Home > Reviews

Review: Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Disc is a hard to beat as an all around road bike

22 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

First officially unveiled at Eurobike back in 2016, Canyon’s disc brake version of their Ultimate carbon road bike slots in extra space for wider tires along with improved braking for the lightweight race bike. True to its name, there is a lot to like with the fast, yet comfortable bike that we rode up mountains and over a mix of road surfaces.

Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Disc 8.0 carbon road bike

On the surface the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Disc is a light carbon race bike, but with modern axle and braking standards, coupled with room for large volume road racing tires, it becomes even more versatile. With the same top-level SLX carbon tech as used in Canyon’s premier World Tour winning road bikes, the Ultimate CF SLX Disc is light at a claimed 820g for this size M. It also features quick handling geometry that Canyon classifies as Sport Pro, with a 73.3° headtube, 73.8° seattube & relatively compact 415mm chainstays on our test bike.

Canyon’s consumer-direct delivery method also packs in a lot of value. At 4200€ as tested, the Ultimate CF SLX Disc 8.0 is still a lot of money, but you get a lot for your euros, with a full Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset including Shimano’s reliable hydraulic disc brakes. (The currently available bike features the newer R8000 version of the groupset.) This bike build also includes a set of mid-depth 45mm carbon Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon disc wheels and Canyon’s own premium one-piece carbon integrated bar+stem H36 Aerocockpit.

We rode the Ultimate CF SLX Disc like an all-arounder for the several months that we tested it, riding up long Alpine passes, over rolling hills across central Europe, and on a fair share of rougher old cobblestone & hardpack gravel roads. One of the big claims of this version of the Ultimate is a 15% increase in comfort over the previous rim brake version, so we wanted to see if that Canyon delivered without losing its snappy race-ready feel.

Tech Details

A first look at the rear end of the bike gives clues as to where that comfort will come from. With the move to a full-carbon 12mm thru-axle rear dropout and dropping the unnecessary brake bridge, the bike ends up with a spindly set of long seatstays, reactively wide-set and hitting the seattube below the top tube. The seattube itself gets a rear wheel cutout, although it seems less about adding tire clearance and more about allowing the lower portion of the seattube to flex for a bit more rider comfort. The Ultimate retains decent sized chainstays, but they are still not the overly boxy shape we commonly find on many light carbon race bikes.

That layout derived from more endurance-oriented bikes works quite well here to provide plenty of room for larger tires (up top) which go a long way to improving ride comfort and grip. The other big thing to notice from the back is the dropped seatpost clamping mechanism. That small rubber grommet in between the seatstays is actually a plug stuck into the clamp’s bolt. By dropping the clamp down an extra 4cm or so, the bike allows more effective extension of the 27.2mm carbon seatpost (Canyon’s own post with vibration VCLS damping tech) so that it can flex and eat up some more vibration.

I personally get annoyed at almost every ‘alternative’ seatpost clamping mechanism for one reason or another. This solution bugged me because one: it was constantly being showered in road spray off the rear tire, two: I was sure I would lose the little rubber plug (note over a few moths I did NOT lose it in the end), and most importantly three: positioned tightly in between the stays I could maybe get 1/4 rotation of the bolt at a time with a shop L-shaped allen wrench, and even less than that with a mini-tool out on a ride. In reality, after one adjustment after the initial setup, I never had to touch it again. The seatpost stayed in place, so the bolt location never amounted to more than an initial annoyance.

There are a couple other points worth noting when looking at the bike from this angle. You can see that this frame still includes some old-school external battery Di2 routing in between bottle bosses on the downtube. Behind the pressfit BB92 bottom bracket there is a pretty large chain stay bridge/shelf where the front derailleur wire is routed up from under the BB. While riding on wet roads that cable got doused with spray, and I suspect if you ride this bike a lot in wet conditions, you are going to have to regularly clean & replace that shift wire. 415mm stays aren’t super short for a road race bike, and you can see there is a lot of room above the stock 25mm tire. There isn’t huge side clearance, but we had a comfortable amount of room while running 28mm Schwalbe Pro One tires tubeless on the wider 19mm internal DT Swiss ERC 1100 wheels.

