SPECIALIZED VS CANYON
World-beating bikes go head-to-head
The busy centre of Leeds is better for a day out shopping and spotting retro hipster bikes than a relaxing ride out, so we start our World Championships route from Otley’s market cross, not Leeds town hall. We haven’t got the luxury of closed roads either, so we divert over the River Wharfe to run parallel with the main road the rainbow jersey contenders will use in September.
BACK WITH A VENGE-ANCE
I want to get as much mileage in as quickly as possibly and the stealth-black Venge is the bike to grab. After the wind tunnel-optimised, humpbacked weirdness of the Venge VIAS, the straighter lines of the new Venge bleed velocity. It looks blisteringly quick. Riding next to it on double-up test rides, the broad, flat-sided 64mm deep Roval CLX wheels set up a jet-engine roar that echoes through the big ‘boat’ profiled downtube. Di2 gear shifts bang through the frame, too, to the point where it’s borderline antisocial. On board, though, there’s just a slight rocket rumble as it inexorably slots each upshift on the way to a PB-pushing cruising speed. Or, as one tester commented when I asked him about the noise levels: “You don’t hear your own noise at the speed of sound!” If this sounds like hysterical hyperbole then you clearly haven’t ridden a top-end Venge. This bike is blatantly, rudely rapid in a completely unapologetic big-bore race exhaust way. It’s not just a flat-land specialist, either, as the new bike is over a pound (460g to be precise) lighter than the Venge VIAS that Peter Sagan won his last rainbow jersey on.
The stem and bar have been made sti!er (Sagan used to use a Zipp stem with the logo covered up) too, so you can wrestle some extra watts out through your shoulders out of the saddle. Power delivery is direct and undiluted so the left and right output numbers you can see coming from Specialized’s fat carbon-armed S-Works Power Cranks chainset aren’t ever wasted. Even the deep Roval wheels are only fractionally heavier than the Campagnolo wheels on the Canyon, and it’s certainly cutting upwards through the contours easily as the road kicks up over a few short rises towards Askwith.
The advanced aerodynamics (Specialized claims it’s eight seconds faster over 40kph than the previous - already very fast - Venge VIAS) get a chance to shine on the gradual descent towards Ilkley too, making the 52-tooth chainring an easy spin and encouraging you to hunker down into the flat-topped aero bar to make that kph figure creep even higher. It holds that extra speed easily alongside the sparkling river Aire opposite Ilkley town. From here, the o"cial route curves westwards to Skipton on the
THE VENGE IS BLATANTLY, RUDELY RAPID A COMPLETELY UNAPOLOGETIC BIG-BORE RACE EXHAUST WAY
A65 but a bit of local knowledge will put you on a far nicer short-cut route. The ‘Cavendish run’ is a classic route that rolls straight on past Ilkely on the opposite side of the river to the busy main road, the Venge’s jet roar bouncing o the deep hedgerows as it growls a healthy gear up the couple of short pulls on the way to the A59 Skipton to Harrogate road.
The broad, short missing-centre S-Works Power saddle has been universally praised by every pelvis that’s sat on it during testing. While the Aerofly II bar is sti er overall than the VIAS freak bar, and the flat top is textured rather than taped, it’s a nice place to rest your hands for cruising and climbing. In terms of aggressively aerodynamic bikes, the Venge is relatively smooth too and it’ll even take 32mm tyres if you want to add some pneumatic smoothness. There’s still enough vibration and jolts from undodged potholes coming through the bladed fork, seattube and rear stays to definitely put it on the performance, rather than plush side of the ride-quality line though.
Regularly swapping between bikes, rather than getting settled into one, is the golden rule of relevance and context when it comes to testing. That means we pull into the lay-by just over the bridge after Bolton Abbey roundabout so I can rack the Venge back into the van and pull the Canyon out.
CANYONING
If the Venge is all snarl and spit in persona then the Canyon is as classy as they come. Obviously, it’s a di erent category of bike to the Venge - the Aeroad is the drag-defined ride in the Canyon range - but this latest version of the Ultimate CF SLX comes from a long line of race and test winners. While the value o ered by the German company’s directsale model is what often grabs the headlines, the Ultimate has always been an icon of superb ride quality. The super-slim seatstays and almost straight, skinny fork legs with rounded tips weave a layer of silk between you and the road. While we worry about the exposed head of the seat clamp bolt at the base of the seatstay wishbone, the extra flex it allows in the narrow 27.2mm seatpost adds impact isolation under the saddle. The VCLS composite lay-up in the shaft and layback head also dampens vibration at the level that gradually tires over long hours in the saddle.
