boss near the bottom rear of the seat tube and substantial stays to take the recommended maximum combined 16kg weight of 2 panniers. The rear mudguard ends short of the bottom bracket so I've added a bit of helitape to protect the motor housing from crud.
My impression of the ebike compared with my standard road bike, built around a Bob Jackson hand built, steel frame that rides superbly.
The Synapse definitely rides a bit firmer than my Bob Jackson. For the pot-holed country lanes that I mainly ride on I’m now running the 35mm tyres at the 3 bar minimum recommended pressure, front and rear, compared with the Jackson on 28mm tyres, 4 bar front , 4.5 bar rear. The Synapse is acceptable at that but did seem a lot less forgiving until I lowered the tyre pressures.
The steering is light but I find it a bit more sluggish than I expected. The slacker head angle, much greater trail and longer wheelbase combine to push the bike in a straight line, which is good at speed but taking a bit of getting used to when I’m riding slowly.
I haven’t noticed the wider Q-factor but do notice the extra 7kg or so weight when riding without the motor. Nevertheless it rides well, with or without the motor, and the overall feel is indistinguishable from that of a conventional bike.
The mechanicals - gears, brakes, motor - are all fine for me, as are the other components. The mantis colour is a bit darker than I expected. Army jeep olive might be a reasonable comparison.
The noise from the motor is obvious but not intrusive and it’s quieter than the Shimano STEPS E6001 on my wife’s Cannondale Quick Neo.
Overall the bike is well suited to my needs. A combination of aging and doing insufficient mileage to get beyond basic fitness has made steep hills a bit of a grind. The ebike has been something of a revelation. I’ve only used the bottom two power levels but that is plenty to take the sting out of climbs. I still push myself a bit but arrive home nicely tired and recover faster than previously.