In those extended chainstays you get full internal cable routing, and flat mount disc brakes. Looking to the drivetrain build, it’s no-nonsense with excellent performing Ultegra mechanical and a mid-compact 52/36 chainset paired to a standard road 11-28T cassette (and short cage rear derailleur). While that might have been tough gearing for me in the Alpine climbs on a heavier bike, it remained just wide enough to get me over the passes. That gearing is probably best suited for most riders on rolling terrain. Even though it was fine for a weekend trip to the mountains, if I spent more time there climbing I would have wanted to go compact, and probably moved up to my standard 11-32T cassette setup.

Up front the Ultimate gets a thin set of fork legs, a 12mm thru-axle, a flat mount disc brake, and an integrated one-piece bar & stem.

You’ll also notice that most of the riding pics show the bike with the non-stock DT Swiss ERC 1100 wheels and Schwalbe Pro One tires or various widths (we fit 23, 25 & 28mm tires over the course of the test.) The stock Mavic Cosmic carbon wheels were not tubeless ready. And with their 17mm internal width the accompanying 25mm Yksion tires were too low volume and too stiff for our liking, requiring more pressure than we prefer for the rough roads surfaces we regularly encounter. The wheels are the only item of the complete spec that we disliked, and the swap to a wider tubeless wheel setup made a noticeable improvement to the comfort and cornering of the bike, not to mention the mental boost of not worrying about flats and getting a free rolling resistance boost.

Up front the Ultimate is dominated by Canyon’s aero carbon H36 Aerocockpit bar & stem combo. Scaled to match frame sizing, our medium test bike came with an effective 100mm stem length and a 41cm (center to center) bar width. That’s more narrow than I would almost ever ride, and again locked into the size I was bit concerned about fit. With test bikes, we can usually get a couple of riders by swapping stems, but this setup fit me so for the most part it was I who spent time on the bike.

A look from the front shows the relatively slim profile of the bike. While it isn’t Canyon’s aero road frame, the Ultimate does get a fair share of aero optimized tube shaping, plus as small frontal area as possible.

Like at the rear end the stock wheels and 25mm tire reveal plenty of space to fit much larger, high-volume road tires.

Another nice feature of the 12mm thru-axle setup from and rear is the use of a single, removable RWS lever. Using a slightly customized version of DT Swiss’s RWS Plug detachable quick release lever, Canyon lets you use tighten both wheels with one universal lever, then keep it attached to the rear wheel (where it stayed securely for the duration of our test riding), or pop it in your pocket for the most aero solution. Even if you leave it at home, a standard 6mm allen wrench will tighten & loosen the axles.

Overall complete weight for the medium sized Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Disc 8.0 was 7.73kg/17.0lb on our scale, stock with the Ultegra build & Mavic wheels (no pedals). Swapping on the wider DT wheels and wider, but tubeless Schwalbe tires only saved around 150g overall, but made a big improvement in overall ride quality.

Setup & Ride Review

Part of the challenge of buying a premium bike from Canyon is committing to your order and then sending your hard-earned money into the ether of the internet after studying the spec & geometry charts to pick what is best for you. That’s what we had to do too.

I did the math, added up and compared frame reach figures and stem lengths with my personal & recent road bikes, and came away thinking that I would need a Medium bike (even though I stand a bit taller at 185cm/6’1″). Stack was a bit more flexible, and I could move the saddle around. But the bar reach was going to be fixed.

So I ordered, and a couple days later a mysterious Canyon bike box appeared at my door. Anyone (like myself) who has spent time working as a wrench in a bike shop, both dreads and looks forward to opening one of these boxes. Inside there is usually a lot of work to do, but also the promise of a new ride.

In fact, Canyon has put a lot of development into making the unboxing to ridable bike transition quick and easy. A bunch of velcro straps held the loose bits in place, but the bike packing is well done, and the bike is for the most part already setup.

All I had to do was put the front wheel in (and tighten the axle), then drop the seatpost into place & tighten (after measuring my seat height), then pop on the combo bar+stem & tighten, and thread in some pedals. Nothing overly complicated and Canyon includes a basic beam-style torque wrench to ensure everything is installed to spec.

The only problem I had with setup was moving around the headtube spacers to dial my fit. Canyon uses a series of composite spacers, with the lowest one featuring a small set screw to keep the fork from dropping out of the bike when the stem is not attached.

