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Canyon sizing dilemma

I've been eyeing up a Canyon road bike (CF SL 7.0, bottom of the range but still a step up from anything I've had before,) for a long time. My current bike is getting quite worn and refuses to index into the lowest gear  39/25 is best I can do. With the Canyon I can get 36/32 and can finally tackle some hills, my Kryptonite.)

However their own size calculator is confused by my body. I have a long body and heavyish for my height at 90kg. My inseam is 32" and it said I had very short legs! I am 181 (5'11" and a smidge)

https://imgur.com/a/gIzJY

I've had 56cm top tube bikes for my last three without trouble, though the handling one each was slightly different, (Cannondale was very smart and lively, seemed smaller than the 56cm Ribble,) and was going to buy a Canyon L 566mm, but having used their calculator to be sure it now makes me doubt myself. The medium top tube is M 549mm, so not a massive difference. 

Unfortunately Canyon are not the kind of bike that you can take for a test ride with their selling model, and I sure don't want to have to send one back.

Has anyone got any experience with Canyon sizing? If you fell inbetween, did you go up or down?

 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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10 comments

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2old2mould | 5 years ago
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To add my euro's worth to the debate.

I'm 5'9 73kg and have shortish arms. I've had an Endurace AL (non-disc) in both small and medium. The medium was OK and very similar in size to my other bike, a Giant Defy Adv SL. The main difference being the enormous head tube (170mm on the Canyon vs 160mm on the Giant).

I flogged it when I had a bike fit done as the fitter told me to go much shorter. I bought the small size and I loved how much stiffer and more agile the bike was but... my position felt too short and I had a subsequent bike fit and this time the other fitter (an Italian guy who has fitted a few tour pros) put me longer and lower.

The new position is far more comfortable than the up and in which seems to be the default now for fitters getting people into a 'Sportive' position. I could rant about my previous fit but I'll save that for another post.

Subsequently, I now feel I could have gone for an Ultimate and looking at the sizing charts I'm recommended to try the small but I actually think the medium would be better. I tend to go by Stack and Reach. The Giant Defy has a stack of 566 and a reach of 379 which isn't miles off the Ultimate in a medium (560/383). I now run my 110 mm stem slammed on the Giant (HT 160mm w/ 10mm headset cover) so according to Canyon I could run perhaps a 100mm stem with 1 x 5 or 10mm spacer. 

I've given my wife the Canyon and she loves it and it's a great fit for her (5'7 and longish legs). Her set up is 720mm saddle height, 50mm setback (260mm saddle) and 90mm stem with 75mm reach bars. In fact she's thinking of trying a 100mm stem. 

Canyon will accept returns although not sure if you have to pay. Ultimately they are like all mail order businesses. 

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sergius | 5 years ago
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I've a Canyon Ultimate, a Canyon Inflite and a Rose Xeon.  Being 175cms tall and of "standard" proportions (Castelli small/medium fits me perfectly), I ride:

 

- Canyon Inflite in medium.  It fits me fine, it's quite tall and long with wide bars - good for cruising

- Canyon Ultimate in small.  This was the one I struggled over, I ended up trying them on a Canyon experience day and found the small felt better.  It's noticeably smaller than than my Rose/Inflite but still feels fine to ride.  More seatpost showing and narrower bars than the other bikes.

- Rose is a 57.  It's an endurance geometry and I've done 100+ mile days in the saddle on it

 

YMMV

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Mathemagician | 5 years ago
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Canyon sizing is definitely unique...I'm 174cm with a 184cm wingspan, inside leg is 84cm. Normally this puts me in for a medium on most rides, but Canyon sizing suggested a small. I did a frame comparison overlay with my current bike and I reckon I could have gone in for either...I was going to go with Canyon's recommendations, but when I spoke to my physio, who is also a bike fitter and fitted me on my current ride, he suggested a medium. I know I have well above average flexibility though, so I don't know if this would influence the sizing in my case. 

So I went with a medium...I'd love to tell you how it fits but I haven't finished building up the bike yet. Hopefully within the next week or so?

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joeegg | 5 years ago
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I am 5ft 11ins with a 32 in seam and my Endurace is a medium. I would have preferred a little more of the sprung seatpost showing but a small would have been too cramped. I changed the stem from 100 to 110.

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Organon | 5 years ago
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Thanks for the replies. I am a bit more emboldened to go for the Medium, and it should be marginally more lively than my current stead. There isn't much in it anyway and seat and bars can be adjusted. I've seen some other comments on other sites (sorry) about surprising downsizing with Canyon with people satified with the result.

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peted76 | 5 years ago
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The bike live demo days Road.cc run have 14 canyon road bikes there to demo..  next one is in Cannock in a week or two, I'm going!

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Beecho | 5 years ago
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I've got the new Inflite. Only being a little fella at 5' 5" I'm used to getting 'small' frame sizes, but Canyon's 2XS recommendation seemed a bit OTT.  As did the 650 wheels. You know what?  As above, it's perfect.  I say trust them.

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Canyon48 | 5 years ago
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I bought an Ultimate CF SX Disc in size Medium.

I'm 5'11" and 67kg and I have a 32" inseam, I'm fairly flexible and prefer a slightly longer bike generally.

I used the Canyon sizing calculator and it recommended a size Small, but as I said, I prefer the slightly longer top tube (55.6cm for the medium).

My girlfriend has an Endurace in size small (she found she didn't need the women-specific model though), I find it too small for me, I just feel a bit squished up and can't get the bike low enough.

I am fairly gangly and flexible though - so I can't speak for everyone!

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AfterPeak | 5 years ago
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Exactly the same story as Mike the bike for me. Thought I would be a medium but says small so ordered it and perfect size but I did have to swap out the stem for a longer one (they do it for free)

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mike the bike | 5 years ago
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I have an Endurace and, like you, I measured myself carefully for the order form.  I've always had medium-sized bikes, it's never varied in over fifty years, but the Canyon guide suggested small so I measured again.  It still preferred small.  With some trepidation I ordered small and guess what?  It was spot-on, so don't worry, these people know what they're doing.

Best of luck.

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