Rapha partner with Canyon for limited edition Ultimate CF Disc

Celebrating Rapha and Canyon’s continuing partnership, the brands have collaborated to release a special-edition disc brake Ultimate that is available exclusively to members of the Rapha Cycling Club.

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The Ultimate is Canyon’s all-round race bike, that combines a lightweight design with aero qualities and comfort in mind.

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Although the Ultimate CF SL 8 Disc RCC is limited edition, with only 250 units being produced, ironically it's more available than Canyon’s standard spec top-end Ultimate, which is currently only available in 2XL in the true grey colourway at the time of writing.

This new Rapha ‘black rainbow’ colourway is coated in RCC’s famous club colours—grey, pink and black—and has been created in collaboration with Rapha designer Patrick Mafham.

The specially painted Ultimate will set Rapha fans back £5,149. This is £1,650 more than the similarly specced SRAM Force eTap AXS Ultimate model (£3,499) in the standard true grey or light blue colourways, although you do get a wheel upgrade for the extra cash.  

The lightweight Rapha model (7.46kg) comes with DT Swiss’s carbon aero tubeless wheels which have 50mm deep rims. These ARC 1400 Dicut db wheels (with a claimed weight of 716g), promise minimal drag and reduced steering torque for “predictable handling in windy conditions”. The standard model comes with heavier DT Swiss P 1800 Spline dbs (claimed weight of 763g) with aluminium rims.

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Both wheelsets are wrapped in Continental’s all-round Grand Prix 5000 25mm tyres, which feature an improved Vectran Breaker layer for puncture protection. Reviewer Jamie Williams praised these tyres for their grip, durability and cool retro looks.

Other features include a Sram Force AXS Powermeter and a short nosed Selle Italia SLR Boost Superflow S manganese saddle.

Canyon and Rapha have worked together closely for a number of years as sponsors of the Canyon–Sram pro team, and have collaborated plenty of times in the past for special edition projects including a similar Ultimate CF SLX with Rapha livery back in 2017. 

Get more info on this latest collab at www.canyon.com