I wanted to move that spacer and when tightening it back, I overtorqued its 1Nm limit. Word of advice, 1Nm is almost nothing & many torque wrenches have no resolution that low. (It is pretty much just finger tight with no tool leverage. The piece is no structural, and entirely inexpensive (and the damage was 100% my fault.) But it brings up the Canyon conundrum – if something small (& especially proprietary) like this is damaged, you can’t pop down to the local Canyon dealer. Instead you go back online, send a repair or replacement item request via the website, and then wait for Canyon to send out the replacement part.

With all of those details said that turned up over the course of several months riding the bike, the Ultimate CF SLX Disc delivered on being a racy road bike I could ride everyday. Once I swapped to tires measuring a real 27-28mm (and set up tubeless), I rode the bike for urban commutes on Prague’s rough cobblestone streets. I rode it after work on the rough asphalt roads that surround the city. And I took the bike to cover a mix of hardpack dirt & gravel roads that tied together plenty of scenic rolling paved roads on the weekends. I even took the bike into the Alps a couple of times for some extended climbing (and descending) in both dry and wet conditions.

The thin rear end delivered on enough comfort that I never felt beat up on the bike. The hydraulic disc braking was top-notch and repeatedly rewarded me on long & twisty downhills with a smile on my face and a few personal best DH KOMs. Riding in rain or shine, and on smooth asphalt or loose roads, both handling & braking were consistent and predictable in a way that made me want to ride more and ride fast.

As much as the rear of the bike was forgiving, I was pleasantly surprised that the thin fork legs and (stiff) narrow bar worked well together to provide agile steering without ending up with sore shoulders are several hour long rides.

Final Thoughts

A lot of times I’m sad to see a test bike go back home, and the Ultimate CF SLX Disc was a good example of this. The high-end frameset didn’t have a lot of premier kit on it (besides maybe that one-piece carbon cockpit, and the  DT wheels that got put onto another test bike), but its ride was refined.

To me this is what a proper road bike should aspire to be these days – light but not crazy light, steep racing-inspired angles and thru-axles for precise handling, disc brakes for reliable & modulated stopping, and enough room to run 28-30mm road tires set up tubeless (I really have no desire to ever ride a tire smaller than 27mm again for any reason, after feeling the comfort & grip improvements in modern road tires.)

I’ve ridden a number of aero bikes that feel faster, and superlight bikes that carry me up the hills more quickly. But only one or two other road bikes I’ve ridden in the last several years have felt as well-rounded as the Ultimate. I certainly got used to having this Canyon in the quiver for the time it was around, and I never had to look hard for motivation to get out and ride any type of road I could think of.

Canyon.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

22 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Nicholas
6 years ago

Out of curiosity, what are the one or two other road bikes that felt as well-rounded as the Ultimate?

typevertigo
typevertigo
6 years ago

Would be great if not for missing fender mounts. Not an all-around bike without ’em, IMHO.

Bmx
Bmx
6 years ago
Reply to  typevertigo

Your opinion is correct. Race fenders suck and bike without fender mounts is a fair day fred sled and not a bike for all round use. Not nice to have a new bike showered with road grit and crap that will prematurely wear the drive chain. The only thing i would say is that the bike is probably aimed at people that dont know any better and probably by their shoes mail order as well.

tech9
6 years ago

Those stupid mavic non tubeless ready wheels were a big factor why I bought another bike. I saw your pictures with the tlr DT’s on there and was bummed because I thought they finally addressed the weakness of those mavic.. After reading your article, I learned other wise.

I have a canyon with h31 cockpit. I really wish canyon made different size cockpits and not a one size fits all for the size bike you were getting. I ride a small, but wish I could get the cockpit with the 90mm stem but at least 42cm wide bars. The h31 setup that came on my endurance is way too narrow. I don’t like the compression stack either. 1nm…heheh.

JBikes
JBikes
6 years ago
Reply to  tech9

Why is there any need for that 1nm set screw? Just don’t use it. Place your fork or wheel against a surface and it won’t drop….as done on any thread less headset/fork since their existence.

Mayhem
Mayhem
6 years ago
Reply to  tech9

At least over here in Europe you should be able to just email your local Canyon rep and exchange stems and bars for different sizes free of charge if within 30 days of delivery. I last did it a few months ago when I bought an Endurace frameset and needed to swap the cockpit for a slightly wider version. I’ve heard Canyon US doesn’t do any exchanged though…

Ira
Ira
6 years ago

Why not just put on some 700×28’s on the mavics. Tubeless is fine but there is nothing wrong with those wheels and fatter tires. This wide tires thing has gotten out of hand.

