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Canyon and Kraftwerk celebrate Tour de France with a VERY special bike

Limited edition of 21 marks Dusseldorf Grand Depart

We expected that electronic music pioneers and cycling nuts Kraftwerk might have something special up their sleeve to mark the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in their home city of Düsseldorf - their signature album is named after the race, after all - but never imagined it might be in the shape of this stunning bike produced in collaboration with Canyon, based further down the Rhine in Koblenz.

Just 21 models (and they're looking good) of the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Kraftwerk will be available to the public, going on sale on Monday 3 July at Noon CET for €10,000 or £8,999 if paying in Sterling - and what's more, it shares its striking livery with the one that the Speedmax CF CLX of Katusha-Alpecin's Tony Martin will sport  in the Stage 1 time trial on Saturday.

The geometric pattern took seven hours to apply, includes reflective panels, and was designed by Kraftwerk's own Ralf Hütter, whose passion for cycling is well known - while the band were recording Tour de France, a crash while out riding put him in a coma.

Shifting is electronic - really, how could it not be? - with SRAM’s wireless eTap groupset, and the bike also comes with Zipp Firecrest 303 wheels.

Each bike comes in a specially designed Canyon Bike Guard and with a celebratory commemorative pack, and you can find full information here.

Canyon Founder and CEO, Roman Arnold said that the partnership had a special meaning for him.

“My memories of partying in friends’ basements as a teenager are dominated by hearing Kraftwerk’s groundbreaking sounds," he revealed.

"Kraftwerk and cycling have a special and unique connection – their music, and all that they do, has inspired our work at Canyon in so many ways across the years.

"It is an unbelievable honour for us to pay respect to everything that Kraftwerk stands for and has achieved in such a fitting way with these stunning bikes,” he added.

 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

Avatar
The Law | 6 years ago
1 like

Tyre logo/valve fail.

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Beecho replied to The Law | 6 years ago
0 likes

The Law wrote:

Tyre logo/valve fail.

Hahahahaha. Road.cc subscriber comments in microcosm (and that's not an insult). 

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check12 | 6 years ago
1 like

I might tipex my black bike.

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reliablemeatloaf | 6 years ago
2 likes

Nicely techy, black, and with none of that disc brake nonsense.

Now we just need some new Kraftwerk music!
 

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Jem PT | 6 years ago
0 likes

Where did the rider get those carbon fibre legs?!? They must save a lot of weight (OK, minor complication in having to amputate your legs to use them... But still!)

Avatar
Bigtwin replied to Jem PT | 6 years ago
3 likes

Jem PT wrote:

Where did the rider get those carbon fibre legs?!? They must save a lot of weight (OK, minor complication in having to amputate your legs to use them... But still!)

*Creak*....*creak*....*creak*....."SHUT UP LEGS!!"

Avatar
Jackson replied to Jem PT | 6 years ago
0 likes

Jem PT wrote:

Where did the rider get those carbon fibre legs?!? They must save a lot of weight (OK, minor complication in having to amputate your legs to use them... But still!)

The Man-Machine 

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George Hill | 6 years ago
0 likes
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peted76 | 6 years ago
0 likes

Nice, would like to see more bike collaboration with cool people/brands.

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dgmtc | 6 years ago
1 like

No (compact)disc brakes... meh...

 

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handlebarcam | 6 years ago
0 likes

Cool. But why is it being ridden by what appears to be someone in a gimp suit?

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hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
1 like

I appreciate the dark and moody aesthetics, but those pictures make it really difficult to see the bike.

It reminds me of Hotblack Desiato's ship: "It's so ... black!" said Ford Prefect, "you can hardly make out its shape ... light just seems to fall into it!"

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