Canyon Ultimate Wmn CF SLX DISC 9.0 team CSR 2017 £5,499

eveloped in collaboration with the Canyon-sram Racing Team, the range-topping Canyon Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disc 9.0 Team CSR is an out-and-out thoroughbred road race bike, coming equipped with wireless SRAM Red etap Hydro groupset, deep-section carbon wheels and integrated carbon bar and stem cockpit.

Innovatively, this disc-brake bike has been specifically designed for female riders, engineered around size XS, which according to Canyon’s data is the size most required by women cyclists. With two sizes sitting either side of XS, the range now caters for riders that measure from just shy of five feet, all the way up to 6ft 1in.

The Canyon Ultimate uses the slimmer tubing profiles of the women- specific engineering, allowing the use of less frame material, making it lighter and more aero than the male-equivalent Ultimate CF SLX Disc and enabling riders on the two smallest sizes to benefit from enhanced handling, thanks to 650b (27.5in) wheels.

The inclusion of smaller than standard wheels on the 3XS and 2XS sizes ensures that the entire range of the Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disc delivers crisp, swift and responsive handling by maintaining a steep head angle, short wheelbase and reducing the tyre-to-road contact patch (trail). To counter the smaller wheels, these two models also come equipped with semicompact, instead of a compact chainset, to give the same effective gear range on the road.

Canyon’s support for the women’s pro peloton is unwavering, and the 2018 model will be launched at the Canyon-sram training camp at the end of November, where we are likely to see subtle spec updates, and a new team paint design, and with the Ultimate WMN CF range starting at just £1,199, there’ll be something for everyone to be excited about.