JBikes
JBikes
6 years ago

If we are talking “all round” I can’t really agree when there are race worthy bikes that can fit way larger tires. Take the Domane Disc for instance. What does it really give up as an all round bike? Or any more race oriented gravel bikes? Or “english” style road bikes like a Mason ( I say english as their weather/roads seem to promote fast bike that also have tire clearance and mudguard mounts). Heck, even CX bikes given then bb drops have increased over the years tend to make way better all rounders (although with gravel, cx is getting more specialized and losing some of the general purpose features)

If we are talking a nice general road-only bike, sure I guess its nice. But there are many competitors in that category as well.
True all-rounder, no, its tire clearance is too limited and as others have said it doesn’t even have fender mounts.

MM
MM
6 years ago

A few of things irked me when I had seen the disc version of the Ultimate and the Canyon setup for the US.

First is the general geometry. The overall wheelbase for the Ultimate rim was on the slightly longer side for a race bike and now the disc version lengthens the chain stays to what Shimano had previously advised. This placed the wheelbase to be even longer than the Endurace and would certainly make it feel somewhat less quick to change direction. The Endurace is the Canyon all rounder and is actually lighter than its supposed lightweight stable mate. You do get a lower stack and reach with the Ultimate and maybe it is a stiffer overall platform when compared, but likely not too appreciably so. Shimano had recently revised it chain stay documents and maybe Canyon should redo this bike to fit more towards to intended audience. Maybe it was simply a timing and production issue, but this frame feels a bit rushed.

The second is the 1.25″ straight steer. You get this swanky aero bar which can’t be swapped for a correct fit for US customers. If you decide to swap at your own dime, good luck on finding a good deal of options that fit since 1.125″ is the vastly more common steer tube. Canyon should have not introduced this bike without giving the same flexibility offered in Europe, which is a swap available withing 30 days of delivery. I would pass on the integrated handlebar until they resolved that issue.

Finally, a like the clean aesthetics and the controlled level of branding, but could we see slightly better paint and color options? Even just allowing upper end builds to have the four basic colors and not just sometimes one or two. I certainly understand limits on low end builds with reduced margins, but the upper end could at least go with the small range of colors available.

Hexsense
Hexsense
6 years ago
Reply to  MM

1.) longer chain stay weight more and less stiff but being made by high grade carbon make this point null.
Bikes that used to have long chain stay were endurance, town bike, city bike, mtb etc. So naturally people associate long chainstay with sluggish handling. But in reality, the reduced handling speed is minimal with a bit longer chainstay alone. Front end of the bike (head tube angle, trail value etc.) have way larger magnitude on handling.
2.) Pro Vibe Di2 stem and some Ritchey stems are offered in 1 1/4. Pro Vibe Di2 offer in -10 and -17 degree. Ritchey are -6 and -17 degree. They combined offer various option for most fit.

Mike M
Mike M
6 years ago
Reply to  Hexsense

No carbon grade changes were made and they added to the layup schedule to get back to the target chain stay deflection. Part of the weight gain on the frame. Canyon has already one of the longer trail values in a race bike category and didn’t change it for this model. Now add the additional wheelbase and you have a bike that is more on the stability side of neutral than a large degree of race bikes. If your coming off another race bike, it will be noticeable. If you came off another Ultimate, less so.

I feel that Canyon began the development of this frame when Shimano advised 415mm instead of the 410mm advisement now. Which happens to be the rim brake versions setup and was a bit more balanced. Realize the Endurace has that longer chainstay and a shorter trail than steer as compared to the ultimate. Other than the lower stack height from its longer head tube, this disc Ultimate is an off geometry for a race bike.

My issue was with the lack of swapping for US customers on the integrated solutions and it was something to be avoided. I also believe Zipp and FSA offers some stems in the OS configuration, it just may not serve the customer best. I can only assume they feel the straight steer tube offers enough value to go that route, but I can hardly see why.

Hexsense
Hexsense
6 years ago
Reply to  MM

Also, a longer chain stay helps in reduce tail wagging effect on rear wheel when sprinting hard. It also improve traction on climbing over shorter chain stay variance. A chain stay in 410-415mm range for road bike is a plus in my opinion. They increase weight and risk themself losing rear end stiffness (and being harder to sell since too many customers associate short chain stay with a good race bike) for gaining better chain line and better rear end stability.

