Lachlan Morton is riding a new Cannondale road bike for his 14,200km lap of Australia.
The bike has many similarities to Cannondale’s race-orientated SuperSix, with the front triangle sharing an almost identical aero silhouette except for a slightly deeper-seated head tube.
It seems unlikely this will replace the bike that took Richard Carapaz to a fourth-place finish at the Vuelta a España last week, with Cannondale presumably wanting Morton to use a more endurance-focused model for his Australian odyssey.
A new Synapse model would break the expected cadence of Cannondale releases – the current Synapse was revealed only two years ago. But it would make sense to have Morton use the brand's flagship endurance model for his latest challenge, which is more than double the length of his 2021 Alt Tour.
Not a SuperSix?
The new bike appears to borrow from the Cannondale SuperSix race bike with a similar aero-profiled fork and Delta steerer tube to the latest model.
This unreleased bike appears to have a deeper head tube than the current SuperSix, with the top tube and down tube merging behind the head tube, possibly for increased aero gains.
The rear of the new bike seems to have a more endurance-focused design.
A shallow, D-shaped seatpost sits in a less profiled seat tube, possibly providing more compliance over the more aero shape of the SuperSix.
The seatstays meet the seat tube with more defined profiling and curve toward the rear dropouts with an increasingly steep arc after the brake caliper.
The chainstays also appear more tapered, becoming narrower towards the rear axle and featuring a bowed profile.
These features all suggest a more compliant rear end, with the chainstays likely adding a little more flex for more comfortable seating on bumpy surfaces.
A super-light Synapse?
With that in mind, it seems this could be a new Cannondale Synapse, but perhaps not an exact replacement for the current model, which has become rather portly with its SmartSense System and integrated lights – neither of which are present on Morton’s bike.
The Lab71 logo on the seat tube suggests the bike is made from Cannondale’s premium carbon fibre layup.
Lab71 is Cannondale’s equivalent of Specialized’s S-Works division, so this bike would sit at the top of the brand's range hierarchy.
This could be huge for endurance road bike fans because Cannondale doesn't offer a Synapse at this level.
Cannondale has yet to confirm what the new bike is, but we'd guess it's a lightweight, long-distance race-orientated Synapse for those looking for a little more compliance than the SuperSix without the weight penalty of the current Synapse.
SuperSix or Synapse, the new road bike is serving Lachlan well. Since the 32-year-old Australian began his ride on 5 September, he’s ridden over 3,000km and is ahead of his target to beat the lap of Australia record of 37 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes, a time set in 2011 by Dave Alley of Brisbane.
