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Cannondale Synapse Alloy or Carbon--Need Your Advice
Trying to decide wether the extra cost of a carbon frame. Cannondale
Synapse has identical from sizes in alloy (presumably aluminium) and carbon. The price difference is substantial. The dealer says that the ride is better and more efficient with the carbon frame but am not convinced that this is true given the fact that the alloy Synapse has a carbon fork and seatpost. For info--I'm 65 and ride 40-50 miles most weekends on city streets and rails to trails. No racing. I would appreciate comments from anyone. Thanks. StanW |
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#2
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Cannondale Synapse Alloy or Carbon--Need Your Advice
On Sep 7, 2:44 pm, StanW wrote:
Trying to decide wether the extra cost of a carbon frame. Cannondale Synapse has identical from sizes in alloy (presumably aluminium) and carbon. The price difference is substantial. The dealer says that the ride is better and more efficient with the carbon frame but am not convinced that this is true given the fact that the alloy Synapse has a carbon fork and seatpost. Like the Synapse?, get it. Dealer is milking a sale. I see way too many weekend warriors with their requisite chub on the local paths riding $3K bikes the shop upsold them. Mind, no beans against you if you simply like expensive kit, it's at least cheaper than turning a Harley into a lampshade. |
#3
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Cannondale Synapse Alloy or Carbon--Need Your Advice
In article om,
StanW wrote: Trying to decide wether the extra cost of a carbon frame. Cannondale Synapse has identical from sizes in alloy (presumably aluminium) and carbon. The price difference is substantial. The dealer says that the ride is better and more efficient with the carbon frame but am not convinced that this is true given the fact that the alloy Synapse has a carbon fork and seatpost. For info--I'm 65 and ride 40-50 miles most weekends on city streets and rails to trails. No racing. Buy the aluminum one. I would anticipate no discernible difference in comfort, but if the ride ends up being too harsh, you can spend the price difference on 25 or 28 mm tires. Cannondale makes great bikes, but the performance advantage from the slightly lighter carbon bike would be unnoticeable for anyone outside of a very competitive racer on a course with lots of climbing. If the price difference is "substantial," then I would go for the aluminum bike every time. I'm sure you can figure out what to do with the money you save (my choice would be to buy a nice dinner out for the missus and me, and a nice bottle of expensive booze I would never normally purchase), but be confident that you'll never miss the carbon frame. I would appreciate comments from anyone. Thanks. I'm almost certain this is not true. You're welcome. -- Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/ "I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos |
#4
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Cannondale Synapse Alloy or Carbon--Need Your Advice
StanW wrote:
Trying to decide wether the extra cost of a carbon frame. Cannondale Synapse has identical from sizes in alloy (presumably aluminium) and carbon. The price difference is substantial. The dealer says that the ride is better and more efficient with the carbon frame but am not convinced that this is true given the fact that the alloy Synapse has a carbon fork and seatpost. I'm pretty sure the seatpost on a Synapse Alloy is carbon-wrapped - I think there's metal underneath it, but I've never looked at mine. Will the dealer let you test ride both bikes? I'm quite happy with the ride on my '07 Synapse 1 (Alloy), but it's the first road bike I've had in 20 years. The one thing I did was replace the stock C'dale Omega brakes with Shimano 105s, which improved stopping considerably, though it might have been enough to just swap the stock brake pads for Ultegra pads. Dana |
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Cannondale Synapse Alloy or Carbon--Need Your Advice
The CF Synapse I've seen seem to be made of lower quality CF similiar
to TREK's. No CF weave to be seen. No, problems riding it, but seems a little more fragile than say an Italian or custom made CF frames. I'm guessing here, but I'd say that this level of CF bicycle frame is sold at the wholesale level for about 150 bucks per. Another 50 bucks for a no-name CF fork plus all Ultegra or Veloce components and the LBS will be a happy camper to sell it to you for $999. |
#6
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Cannondale Synapse Alloy or Carbon--Need Your Advice
StanW wrote:
Trying to decide wether the extra cost of a carbon frame. Cannondale Synapse has identical from sizes in alloy (presumably aluminium) and carbon. The price difference is substantial. The dealer says that the ride is better and more efficient with the carbon frame but am not convinced that this is true given the fact that the alloy Synapse has a carbon fork and seatpost. For info--I'm 65 and ride 40-50 miles most weekends on city streets and rails to trails. No racing. I would appreciate comments from anyone. Thanks. StanW What is a "reasonable" differential price between CF and aluminum for otherwise somewhat similar frames? I keep two bikes running most of the time. One is CF and the other is aluminum and they have the same drivetrain and brakes. Both have carbon forks. To be honest, I regularly ride them both and I cannot tell a heck of a lot of difference between the two, day in and day out. The difference in the price of these two (bought several years apart) was $500 and change. It is fun owning a CF framed bike. In my case though, even considering that part of the price difference is due to inflation, I would not say there is $500 worth of difference between the two. |
#7
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Cannondale Synapse Alloy or Carbon--Need Your Advice
On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 04:58:21 GMT, Ryan Cousineau
wrote: In article om, StanW wrote: Trying to decide wether the extra cost of a carbon frame. Cannondale Synapse has identical from sizes in alloy (presumably aluminium) and carbon. The price difference is substantial. The dealer says that the ride is better and more efficient with the carbon frame but am not convinced that this is true given the fact that the alloy Synapse has a carbon fork and seatpost. For info--I'm 65 and ride 40-50 miles most weekends on city streets and rails to trails. No racing. Buy the aluminum one. I would anticipate no discernible difference in comfort, but if the ride ends up being too harsh, you can spend the price difference on 25 or 28 mm tires. Cannondale makes great bikes, but the performance advantage from the slightly lighter carbon bike would be unnoticeable for anyone outside of a very competitive racer on a course with lots of climbing. If the price difference is "substantial," then I would go for the aluminum bike every time. I'm sure you can figure out what to do with the money you save (my choice would be to buy a nice dinner out for the missus and me, and a nice bottle of expensive booze I would never normally purchase), but be confident that you'll never miss the carbon frame. I would appreciate comments from anyone. Thanks. I'm almost certain this is not true. You're welcome. I recently got an all carbon and for me it's worth it. My area is hilly to very hilly, and it really makes a big difference. My Al bike (Trek 1000) feels slightly slushy in contrast (some of that might be give in the chain and component wear, but I just changed out the rear cogs about 18 months ago). I'm very glad I got the carbon. It was a present for losing 40+lbs in the last 8 months. Yep, finally riding in the non-Clydesdale division at 190-195 on the Saturday morning group rides. I'd suggest you test ride both. |
#8
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Cannondale Synapse Alloy or Carbon--Need Your Advice
In article . com,
Kenny wrote: The CF Synapse I've seen seem to be made of lower quality CF similiar to TREK's. No CF weave to be seen. No, problems riding it, but seems a The surface layer of bidirectional woven carbon fibre seen on many bicycles is often primarily cosmetic. Most designs exploit unidirectional fiber matting extensively. little more fragile than say an Italian or custom made CF frames. I'm guessing here, but I'd say that this level of CF bicycle frame is sold at the wholesale level for about 150 bucks per. Another 50 bucks for a no-name CF fork plus all Ultegra or Veloce components and the LBS will be a happy camper to sell it to you for $999. Interesting, if true. -- Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/ "I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos |
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