Mike M
Mike M
6 years ago
Reply to  Hexsense

Its true that a longer stay aids in ‘rear’ steer and can provide more traction. When you add the longer trail the Ultimate has for stability, it makes for a bike that does change its line a bit less sharply then most other race bikes. Works for road racing or riding, is much less than ideal for a crit style race. But in a high speed descent, it will keep its line more smoothly. The rim Ultimate had the 410mm stay and had the slightly longer trail. It was balanced very well and this just puts it slightly off in my view.

VeloKitty
VeloKitty
6 years ago
Reply to  MM

> This placed the wheelbase to be even longer than the Endurace and would
> certainly make it feel somewhat less quick to change direction.

You can detect a 1% change in wheelbase? lol Can you also detect a difference in weight after you use the loo?

Why doesn’t Canyon go with BB386EVO? I guess BB92 is okay if want to run run 24 mm spindle cranks only. But if you want to run a crankset with a 30 mm spindle, it’s a poor choice.

Mike M
Mike M
6 years ago
Reply to  VeloKitty

I can feel the difference between differing tires and between latex or butyl tubes. I can also feel the difference between something like the Ultimate and a Tarmac, which is a good example of a fast steer/slow steer race bike options. The Ultimate had already a longer train, which has its particular advantages on certain points. But the added stay length may just be too much of a good thing.

BB386 can run everything except for dedicated BB30/PF30 cranks. You can add the OSBB cranks to that list if you like. The only consideration I could really think of is the slightly larger shell size and their effort to get the weight down as low as possible. Its suppose to be lightest bike they make with a spec weight of 780g for M rim frame. It could have been the difference in getting it below the magic 800g figure.

JBikes
JBikes
6 years ago
Reply to  Mike M

For the actual rider, what happens between 801g and 799g?

Durianrider
Durianrider
6 years ago

Crud road racer MK3 would fit on this bike. They fit every road bike Ive tried to mount them on. Sometimes you might need to trim them a bit though.

TelemarkTumalo
TelemarkTumalo
6 years ago

Thanks for the nice review. I’m looking at the Ultimate SLX with the Di2 set up. I will likely follow the sizing recommendations provided by Canyon, and use the 30 day swap out option if something doesn’t feel right. I do wish the Mavic wheels were the tubeless version. C’est la vie….

CK Ireland
CK Ireland
6 years ago

I hope you have better luck than me. I would NOT recommend a CANYON. Lovely bike and great to ride but when something goes wrong its a nightmare. I had to send mine back last year to fix a creaking noise and had no bike for over a month. Bike came back apparently fixed and fully checked-over and a few months later creaking has returned. It’s probalby the crankset. Suggestion from Canyon is now to send it back again. Buy a bike in the bike shop where you get proper after sale service and you can speak to someone about an issue. After sale service with Canyon is really poor, so really think about it before you buy.

CK
CK
6 years ago

CK As a follow up, Canyon still have my bike after 3 weeks. They have tried to charge me to fix it once and now suggest I pay to fix the wheels which have had a problem from the start. It’s really frustrating and I really recommend you stay clear. If it costs a bit more to buy a decent bike in a bike shop its really worth it in the end.

Hardy Henneberg
Hardy Henneberg
5 years ago

Warning according the integrated seat post clamp: If the bolt is worn, and you can loosen it, you are in big trouble. Canyon Support’s only solution is to suggest, that you should buy a new frame !!!

Bron
Bron
5 years ago

I am very fortunate to own this bike, with DT Swiss wheels x 28mm Schwalbe’s. I am so happy and loved riding it for the last 5,000 k or so… but,.. What a depressing bunch of humourless individuals on Bike Rumour.. You talk about percentages, angles, heights, size in such a negative fashion. What a depressing and frankly entitled group of self absorbed people… Go listen to yourselves.
Enjoy the pleasure of climbing aboard any bike and taking in the country lanes and life in general.We are so lucky to have access to this type of technology and quality. Not to worry, you’ll be dead soon and won’t have to worry about that ‘Nightmare’ or ‘wrong bars for me’ or ‘awful Mavic’s’
Jeez,.. no wonder half the worlds going to hell in a hand basket..

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.