2014 Cannondale Synapse 5 Wins Cycling Plus' Bike of the Year Award!

A Long List of Bikes — Whittled Down Through Painstaking Testing Reveals A Winner - The 2014 Cannondale Synapse 5

The Cannondale Synapse 5 has won Cycling Plus magazine's prestigious Bike of the Year 2014 award for its supreme blend of class leading comfort and performance.

The test team finally settled on the Shimano 105-equipped Synapse 5 after putting a long-list of 50 bikes through the mill in some of the worst British weather in years.

What makes the Synapse 5 a worthy winner? Cycling Plus' Warren Rossiter and others have found that Cannondale's engineers have done an excellent job of taking the very best from a race bike - Agility, handling and efficiency — and they coupled it with a level of comfort rarely seen on a bike this aggressive.

Starting in the front, Cannondale has reduced the headtube so that it sits right in the middle between the old synapse and the super-racy Supersix Evo. The front fork is slightly flared and has incorporated Cannondale's Save Plus design that helps absorb the bumps and take out some of the road buzz - and it does so very well.

Looking next around the bottom bracket you will find something unique and clever called the Power Pyramid. Cannondale has actually separated the seat tube at the bottom bracket into two - creating a super-stiff structure. The new BB30A bottom bracket (the original BB30 was designed by Cannondale as well) is slightly wider, which has led to massive improvements in stiffness. So even though this bike is extremely comfortable, all of your power transfer goes straight out the back and you get no unwanted flex.

 "All of that compliance and comfort is wrapped up in a bike that handles truly brilliantly, It's one of the fastest descending bikes we've ever tried... It just seems to float over bumps" -Warren Rossiter

The seat tube profile around the power pyramid is slender and stiff as well. The seat tube then tapers down toward the top tube junction, all the way to 25.4mm, also unique to Cannondale. This smaller diameter results in more compliance, as we notice has become the theme in this bike!


8850 Stockdale Hwy.
Bakersfield, CA 93311
(661) 883-6268
info@finishlinebikes.com
www.finishlinebikes.com

2014 Giant Defy Advanced 2 — Simply One Of The Best of Its Type

Cycling Plus Bike of The Year Finalist — "With a perfect 5 stars, Cycling Plus fell in love with Defy Advanced all over again in 2014"

"..we really do love the Giant Defy Advanced 2. Last year we crowned it best of the best, and in 2014 it's still got it... we've yet to find a rider who doesn't get on with the Defy the moment they turn the pedals."

Testers noted that Defy Advanced is now better than ever - maintaining the perfect formula that saw it win Bike of The Year, while offering greater value in 2014 with a new lower price;

"By sticking with a winning formula and lowering the price, Giant have arguably made the Defy even better. This year you're getting more bike for your money than you did last. What's not to like?" 

- Giant-Bicycles.com 

  

The frame is — quite simply — superb. It handles wonderfully, exciting to ride, yet incredibly comfortable. Giant has done a great job selecting the right drivetrain for this bike. Comes with an industry standard 50/34 chainset up front, but in back it comes with a nice wide set of gears with a 28 tooth bottom gear which will pretty much get you up any hill. On the non-drive side chainstay is Giant's ANT+ device for seamless and wireless communication with your Garmin, measuring both cadence and speed.


It's got a great Shimano 105 spec, Giant PSL wheelset, Fi'zi:k saddle - and this year the price has been brought down just a bit.

Technologies
1. OverDrive 2

Designed to offer unprecedented front-end steering performance, the system’s oversized headset bearings (1 1/2” lower, 1 1/4” upper) and tapered steerer tube work in harmony to provide supreme steering stiffness.


2. Modified Monocoque

Construction Similar to Monocoque technology, but Modified Monocoque eliminates the outermost woven composite sheet (found on heavier framesets) to reduce weight without affecting ride quality, strength or stiffness.

3. PowerCore

A massively oversized bottom-bracket/chainstay features a fully integrated, 86-millimetre-wide bottom-bracket design. Asymmetric chainstays provide additional stiffness on the driveside and stability on the non-driveside.

4. MegaDrive

A massive rectangular downtube and oversized toptube work in unison to provide superior front-end lateral and torsional steering precision. The precisely engineered, rectangular shaped downtube yields unprecedented pedalling stiffness.

5. Vector Seatpost

This full-composite, lightweight (210 grams) and highly aerodynamic seatpost is engineered specifically for the unyielding demands of the performance-minded road rider. It offers increased fore/aft stiffness for maximum energy transmission, improved aerodynamics (compared to a traditional round seatpost) and two offset options (-5 to +25mm).

6. Tuned Composite

Hand-cut composite swatches are strategically laidup, piece by piece, to create each frame. The frame’s ride qualities are meticulously crafted and controlled through precise layering of each individual swatch (there are more than 500 pieces per frame) in an exact schedule. The direction of each individual piece’s composite grain allows Giant engineers to custom tune each frame’s individual ride characteristics.

7. RideSense

Giant’s all-new chainstay integrated, wireless data transmitter. The fully integrated, removable transmitter sends wheelspeed and cadence information directly to any ANT+ compatible computer.

8. Compliant Seatstays

The seattube/seatstay junction has been engineered to provide integrated compliance into the rear of the bike by producing a leaf-spring effect that absorbs road shock and vibrations.

Finish Line Bikes
8850 Stockdale Hwy.
Bakersfield, CA 93311
(661) 883-6268
info@finishlinebikes.com
www.finishlinebikes.com