Campagnolo has always been the ‘public school education’ of powertrains, too, and it’s translated that polished, sophisticated persona into its latest Super Record EPS electronic drivetrain. While the thumb lever is something of a love/hate ride divider, once you’re used to the actuation, the shifts front and rear are immediate and supersmooth. The 12-speed 11-29 cassette means smaller gear jumps for a more cultured cadence too.
Add ceramic bearings in the 50mm-deep Bora One wheels and Continental’s latest GP5000 tyres and the Canyon feels positively decadent as I dance the pedals north past the ruins of Bolton Abbey. As the peaks and troughs of the road get steeper and longer, I roll into the foothills of the Dales and I’m reminded of the Ultimate’s hidden talent for torque delivery. While it cruises with cashmere smoothness in the saddle, as soon as you
TH EVEN GE IS RELATIVELY SMOOTH TOO AND IT’LL EVEN TAKE 32 MM TYRES IF YOU WANT TO ADD SOME PNEUMATIC SMOOTHNESS
brace against the pedals it surges forward with a sensational sense of purpose. However sweet the shifting, the boxy down-tube, deep chainstays and slab-sided Campagnolo cranks default to driving the big gears round rather than downshifting and, whether you’re seated or standing, the Ultimate is a serious summit hunter.
That’s not relevant as it cruises the twisting, but flatter road north from Grassington up the glacial trough of Wharfedale, so I get to savour the spectacular patchwork of ancient dry-stone wall field systems, ancient barns, wild meadows and the spectacular overhanging crag at Kilnsey. I’m not turning up the infamous Park Rash climb at Kettlewell today. As the road begins to rise and become Kirkstone Pass past Buckden, the closespaced cassette ratios keep the pedalling e!cient and climbing easy. Even that last kick up and round the craggy crux corner is a chance to show why Valverde generally chooses this boxier, less aero option from the Canyon arsenal, rather than the more wind tunnel-e!cient Aeroad.
The descent o" the far side is an absolute joy, too. Luxuriously long curves let me tilt the supple, utterly trustworthy Continental tyres into brave banking angles and apexes, and run-outs appear at just the point you’re about to panic and pull the brakes. Not that speed control is an issue as while they look very basic compared to the rest of the carbon componentry, the Magura collaboration callipers give excellent feedback through the curved levers on the canted inward hoods. All too soon the descent is done and I’m turning west again through Aysgarth where picture postcard waterfalls on the River Ure o"er a scenic detour. It’s a long day ahead though so I push on through the Roman settlement of Bainbridge.
As much as the Canyon suits the Grand Tour vibe as well as a Bentley Continental would, this is a bike test day so I clip back into the McLaren of the pair. Actually, as Specialized has its own ‘Win Tunnel’ now, it’s a while since it has collaborated with the UK super-car specialists, but this is still the fastest road bike it has ever made according to its data. It’s gravity not wind that’s the issue as I grunt upwards onto the first savage slope of Buttertubs Pass. Come September this will be a cauldron of cycling fans from all over the world. Today, it’s just me crawling up over the cattlegrid under the gaze of disinterested sheep; again the Venge is showing it’s not afraid of the vertical either out of the saddle or tempo climbing up the shallower lower slopes.
While aero road bikes - including the previous Venge - don’t have the best rep for descending, the new Venge clearly benefits from a broader, sti"er set of tubes in terms of steering accuracy. Rim and fork, down-tube and upper seat-tube sections are flat backed for a more flexible airflow than a pure
SUPER SLIM SEAT STAY SAND ALMOST STRAIGHT, SKINNY FORK LEGS WE AVE A LAYER OF SILK BETWEEN YOU AND THE ROAD
foil, too. The reassuringly accurate front end and Dura-Ace disc brakes mean that I can commit to the two right-angled turns with confidence. I’ve had no problem with side winds even on gusty days during testing either, so I’m not worried about plummeting down the straight-line descent past dry stone wall gaps that have proved treacherous in the past on less well-mannered, wind-beating bikes. The 140mm rear rotor doesn’t decelerate as keenly as the 160mm on the Canyon, though, so the distinctive, finned brake rotors are certainly getting a burning as I anchor hard for the T-junction at the bottom.
