Canyon has unveiled its new flagship, aero-profiled race bike, the Aeroad CF SLX, just days before the Grand Départ of the 2014 Tour de France.
RoadCyclingUK first encountered the new bike in Megève, on a recent visit to the French Alps for the Critérium du Dauphiné, but the official unveiling took place earlier this week in a Leeds hotel, attended by Movistar’s Alex Dowsett and world number one, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha). Canyon supply bikes to the teams of both men. RCUK was among the invited guests.
It is billed as “made for the WorldTour” and is an uncompromised race bike, designed to complement a range to which a machine with concessions to comfort – the Endurace CF – has recently been added. “If you have a wider range, you can focus more on each platform,” chief designer, Wolfgang Kohl, told RCUK.
The Aeroad CF SLX is billed by Canyon as combining the aerodynamic benefits of the Speedmax CF time trial bike with the lower weight and greater comfort of the Ultimate CF SLX road bike, and is the German brand’s attempt to create a machine able to top the UCI WorldTour rankings for a fourth consecutive year, having done so in 2011 with Philippe Gilbert, and in the last two years with Rodriguez.
Three engineering teams worked to create the Aeroad CF SLX, including industrial design agency, Artefakt, who worked with Canyon on the IF award-winning Speedmax CF and Ultimate CF SLX and were tasked with creating the new bike’s striking silhouette. It is a concern with the aerodynamics of this wind tunnel-tested machine, however, and the integration of frame and components that lies at the heart of the Koblenz firm’s latest offering.
We’ll bring you the full story behind the Aeroad CF SLX – including interviews with designers Kohl and Michael Adomeit – in a subsequent longform feature. For now, we’ll focus on the new steed of Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff – winner of the 2014 Milan-San Remo, and a rider ready to roll out in Leeds on Saturday for the Yorkshire Grand Départ.
Website: Canyon Bikes
