Canyon doesn’t necessarily have the heritage of some other brands, but despite this it’s now one of the biggest names out there, and while the Aeroad may be the most race-attuned model in the company’s range, the Ultimate is still the flagship model. The new Canyon Ultimate, now in its 5th generation, sees it drift further from its previous guise as ‘the climbing bike’ – a role it fell into upon the inception of the Aeroad – into a much more rounded, all-purpose race machine.
It’s a model with an impressive set of results packed into a relatively short time frame, racking up wins at grand tours, including a pair of GC overalls, wins in sprint stages, a monument victory at Il Lombardia, and two world championships. So, what’s new with the new Canyon Ultimate, what options are available, and how much are they going to cost you?
“Perfect Balance”
While this is nominally ‘the climbing bike’ in the range, this has become a moniker that Canyon appears to be keen to eschew in favour of a more rounded view of the New Ultimate. It is the lightest bike in its road range, and by extension, the most lightweight bike the company produces (if you ignore the birch LIKEaBIKE balance bike, pedants), but it isn’t a record-shattering featherweight.
Instead of optimising one characteristic at the expense of all else, Canyon has aimed to produce what it sees as the perfect blend of improved aerodynamics, comfort, weight, and other lesser considered (or at least less shouted about) characteristics such as durability and, interestingly, aesthetics. In a world of data-driven design philosophy, it is rare to see a bike launch openly admit that ensuring the end product was aesthetically pleasing and desirable was a key deliverable for the project.
As such, the improvements in each of these fields have been relatively minor on their own, leading to a new model that is more evolution than revolution, but Canyon hopes that the collective improvement will be greater than the sum of its parts, and lead to one of the best road bikes on the market.
Improved aerodynamics
It is more or less unheard of now for a new bike to launch without it having improved aerodynamics. The new Canyon Ultimate is no different, with a 10-watt gain being cited for the frameset, although this drops to five watts once you actually add a rider. The gains are primarily…
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