Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Review

Conclusion

This bike really impresses. It coped well with everything I have thrown at it. Once you get the position dialled, you will love it for its lightweight, its stiffness and its sharp handling; plus there’s the added bonus of that comfortable, energy saving ride. As we discussed in our initial look article, Canyon also have great quality control with their CT scanner. Even more worrying for the competition though is its value, priced as it is at a very reasonable £2639 in this build. The cost is £1739 for the frame only and if you can provide proof of your racing licence this frame can be yours for just £1478.02 through Canyon’s sponsoring program! Its a great bike that will appeal to a wide range of performance rider, whether racer or sportive rider.

Canyon Ultimate CF SLX bottom bracket and Ultegra chainset combine to be super stiff

Paul Hopkin’s Riding Impressions

I managed to wrestle (literally) the bike off Vince for a week. Here’s what I thought…

Once over the initial set-up issues of the small frame, the ride was absolutely great. Like Vince I had the saddle rammed back, making the most of the seatpost setback, which does allow loads of movement. I did end up pulling wheelies when pulling hard on seated climbs and the first race I did left me with lower back pain.

Eventually I got the position nailed and once all this was sorted, even though like Vince I could have done with a longer stem as my knees were banging on bars sometimes, the ride was perfect. Racing around the Cyclopark crit circuit in Kent and taking corners fast was real fun. The frame’s handling is impeccable and very confidence inspiring. As Vince says power transfer and consequent acceleration, considering the mid-range components specced on the frame, was very noticeable; it has whetted my appetite to ride this frame in a top spec build.

One of the advantages of riding the small frame with so much seat post showing and a lot of setback, was that the VCLS seatpost was really able to take some of the sting out of rougher roads. Strangely, looking down, I kept thinking the seattube bottle bolts were not straight, but had to remember it’s an asymmetric seattube! Its a very well engineered frame; on club runs it got noticed and a lot of attention, even though it’s very subtle styling.

The effective Canyon Ultimate seatpost with basalt fibres for increased comfort

I got some annoying brake squeal and the transmission was a little noisier than I’m used to but that can easily be rectified. Despite the knee issue, I actually grew to really like the Ritchey bars and the bar tape that Canyon use.

Continued overleaf…
 
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