Coast_Buster

I currently ride a 51cm 2012 Cannondale Synapse. It has been comfortable for long rides and I have put just about 1500 miles down in my first year. I enjoy longer rides and mostly train for century rides with my friends.

I have noticed that I really prefer riding in the drops. Whether it be in the round curve of the drop bars or holding on to the very end where the plug is. I can ride in these positions very comfortably for a very long period of time, more so than on the hoods. Does this mean my bike may be to short for me? Is my body looking for a more aggressive position? I have just about 1" of spacers under my stem and have never been professionally fitted. I am fairly fit and flexible, I can flat palm my hand on the floor.

Any advice in how I should change my setup or possible replace my bike with a race geometry such as a CAAD10/ Madone? I was in a car accident recently and am looking to replace my Syanpse. Unfortunately with a broken ankle I will not be able to test ride and was planning to buy a new bike before I healed so I am ready to start spinning on a trainer as part of my recover.

Advice is greatly appreciated....

Road Fan

You clearly have pretty good flexibility, and perhaps would like a lower bar position. You can experiment a bit by removing a stem spacer say 5 mm at a time, or by trying a stem of the same length but one step lower angle.

Otherwise, enjoy the comfort! Comfort is usually an indication that you don't need to change anything.

If you are dissatisfied, please explain.

Coast_Buster

I was actually very satisfied with my Synapse.  I was just wondering if based on where I was more comfortable if a race geometry would prove to be comfortable on the hoods and in the drops.  Due to my fractured ankle I am stuck with buying a new bike without being able to test ride to figure out if I should replace my Synapse with something different.

Road Fan

I didn't catch that you are now injured - apologies! This is probably not what you are looking for, but it is very possible that a new bike would not be as good for you as your Synapse is. This leads to the need for you to do comparative fittings, Synapse versus Madone, for example. Or, you should have an excellent fitter help you analyze the goodness of your Synapse fit, and make good suggestions for what could be improved. But you really can't do any of that effectively until you can pedal well again. Clearly you are not there now.

I'm sure your spinning plan is a good one, properly managed. Can't you do that on the Synapse to preserve your spin stroke until well enough to take the bike out?

I'm not too familiar with the Synapse or today's Madone, I'm a vintage rider. But generally race bikes are built with shorter head tubes, for which the stem will be closer to the ground, and hence the bars will be further below the saddle. The way you describe your current fit, it sounds like the bars could be lower, to give you a useful hoods position. Clearly that suggests a race bike. But your comfort on the Cannondale indicates that for you there is a lot that is right about that bike, for you. Any other bike that you buy needs to have a seat-tube angle that is very similar to that of your Cannondale. You'd have to check that in the geometry specs for your 'dale and the available new bikes. The saddle setback relative to the BB, measured from the saddle nose or perhaps to the sit-bone position if possible, needs to be matched between the two bikes, when the saddle height and tilt are matched.

Overall, comfort depends on a geometry that lets you fit properly, on tires that are adequately cushioning to the road, and frame geometry / structural design that will not beat you up as you ride over real-world roads. Your sound like your 'dale does nearly all of that now, which is pretty darn good.