Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 8.0 (rim brake) - rebirth!

[mmaslen]

Good afternoon, I'm Matt and have been into bikes for as long as I can remember. In 2017 I scrapped together enough money to buy my dream bike. A Canyon Ultimate cf slx 8.0 rim brake in stealth black. I didn't have any scales back then, but according to official figures 6.8kg without pedals or cages, so probably 7.1kg all in.

I rode the wheels off that that thing. Milan to Monaco, carcassone to Barcelona, ride 100, the Fred whitton, all over the uk. Loved it. At no point did the bike let me down....untill 1 week before ride London 100 this year...

Snap, stopped at the side of the road for a swig out of my drinks bottle, pushed off to go again and crack.

I was mortified. Fortunately I have a great friend who lent me his s-works sl7 for the ride London 100. So my hard training paid off.

After various emails and calls to Canyon, the bike was returned for inspection. It turns out it had a 6 year warranty on the frame. I was 5 years and 8 months into it! The first answer from Canyon was it was user error, a crash. They were not doing anything. Gutted...but I persisted with it, contacted the smalls claims court and eventually Canyon gave in a agreed to replace my frame free of charge!

But as you may have guessed, rim brake frames are rare now days, and no black cf slx frames were available in size S, but they had one TDF special in Movistar colours available. I jumped at the chance!

Only 1 issue, it was electric only groupset compatible frame. They even agreed to supply me with full Ultegra di2 at "cost". So this is where I sit today...

It's lovely to ride, and I love the look. I have weighed the bike and it comes in at a hefty 7.33kg. The paint must be really thick....but it is lovely!

So this got me thinking. I have a new frame, and a new groupset....perfect opportunity to upgrade the rest, and I would love it to weigh less....and that's why I'm posting today....I think I may have got the WW bug.

So here is my list of parts I have ordered

Bjorn Setka Saddle
Darimo Ellipse 400mm handlebar
Darimo T2 seatpost with 25mm offset
Extralite Hyperstem 90mm length
Extralite streeters skewers
Tubolito road tubes
25c continental gp5000 clincher
Dura-ace 11-34 cassette
Bontrager perf bar tape
Topeak Feza R10 bottle cages

Wheels I have ordered from Light bicycle

Extralite hubs front and rear
Sapim Aluminium nipples
Sapim super cx ray spokes
Light bicycle satin finish 45mm depth rims with graphene breaking surface.

I can't wait till more bits start to arrive, I can then start building this up.

I'm hoping to get the weight down to about 6.4kg. I could go lower if I had chosen shallower section rims, but really wanted something for all occasions not just the hills.

Also I'm still unsure of what to do with crankset as I love the shifting and useability of the shimano and don't want to put that at risk....but I'm open to suggestions!

I could possible get to 6.2kg with a crankset change I think.

Parts are arriving all the time at the moment. So I will weigh up and post pics of them on and off scales.

I hope you all enjoy my updates. I look forward to your comments and recommendations for further weight reductions. I feel I have hit a slippery expensive slope of weight weenism!

Thanks

Matt

[zscs]

Nice bike, I'm sure this is a good candidate to build a WW bike based on it!
I also have an Ultimate CF SL 9.0 eTap (MY2019), except for the wheelset (changed to DT PR1400 21mm Oxic) everything is original on it - so I'm pretty excited to see your progress!

[mmaslen]

So everything has now arrived. With Darimo touching down this afternoon.

Please see everything with weights.

Bontrager bar tape and end caps 66g

Bjorn Setka saddle with 3d printed pad 132g

Extralite Streeter Skewers 29g

Extralite top cap 3g

[mmaslen]

Continued

Extralite hyper stem 90mm 74g

Dura-ace 11-34 cassette 262g

25c continental 5000gp tyres clincher 433g for both

Darimo t2 25mm set back seatpost in UD finish 121g

Darimo ellipse 400mm handlebar in UD finish 135g

Topeak feza R10 carbon bottle cages 20g for both

Wheels yet to arrive, think about another 3 weeks till I see them.

I will see if I can get all the other bits fitted over the weekend and posts some further photos.

And maybe an up to date weight of the bike!

[nickf]

Liking the direction of this build. Careful with those streerer skewers, had 2 of the cam plates developed cracks. Inspect regularly.

[mmaslen]

Thanks for the heads up, will keep an eye on the skewers.

[mmaslen]

Managed to have time to fit the saddle and seat post. Bit of faffing around getting it right, but think it is in the correct place. I can't go and test it out as it's still pouring down with rain.

Also managed to fit the bottle cages as well.

Really pleased with the look alone. I will report back on actual comfort and quality as soon as I can!

Now to find some time to fit the bars and stem....

[mmaslen]

So the bars and stem have now been fitted.

Really happy with the aesthetics so far. Fingers crossed I can get out for a test ride this afternoon.

From a weight perspective, I am so close to the UCI limit. Some great weight saving from where the bike started.

6.82kg. Happy so far! More to come!

[zackus]

nice that you were able to re-allocate the funds to the WW components. So long as you like them and they hold up, you should be able to move those to another bike when the time comes.

[mmaslen]

That was my thinking too. That's why I wanted to buy what I really wanted knowing I could potentially transfer in the future.

[mmaslen]

So the bike has now had a really decent first test ride. I had seen some reports of slipping handlebars and stems involving Darimo and Extralite. But I used the Carbon paste Darimo sent with their components, and I have torqued everything to manufacture recommended levels and everything seems super solid.

I have to commend the saddle. It is so so comfortable, I didn't think my current saddle was especially uncomfortable, but after 1 ride, I'm sold. It was like sitting on a sofa. Works perfectly for me. Hopefully as I ride more and for longer, I don't change my mind or come to regret my comments.

Super impressed with the Darimo Bars and seat post. Fantastic quality and great packaging and instructions.

The bjorn saddle, as mentioned early, looks amazing, quality of workmanship is fantastic, but ultimately what makes it even better is that it is so plush!

Extralite stem looks great, but I'm a little unsure on the longevity of this. The bolts seem very small and not sure it would stand up to being undone and done up too many times before the bolts have in. I might be wrong, but only time will tell.

[zackus]

That's quite high praise for that saddle, and despite it's WW nature, it's not far above the price of the specialized mirror 3d printed saddles. I may have to consider one for the next saddle as the shape looks to be closer to the Specialized Romin shape which is still $450. I currently ride a power mirror, but prior to it was riding on the romin, so this may be next...

[mmaslen]

I would strongly recommend it, although once customs fees are paid, it won't be far off the price of the Romain. But something a bit different. Nice and light too.

[mmaslen]

So the wheels have finally turned up! I changed spec slightly while they were building so set it back a bit.

Light bicycle 45mm rim graphene braking surface

Extralite hubs, and carbon spokes

The pair are 1192g. Super happy with them.

Fitted up with 25mm continental gp5000s, tubolite inner tubes and dura-ace casette

[mmaslen]

All fitted up onto the bike. First ride tomorrow. Too dark to take a picture of the completed bike. But I did get time to weigh it..

6.34kg. Pretty damn happy with that.

First ride tomorrow morning. More photos to follow.