Canyon Ultimate AL SLX 9.0 or CF SL 9.0?

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nevikte
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:15 pm

by nevikte

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a canyon ultimate, but I can't decide between the AL SLX 9.0 and the CF SL 9.0.
https://www.canyon.com/en-it/road/ultim ... x-9-0.html
https://www.canyon.com/en-it/road/ultim ... l-9-0.html

the specs are identical between the two, the main difference seems to be the aluminum vs carbon frame (and the price is quite close between the two).
do you guys have any feedback on the two bikes? what will be the main difference in term of feel, performance and durability between the two?

thanks!

User avatar
reknop
Posts: 313
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:15 am

by reknop

nevikte wrote:Hi,

I'm looking to buy a canyon ultimate, but I can't decide between the AL SLX 9.0 and the CF SL 9.0.
https://www.canyon.com/en-it/road/ultim ... x-9-0.html
https://www.canyon.com/en-it/road/ultim ... l-9-0.html

the specs are identical between the two, the main difference seems to be the aluminum vs carbon frame (and the price is quite close between the two).
do you guys have any feedback on the two bikes? what will be the main difference in term of feel, performance and durability between the two?

thanks!


A friend of mine is running the CF SL 9.0 from 2014 with a lot of joy, and personally I would go for this model (despite that the alu bike is probably as good).
I have ridden an aluminum road-bike frame about 14 years ago, so no recent experience with riding such a race bike.
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jfranci3
Posts: 1571
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

Is CF worth $300? How much is it worth to you not to wonder? Tour Inc mag says they're about the same aside from weight in terms of stiffness and spring rate/ride comfort.

Shrike
Posts: 2019
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:08 pm

by Shrike

Screw that, get the Ultimate EVO frameset and get some eTap deal somewhere :P

gsindela
Posts: 88
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2017 8:48 pm
Location: Geneva, IL, USA

by gsindela

From what I've read, CF does not degrade over time whereas AL does.
2015 Storck Scenero G3, Force 22, Ultegra wheels, Zipp AL bars, stem, post

Nefarious86
Moderator
Posts: 3669
Joined: Sun May 25, 2014 4:57 am

by Nefarious86

Some good replies from the marketing department here....
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Tomdaws
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:16 pm

by Tomdaws

I have an older Ultimate Al that gets used as a winter/wet bike, & a new Ultimate CF SLX, aside from weight there's very little difference in performance. The carbon bike seems to absorb some road buzz, but that could be as a result of different wheels & tyres.
I love the way both ride, the only advantage I see with the carbon bike is going uphill.
I doubt I'll live long enough to see any deterioration of either frame material through fatigue, but in my experience, an aluminium frame is more robust in the event of a crash, so consider what sort of riding you intend doing.

Hope this helps :-)

Tomace
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:15 am

by Tomace

Judging from your question in general and your "needs" I would also recommend the ROSE Xeon RS-3000. Contrary to the Canyon you can specify all the components, especially the wheelset and chain rings, etc. The Xeon RS-3000 looks really nice in the black finish and is very light. A bit less than 7kg, depending on the size. Canyon is just getting hyped a bit too much in my opinion. And as an allround weapon an alloy wheelset is no bad choice. After a crash you'll see what you've done/has been done too you (your frame) and you don't need to worry whether the frame is broken somewhere invisible beneath the finish.

Cheers
Tom

P.S.: The Rose carbon frame which can be compared to the Xeon RS-3000 is just 100g lighter.

sodac
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:11 am

by sodac

Tomdaws wrote:I have an older Ultimate Al that gets used as a winter/wet bike, & a new Ultimate CF SLX, aside from weight there's very little difference in performance. The carbon bike seems to absorb some road buzz, but that could be as a result of different wheels & tyres.
I love the way both ride, the only advantage I see with the carbon bike is going uphill.
I doubt I'll live long enough to see any deterioration of either frame material through fatigue, but in my experience, an aluminium frame is more robust in the event of a crash, so consider what sort of riding you intend doing.

