Yesterday Zwift launched a new ad campaign, telling us to chase Mathieu van der Poel on their virtual training platform to stay motivated in the off-season. Of course, MvdP dominates in all disciplines, but his virtual road riding leaked something new… his latest race bike, our first glimpse at the next generation 2021 Canyon Aeroad disc brake aero road bike.
Zwift leaks 2021 Canyon Aeroad SLX Disc carbon aero road bike
Sure, we guessed that virtual indoor training might threaten the cycling industry. But who would have thought it would threaten product release schedules, too! Seriously though, we’re not really scared of virtual training. But, I am definitely not prepared to go head-to-head with van der Poel in any Zwift e-racing!
Our first look at the current Canyon Aeroad SLX Disc carbon aero road bike actually came from a pro leak as well – all the way back in 2016 from Alexander Kristoff on Instagram. So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that 3 1/2 years later it was time to tease an update.
So what’s new with this probably 2021 Aeroad?
Comparing the MvdP Zwift leak screengrabs to the most recent Aeroad Disc, there is a lot of new details we can pick out.
The rear end of the leaked bike is all new, with much taller/deeper sections to the seatstays. That’s not surprising as the recent drop of the UCI 3:1 regulation has led to just about every aero road bike getting thinner, deeper tube profiles to maximize aerodynamics.
The new bike’s stays remain dropped, maybe slightly more so that before. And the result is that the fairing/rear wheel cutout behind the seattube decreases in size/prominence.
Noticeably the seatpost & seattube both get much deeper, taking advantage of the less strict UCI rules. This new post is now a deeper aero section than even Canyon’s Speedmax T/tri bike, now also with a zero offset head – and an integrated mount for a race number.
It also appears that the hidden wedge style seatpost clamp inset into the toptube is gone, shifting to the same single bolt clamp in the back of the seattube that Canyon also uses on their Ultimate & Endurace road bikes.
The front end of the new Aeroad is also a big departure from the current bike, with a thinner cross section, a smoother upper headset bearing configuration, the complete removal of the shaped transition from fork to downtube, and of course no external cables.
Van der Poel’s bike appears set up with a Di2 group, but we anticipate that Canyon will route both mechanical & electronic drivetrain entirely internally, most likely with their own cockpit components. MvdP’s one-piece Aerocockpit bar+stem looks thinner than current offerings with a roomier, smooth bend to the drops.
What else can we surmise? At this point we don’t know when to expect an official launch of the bike from Canyon, most likely at their top carbon CF SLX level, and only with disc brakes.
But seeing as how they let van der Poel & Zwift put this teaser out, it probably will come very soon. We’ll keep our eyes peeled.
