I really dislike the look of the stock SI crankset on the Synapse and would like recommendations to upgrade it. The bike uses the BB30A bottom bracket “standard” and it appears to severely limit my options. What say the hive mind?

Use one of the Wheels Mfg. BB30A to Shimano 24mm bottom brackets (BB30A Outboard ABEC-3 BB for 24mm Cranks (Shimano) - Black) or the BB30A to SRAM 22/24mm version and you’ll have a lot more options.

I have had 2 of these HiMod frames both used Sram Red GPX crankset. The first frames cracked in the seat stay and was replaced on warranty.

The first frame used the Wheels Manufacturing BB as described above. This worked perfectly.

The replacement frame initially used the same BB but no one could stop it creaking so I replaced it with a C-Bear BB with ceramic bearings. This solved the problem.

I ditched the Ultegra on my SuperSix Evo in favour of a Rotor ALDHU with 30mm axle. Modular - It has the most options for spider/chain rings (powermeter/direct mount/bolt design/oval). Check Thingiverse for BB30A left and right shims (for printing).

Cannondale Hollowgram crankset if you can get hold of one makes a great upgrade. Very light, stiff and no track record of falling apart like a Shimano Hollowtech one.

Otherwise, a Rotor crankset with a 30mm axle will do nicely although you’ll need some spacers as they’re designed for BB386.

Using spacers or reducers you any run pretty much any crankset with BB30a so not sure how it’s limiting your options?

The bike uses the BB30A bottom bracket

This is a wider shell, by 5mm (compared to BB30). Force 22 cranks should work. Scroll down to BB Compatibility, it says BB30/PF30-68/73mm. Yours is 73mm (BB30 is 68mm). Looks legit (but double check).

SRM Origin Carbon with Absolute Black chainrings.

not sure what model you’ve got and so which chainrings are on the SI cranks; is that the ugly FSA ones or the spider-rings? if it’s the FSA ones then you can put the spider-ring on which makes it look soooo much better and is quite economical

Just an FYI - the bb30a bottom bracket is 73mm wide, so 5mm wider on the non drive side. Given that you can use most bb30 spindle cranksets with preload adjusters if you remove the adjuster and setup preload with spacers/washers instead. A common replacement was the exogram SRAM Red bb30 cranksets with the adjuster removed - they are still very stiff and incredibly light, with wide compatibility due to their 110 or 130 5 bolt bcd chainring fitments. Or as other said you could always go with a replacement BB and then the longer spindle cranksets are an option.

I tried an Absolute Black oval chainring for the Cannondale cranks, and though I think the oval rings may have helped my knees a bit, the rings in the end were a bit of a disaster. The chainring bolts came loose and damaged my frame (in part because there is so little clearance between the Synapse frame and the bolts even when they are properly tightened). I considered this a manufacturer’s defect. And the bolts (which the original Cannondale rings do not have) are great at catching a dropped chain and driving it hard into the frame, making getting the chain unstuck REALLY hard. This happened 2 or 3 times before I switched back to the CDale rings and sold the oval ones on EBAY.

I agree with using a Wheels Mfg. BB converter and switching to 24mm spindle cranks. I did that conversion to my Synapse Carbon Disc a few years ago and have been running Shimano 105 cranks ever since.

The total cost was almost the same as just a pair of original FSA 4 bolt 110BCD chainrings, which are now rare and getting expensive.

Someone is selling a previous Gen Clavicula near me for $500. I can’t justify it, and it’s the wrong BB for my bike, but I almost bought it on principle.

Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled