Cannondale Synapse LTD RLE with SmartSense Review: Fair Warning

I had been riding the Synapse for a week before it happened. I don't live in a dense city and I don't bike on high traffic roads. I was reconciled to the fact that I might never see the blinking lights on my handlebars.

It was possible for me to pull over immediately because I was pedaling slow. I looked around. Nothing. In the past hour, multiple cars failed to give me what I considered adequate clearance as they passed me. My heart rate soared over a fake threat after the Smart Sense's Varia radar detector failed to warn me of actual threats.

Someone might think that a technology like Smart Sense would be useful. Mass-market cars already have safety systems in place and will be part of the future. I might hold off on Smart Sense for now because I enjoyed riding the Synapse. It's not easy to protect yourself from cars while biking.

The Carbon Fiber Classic is made of carbon fiber.

Cannondale's popular road bike, the Synapse, is the latest version of carbon fiber. The high-end version is $9,000 and the low-end version is 2,400, both of which are on the same end of the line.

The Synapse RLE doesn't have the fanciest tiny upgrades, like a carbon headset to absorb even more bumps, but it is still a very nice bike. It has a carbon frame and carbon rim, and mine has a gravel-specific (GRX) geared system that I love, since the terrain near my home in Portland is so variable.

Cannondale did a study to identify the real center of gravity for each rider, then adjusted the frame to make the pedaling and braking experience uniform. I never really got into road biking before, but now I realize that it might be because the bikes I rode didn't fit quite right. I had my first experience with Proportional Response and it was very comfortable, but riding a shock-absorbing frame with smooth electronic Shimano shifters definitely didn't hurt.

SmartSense has a small battery pack that clips to the bike's down tube. The Cannondale wheel sensor can be used to connect your bike to the Cannondale app. If you are taking your bike home in a car, I recommend doing this before you load up. I put it in the back of my Honda Element, and it buzzed and pinged whenever it detected a car in my rear window.