2019 Cannondale Road Bike Guide
2019 Cannondale Road Bike Guide
2019 Cannondale Road Bike Guide. Cannondale has massively expanded its road bike range for 2019. It now covers pretty much every type of road riding you could want to do with prices ranging from £650 up to £8500.
Cannondale is known as an innovator. They made their name as pioneers of aluminium frames and they still form a core part of their range. Alongside their aluminium bikes, they now have 3 different models of carbon bikes with prices starting from £1499.
Cannonadle Women's Road Bikes
For 2019 Cannondale are using the same frames on the men’s and women’s bikes. So you get the same materials, the same tech and the same geometry. The major difference is that the women’s bikes are available in smaller sizes. Come with narrow bars, women’s saddles and other subtle tweaks. There is overlap between the smallest men’s bikes and the biggest women’s bikes. So if you are reasonably tall (anywhere around 5’ 5” or above) you can pick and choose between the women’s and men’s bikes.
Cannondale CAAD Optimo - £650 to £1000
The CAAD Optimo is a new model for 2019 and fills what was a big gap in the Cannondale range. Cannondale calls it a ‘gateway road bike’, designed to get you hooked. It comes with one of Cannondale’s trademark lightweight aluminium frames.
A lot of entry-level road bikes are designed to be easy to handle and comfortable. The CAAD Optimo is designed to be fast. It uses the same race orientated geometry as on their CAAD12 bikes. That means a flat back riding position and fast handling. If you are looking for a bike for Sunday morning café rides or big long-distance challenges. This is probably not it. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a seriously fast bike for triathlons, crit races and fast club runs. The CAAD Optimo is the way to go.
Although this is an entry-level bike it still comes with all of Cannondale’s aluminium know-how. All of the models in the CAAD Optimo range use the same frame and fork. With the gearing and wheels improving as you go up through the range. The 105 version in particular has been getting rave reviews from the magazines. Not surprising when it is lighter than some carbon bikes that cost £1000 more.
Cannondale CAAD12 - £1099 to £3499
The CAAD12 is Cannondale’s premium aluminium race bike and something of a secret for those in the know. It’s lighter, faster and has better handling than many road carbon bikes that are hundreds of pounds more. The ride quality on the CAAD12 bikes is also better than on a lot of similarly priced carbon bikes. This is down to Cannondale’s SAVE micro-suspension. Which allows the frame to soak up bumps and vibrations without the need for any moving parts.
The CAAD12 is designed as a race bike and the riding position is fully bent over and on the drops for fast handling. This means it is not a bike for everyone. If you are looking to do all-day rides or long sportives you probably need to look elsewhere. If you want to race then buy a CAAD12.
There are men’s and women’s versions of the CAAD12 available and you can get it in rim and disc brake versions.
Cannondale Synapse Aluminium - £849 to £1199
The Synapse range is designed as endurance road bikes they are available in both aluminium and carbon versions. They are intended to be comfortable over long distances and handle rough roads, and even the odd bit of gravel, while still being fast enough to keep up on club rides or sportives. Cannondale also knows that these bikes are likely to be used for commuting and light touring so they come with all the mounts you need for mudguards and pannier racks.
The Synapse Al bikes all come with carbon forks and use Cannondale’s SAVE technology which introduces small areas of flex in the frame to help soak up bumps and vibrations. They also come with clearance for tyres up to 32c so can get extra cushioning on rough roads and disc brakes so you can easily stop.
The Synapse Al bikes are our bestselling model in the Cannondale road bike range due to their versatility. Whether you are commuting, riding long sportives or just getting into road cycling the Synapse Al can do it all. There are men’s and women’s versions of the Synapse Al, all of them come with disc brakes.
Cannondale Synapse Carbon - £1799 to £7799
Like the aluminium version of the Synapse, the carbon bikes are designed for long rides. Cannondale calls them "true endurance machinery". As well as being comfortable over long and rough rides the Synapse carbon bikes are designed to be fast. The frame on the standard model weighs just over 1kg and the Hi-Mod ones come in under 1kg. They are also stiff enough to give great sprinting and acceleration and have sharp handling. These are the bikes that the pro team riders use on classic races like the Paris Roubaix.
The Synapse Carbon bikes are really popular for UK riding as they can easily cope with rough and potholed country lanes, don’t mind the odd cycle path excursion, and will still let you keep up with the fast group on your local club ride.
Like a lot of the other Cannondale road bikes, the Synapse Carbon frame uses Cannondale’s SAVE technology to introduce areas of flex in the frame to soak up bumps and vibrations. Unlike a lot of bikes from other brands, Cannondale’s micro-suspension does not include any moving parts. That means less to maintain, less to go wrong and a cleaner looking frame.
There are men’s and women’s versions of the Synapse Carbon and all models come with disc brakes.
Cannondale SuperSix Evo - £1499 to £8499
The SuperSix is the bike the pros turn to for big mountain stages. It is so light that the Hi-Mod versions are only legal to race on once you add pedals and bottle cages.
For non-pros who can’t ride a different bike every day the SuperSix is a super light race bike. It’s effectively the carbon version of the CAAD12, a bike that is designed for pure racing speed and super sharp handling. This does mean it’s not a bike everyone is going to enjoy doing long all-day rides on. That’s not what the SuperSix is designed for, it is designed to be as light and fast as possible, especially going uphill.
The SuperSix looks like a very classic road bike but has plenty of tech packed in. This includes SAVE micro-suspension and TAP aero profiled tubing so you can cut through the air and keep the power down over bumps.
You will see a lot of SuperSix bikes on the UK amateur race circuit and stripped-down versions of them often get used in hill climbing season to boss local and national races.
There are men’s and women’s versions of the SuperSix and a mix of rim and disc brake bikes.
Cannondale SystemSix - £3499 to £8499
Cannondale launched the SystemSix just before the 2018 Tour de France with the claim that it is the fastest bike in the world. It’s the main bike used by their pro team and is one of the new generations of aero bikes.
Cannondale designed SystemSix from the ground up as one integrated system. They started with their Hollowgram Knot carbon wheels, then added an integrated bar and stem followed by an aero formed frame and fork. All of these elements work together to manage the airflow around the bike. Where a lot of other aero bikes are fast in the wind tunnel Cannondale have designed the SystemSix to be fast in the real world and they say it is faster than the SuperSix on anything up to a 6% climb.
If you want an aero bike that can cope with everyday, real-world riding then the SystemSix could be the bike for you.