Hope this helps :-)


Do you know about how much the weight difference is?

Tomdaws
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:16 pm

by Tomdaws

sodac wrote:
Tomdaws wrote:I have an older Ultimate Al that gets used as a winter/wet bike, & a new Ultimate CF SLX, aside from weight there's very little difference in performance. The carbon bike seems to absorb some road buzz, but that could be as a result of different wheels & tyres.
I love the way both ride, the only advantage I see with the carbon bike is going uphill.
I doubt I'll live long enough to see any deterioration of either frame material through fatigue, but in my experience, an aluminium frame is more robust in the event of a crash, so consider what sort of riding you intend doing.

Hope this helps :-)


Do you know about how much the weight difference is?


According to Canyon my Ultimate Al 9.0 should weigh about 7.6kg as standard. The Ultimate CF-SLX should be 6.3kg, but I've put heavier wheels on & Quarq PM but maybe lost a few grams by fitting a Fizik R1 saddle.

I know this is WW but I've found there's more to a bike than just its weight, for example, I prefer my Zipp 303s to the Mavic SLR wheels that came with the CF-SLX despite the Zipps being 3-400g heavier. They're both light enough for me, & suit the type of riding I do.

Tomace
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:15 am

by Tomace

7,6kg is quite something. 61cm frame?

The paint finish weights about additional 150g compared to the anodized frame.

Tomdaws
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 12:16 pm

by Tomdaws

Tomace wrote:7,6kg is quite something. 61cm frame?

The paint finish weights about additional 150g compared to the anodized frame.


No medium frame so 56cm. The Al 9.0 is five years old tho.

Tabe
Posts: 174
Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:45 pm

by Tabe

My previous bike and current bike are exactly these two. Had my CF now around two months and done one training camp on medium mountain roads with it, no racing yet but coming. I'm 6'4" and 170 with decent sprinting ability. IMHO difference between these bikes is much bigger than stated. Overall stiffness is clearly higher on CF, bb area is very very stiff. Front end is very stiff too. I have 40cm bars on AL and 42cm on CF and still it's very stiff front end when I try to bash all out from slow speed power sprint workouts. But. It's very comfortable bike to ride big hours day after day, soaks road buzz nicely, of course tyre pressure and 23/25 choise makes big difference. On climbing it feels so direct in and out of saddle, no energy wasted not a single bit. AL is very good bike for fast downhill riding, but CF is still much better, like on rails and comes better when speed climbs up, turns in so nicely.

Overall I was surprised that difference in everything overall was this big. But I absolutely love it! :thumbup:

robertbb
Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:35 am

by robertbb

My 2c worth, for anyone this may help in future.

I own the 2017 Ultimate AL SLX frameset which I've built it up with Campy Chorus, Ritchey 4-Axis alloy stem, Specialized Hover alloy bars, ENVE seatpost, San Marco Aspide Carbon FX saddle and Campy Zonda C17's.

I'll be posting pics/specs and review in the gallery forum, but to add to this conversation, I wanted to say that this frame is absolutely phenomenal. I don't understand why it isn't spoken about in the same conversation as the Cannondale CAAD or Specialized's Allez. Stiff as guts, exceptionally comfortable (and I run 23mm tyres!) and very light - I don't have weight details on hand now but will post these in the gallery thread.

I use it on the indoor trainer, in the wet, and generally to crunch miles (also plan to use it when travelling overseas). One will not be disappointed with this frame for this use :thumbup:

NB: My climbing / sportive / sunny weekend bike is the 2017 Ultimate CF SLX frameset with exactly the same groupset/finishing kit but with Bora Ultra 35 tubulars. It's definitely better ;-)

by Weenie


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scottmmw
Posts: 117
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2015 10:31 am

by scottmmw

Carbon is better IMO. The AL SLX is not a bad bike, purely down to personal preference!

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