Canyon speedmax cf 9.0 SL
Price £ 5,999 > Weight 7.73kg > www.canyon.com
It’s telling that as soon as Katusha got onto the Speedmax last year, their TT results improved, albeit from poor to middling. What’s more, having just switched from Pinarello, Movistar’s Adriano Malori won the Tirreno-Adriatico TT ahead of Fabian Cancellara, Bradley Wiggins and Tony Martin. His team-mate Alex Dowsett loves it, too (see p68). At the other end of the scale, I lopped 18 seconds off my course PB at the local evening 10 and then, with a Mavic disc rear and CXR 80 front, and on a fast course, hacked my 25 PB down to 51:15. Happily, a fast bike is fast for everyone.
It sounds daft to talk of value for money when a bike costs six grand but this 9.0 SL version comes with a complete Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and Zipp 404/808 Firecrest clinchers which is as impressive as we’ve come to expect from direct-to-consumer Canyon. That said, I don’t think the SL is the sweet spot; if you want a bike that’s ready to race, we recommend shelling out the extra £700 for the 9.0 LTD which comes with a Zipp Super-9 clincher disc and 808 front. If you already have race wheels, the 9.0 Pro has Reynolds Strikes for £5,099. The Speedmax is designed around electronic shifting to tidy the cable-routing. Mechanical isn’t an option. I can take or leave Di2 on road bikes but it’s simply brilliant for TT use.
The Speedmax is highly and finely adjustable yet remains extremely neat. There are two stems; the ‘TT’ stem sits flush to the toptube and enables very low positions, the ‘Tri’ stem is taller but less aero. Owing to my long legs, I’m forced to run the latter, even with a 15cm drop to the pads. There’s lots of saddle adjustment though I can’t quite get it to zero setback at this height.
The ride is firm but it’s a small price to pay for the outstanding stiffness that shines through in the accuracy and when sprinting out of a TT start. The clever ‘Rake Shift’ switchable drop-outs give a choice of steering feel. Set to ‘Agile’ it’s very fast and a bit flighty at speed; set to ‘Stable’ it’s still rock solid past 70kph and the steering is sweeter.
Once you’ve learned how to set up the brakes, they’re strong and don’t rub. They’re vastly better than the TRP TTV brakes fitted to many rivals, especially with wide aero wheels.
The Zipp wheels are fast, light and – being clinchers – practical, too. The 404 Firecrest isn’t quite as stable in gusty weather as some newer wheels, though, and as quick as the 808 is almost any disc would beat it, so these are destined to be training wheels de luxe. They’re ideal for riding to and from club TTs after work, for instance.
This bike is with me for the season. I’ll be testing it and myself, plus a load of wheels, in as many races as possible. It’s going to be fun.