maquisard wrote:No matter what Cannondale say, the round/oval downtube and less bulky BB area will not be as stiff as the massive squoval tubes and BB found on the likes of the new Cervélo R5 and Canyons SLX.
The thing with composites is that you can't make that judgment based only on appearances. Different layup schemes, different "wall" thicknesses, and different grades of carbon fabric can result in vastly different stiffness characteristics for the same outer mold line.
In the end, what you say may be true, but we won't know until people start riding them and testing them.
It's great to see builders really taking advantage of the design flexibility that is possible when working with composites. I had a bad experience with an aluminum Cannondale many years ago that put me off the brand, but this bike has my attention. I look forward to Peter Denk's version of the Synapse.