CANYON ULTIMATE CF EVO 10.0 LTD £11,799

PHENOMENAL SPECAND SUPERB HANDLING

To to be honest, the 10.0 filled us with trepidation. Ultralight showcase bikes often just don’t deliver the high expectations you inevitably have of them. We’re glad to report, however, that this superbike not only bucks that trend, but smashes it to pieces.

The Ultimate CF frame has always been stiff, but stiffness that translates into excellent power transfer, and this Evo variant retains both stiffness and power transfer in abundance. When you combine those traits in a bike with this little overall mass, it means you’ll fly uphill and maintain superb speed on rolling terrain.

The combination of its own split-design VCLS 2.0 seatpost and Fizik’s Antares 00 saddle produces a back end that’s brilliant at reducing buzz. Canyon has also used its own design up front: the one-piece H36 Aerocockpit gives you a little aero advantage, the real benefit, though, is how well the H36 reduces vibrations.

The 10.0 is rim-brake equipped, so it’s definitely one for the purists, and the combination of SRAM’s Red brakes and Lightweight’s flyweight Meilensteins (1210g a pair) is a good one.

The rather large elephant in the room is the price: £11,799 is a lot of money for a bike. Yet, as ridiculous as it sounds, the 10.0 does offer decent value. Buying the bike’s top-spec components separately would cost the best part of £14,000, so, at over £2000 less than the sum of its parts, the 10.0 LTD is a veritable bargain.