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TECH NEWS

Canyon shows Ultimate CF SLX Disc bike at Eurobike

New bike uses 12mm thru-axles and has space for 30mm tyres

Canyon has shown a disc-equipped Ultimate CF SLX road bike at Eurobike. Don’t get too excited about being able to buy it just yet though, this is still a prototype, as indicated by the white paint job that Canyon now uses for all its working prototypes.

It’s likely the professional teams that Canyon sponsors (Movistar and Katusha) will be using this bike when they test disc brakes in selected professional races. When those races are, we don’t currently know, but we have seen a few disc-equipped bikes in races recently, and expect to see more before the end of the year.

- Team Sky races with disc brakes for the first time

This bike here is essentially based on the new Ultimate CF SLX that was launched just before the Tour de France. You can read about it here, but basically Canyon has taken some of the lessons it learned in developing the Aeroad and applied them to the Ultimate. So there’s a D-shaped down tube and seat tube, and aero shaped seatpost and an integrated seat clamp.

- Canyon unveils new Ultimate CF SLX with aero features

There are some obvious changes with the addition of the disc brakes. One big story is the use of 12mm thru-axles front and rear (with 100mm front wheel spacing and 142mm rear). Currently, most disc road bikes have been using mountain bike inspired 15mm front and 12mm rear axles, but there has been a lot of speculation that road bikes might switch to a 12mm standard, to save weight.

- Cervelo R3 Disc spotted at Eurobike

With the new Cervelo R3 Disc, and now the Canyon, both using 12mm thru-axles, it looks like the future of disc-equipped road bikes will include 12mm axles. Elsewhere on the new bike, no surprise that Canyon is using the flat mount standard. It’s also going with 160mm rotors, rather than 140mm discs.

The changes have also netted a significant increase in tyre size compatibility - it now accepts up to 30mm tyres. This is still a race bike remember. All cables and hoses are internally routed.  The rear triangle is completely different. There’s no brake bridge so it looks a lot cleaner around the top of the rear wheel now. The fork is new too. Canyon claims a 1,200g frameset weight.

The new Ultimate CF SLX Disc does look pretty ready to hit production we'd say, so could we see it becoming available next year? 

More from Canyon, including its Smart Computers and a super lightweight bike, soon…

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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14 comments

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drwinston001 | 8 years ago
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People take themselves a little too seriously on here don't they?

With regards to the bike pretty much everything Canyon do is good quality and good value. I personally don't like disc brakes and like the fact you can buy a Canyon without them.

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barbarus | 8 years ago
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Shame they're only making it single speed!

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Dr_Lex replied to barbarus | 8 years ago
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barbarus wrote:

Shame they're only making it single speed!

 7
The slideshow frames show standard 2x11 transmission; is it that the cassette and the dérailleur are hidden in the article's embedded pictures?

Another potential new bike; roll on pricing and availability info.

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The _Kaner | 8 years ago
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Being in Ireland..Euro is the money of choice(?)...but it also means getting raped when buying any UK merchandise...we can't win em all, all of the time

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Toro Toro replied to The _Kaner | 8 years ago
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The _Kaner wrote:

Being in Ireland..Euro is the money of choice(?)...but it also means getting raped when buying any UK merchandise...we can't win em all, all of the time

I'm sure lots of rape victims, as they relive their terrifying ordeal, think "d'you know what, that was a lot like paying a little more for luxury cycling goods because of an unfavourable exchange rate".

Idiot.

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fukawitribe | 8 years ago
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Re pricing - didn't someone post recently about how to order from Canyon in Euros (and so get the current-ish exchange rate) ? I'll have a dig later if I get the chance, but it's certainly do-able so no need to go elsewhere if you actually like the bike.

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jollygoodvelo replied to fukawitribe | 8 years ago
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fukawitribe wrote:

Re pricing - didn't someone post recently about how to order from Canyon in Euros (and so get the current-ish exchange rate) ? I'll have a dig later if I get the chance, but it's certainly do-able so no need to go elsewhere if you actually like the bike.

>Get in car
>Go to Dover
>Drive to Koblenz
>Buy bike
>Put bike in car
>Drive home

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surly_by_name | 8 years ago
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Any news on chainstay length? Article doesn't make clear whether they have used standard rear hub which means (if I've understood correctly) "endurance" length chainstays vs shorter length found on race bikes. (See for example http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/161772-2015s-hottest-disc-equipped-r...)

If I was in the market for a new bike and they were selling this to punters this would go pretty much straight to the top of my list.

It'll be cheaper than the similarly specced alternatives from Trek/Spesh/Giant etc. But if you want to get hung up on their failure to pass through changes in the spot exchange rate and insist on paying more for a worse bike from another manufacturer in the hope of sending some kind of message to Canyon, you knock yourself out.

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hsiaolc | 8 years ago
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They are too slow.

All others have already introduced their disc versions but they are still developing it. I requested years ago and then I finally gave up and with with Rose.

Rose endurance disc already on the second generation and Canyon still prototyping their Ultimate not even the Endurance.

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Andy14 replied to hsiaolc | 8 years ago
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hsiaolc wrote:

They are too slow.

All others have already introduced their disc versions but they are still developing it. I requested years ago and then I finally gave up and with with Rose.

Rose endurance disc already on the second generation and Canyon still prototyping their Ultimate not even the Endurance.

Spot on. I too purchased a Rose this year with Di2, Thru Axles, and Disc Brakes.

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adam900710 | 8 years ago
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Wow!
Ultimate gets disc, aeroad won't be far, right?

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quiff | 8 years ago
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Flat mount, thru-axle, space for (relatively) big tyres and Canyon direct sales pricing. Can't wait. Please can we have the proto paintjob too?

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dgcorp replied to quiff | 8 years ago
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Fully agreed 'Quiff', especially about the white paintjob!!

Carbon, Disc, Di2, room for 28-30mm tyres, Thru-Axles (ideally what will be the closest to a road standard).

#WANT

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jollygoodvelo replied to quiff | 8 years ago
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quiff wrote:

Flat mount, thru-axle, space for (relatively) big tyres and Canyon direct sales pricing. Can't wait. Please can we have the proto paintjob too?

Spot on. My thoughts exactly. Come on Canyon, sort it out, chop chop.

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