The aero advantage and punchy power delivery means I’m flying the Venge down Swaledale like the regular RAF pilots who play around these parts, braking late and kicking hard out of corners, chicaning humpbacked bridges and turning on the torque, rather than retreating through the ratios as I head towards Reeth. There’s still a long way back to Harrogate before I can even start thinking about the final laps. That includes the big lump of hill over to Leyburn, so I switch to the Canyon to make the sudden start to the serious climb over Grinton Moor as easy as possible. Thankfully, the charming castellated youth hostel, swinging corners, perfect little stone bridges over rushing streams and ever expanding views over the shoulder make more of a lasting impression than the changing gradients and cattle grids. Topping out unfolds another stunning view south as I sweep and swoop down towards Leyburn, laying the Ultimate over, with knee pressing the top-tube and inside elbow dropped in best Moto GP style to max out the speed and thrills.
While the Venge might save me a few watts in terms of wind cheating, the smoother overall ride of the Canyon is the ally I need for the next section of route. I cruise the descents and tap tempo up climbs past ruined abbeys, ice-cream parlours and castles towards Masham as sheep and crying curlews provide the soundtrack.
While the Ultimate CF SLX frame isn’t obviously profiled for speed, the 50mm wheels mean it’s certainly no slouch over distance either and it doesn’t feel too long before I’m diverting o! the o"cial route again at Ripon.
The last sharp-kick climbs before Harrogate underline just how much work the World Championships’ contenders will have done before they enter the endgame, and in true rainbow stripes-style it’s not an easy finish either. The 14km lap of Harrogate is a decent dig on its own, with multiple long, steady drags, a relatively steep extended climb and several proper little punches, not least the final kick to the finish line. Just to twist the knife, all these kicks come after either techy, twisty descents where an overshoot will have you over a bridge parapet and into the catch
THE NEW VENGE CLEARLY BENEFITS FROM A BROADER, STIFFER SET OF TUBES IN TERMS OF STEERING ACCURACY
netting, or high-speed switchback or right-angled turns that’ll still be spicy when they remove the temporary rubber tra!c islands. The Elite field will be doing this lap seven times on top of the 185km they’ve already ridden, too, so whoever is holding their arms aloft as they cross the line on West Park will have ridden 285km of Yorkshire roads to earn their stripes.
While this route should settle who the best bike rider in the world is, the question of best bike is pretty much impossible to answer. There’s no easy deciding on the scales, or with a tape measure as both bikes are extremely similar in weight, shape and geometry. On the road, though, each bike is so di"erent whichever way I went I’d be clouding it with personal character preference. Having ridden both bikes around the final circuit several times during testing I can confirm I’ve loved the experience on each one, and while the Venge was faster on individual lap times I don’t know if that’d be true with 180km of fatigue added into the equation.
The Venge is certainly the fastest-feeling and -looking bike here, loaded with go-faster tech from the aero detailing to the double-sided power meter. It handles, climbs and cruises distances better than most aero road bikes, too, so that speed is served up all-day long. Being a shop-bought bike it also comes with all the setup and servicing support that £10k should get you.
In contrast, the Canyon comes in a box for you to build yourself, but that saves you a full £2453 even after you’ve paid for carriage. While its arrival is more functional than aspirational, its actual ride epitomises mature class in the same way that Valverde himself does. This bike is serenely calm and comfortable when cruising, but it unsheathes a serious set of claws when it attacks. There’s no doubting that if you had to pick one bike to ride the whole World Championships route on, the Ultimate CF SLX would get you from Leeds to Harrogate in a better, less-battered shape, too. Dropping similar dollar (£9146.98 including delivery) to the Venge would also get you the latest Ultimate CF Evo 10.0 Ltd bike with full SRAM AXS wireless suite, Zipp 202 wheels and a UCI-illegal weight of 6kg straight.
Whichever bike you choose depending on your sheer speed or smooth, all-rounder priorities, you’re onto a total winner.
Just don’t try sprinting them up the final 700m of the Worlds route as a demo to yourself, as that’s a one-way street to anyone who isn’t in the running for the most coveted set of stripes in cycling.
PEDAL PEDANTRY
We know that these bikes aren’t exactly the same as the bikes that Sagan and Valverde won their rainbow stripes on. Both are disc-brake equipped, while both Worlds were won on rims. Valverde still uses rim brakes now, but the only Canyon CF Ultimate CF SLX model available with rim brakes uses Shimano not Campagnolo equipment, so that was a no-go. Specialized has also changed the Venge from the VIAS model Sagan won on in 2017, introducing this new, disc-only version for 2019.
THE VENGE I S C E R T A I N LY T H E FASTEST FEELING AND LOOKING BIKE HERE, LOADED WITH GO FASTER TECH