Canyon ultimate cf frame

bukowski102

I know this forum is flooded with canyon questions as they are a
Mail order company so you need to find info but =
I cannot decide between the al and cf frame, I will be
Racing the bike and am swung towards the solidity
Of the aluminium,
is the carbon worth the extra money?

I have a low end Chinese umbranded carbon bike would
The al be an upgrade?

I am 177cm tall with 82 inseam does a
56 ultimate al
54 ultimate cf
Sound right ?

I'm riding a 56 which is tad bit long with seat pushed
Forward a fair bit, 100mm stem, finding it hard to calculate
My geometry as canyon comes with set back seat post...
Thanks to any canyon riders out there!!!

sloppyschleckonds

If racing crits I'd go for an AL, probably 54 or smaller.

crankycrank

I'm not so sure alu is the better choice for racing anymore at least as far as crash worthiness is concerned. Just about any type of damage to CF can be repaired and although not always cheap to repair it's usually much less than the cost of a new frame. If you don't care about aesthetics then your repair will be even less expensive as the work to make the repair invisible is a big chunk of the cost. Alu, once a tube is dented or cracked, it's over and some thin walled tubes can be very fragile.

alijardine

For what it's worth, I went for a fitting/bike sizing and with pretty much your measurements (176cm, 82.5cm), and it was medium for the Ultimate AL, which is the same geometry as the Ultimate CF SLX. When I suggested small, the fitter was adamant it would be too small for most riding (long stem would be required, loads of seat post). He was sure I'd have to use a 110mm stem, rather than the stock 100mm that the compacts ship with.

The ultimate cf has a different geometry though (as you know)

I'm not racing though. Long weekend rides and sportives.

smoggysteve

How soon do you want this bike as its well known that Canyon have a very limited supply left this year and will be no more until next years model is released sometime in September/October time. Maybe get one out the outlet but not alot of variety.

Regards to the difference in the 2, the Carbon is lightyears better than their alloy ones. Not to say the alu is not good its just nowhere near as good as the CF ones.

rando

SmoggySteve wrote:

How soon do you want this bike as its well known that Canyon have a very limited supply left this year and will be no more until next years model is released sometime in September/October time. Maybe get one out the outlet but not alot of variety.

Regards to the difference in the 2, the Carbon is lightyears better than their alloy ones. Not to say the alu is not good its just nowhere near as good as the CF ones.

Why do you say that Canyon Ultimate CF is lightyears better than their alloy? All the test reports and views state the alloy as being at least on par with mid range carbon frames. Or are you saying then that Canyon's CF frames are much better than most mid range carbon from other manufacturers.
I notice you are from Germany so I suspect you have much more exposure to Canyon bikes than we do in the UK and probably interact with real cyclists that have Canyon's in both forms rather than me just reading journalists opinions that have probably not even ridden the bikes.
I am genuinely interested in your views as currently considering another bike and Canyon is on the list but I was leaning more towards the Ultimate AL.

smoggysteve

I know a fair few people who ride them and have ridden both and they tell me. End user will give you better feedback than some test report. I test is maybe a few days, these guys ride them week in week out. I trust their opinions more than a mag or a journo. In my club there must be over a dozen guys riding them, most of them have Canyons or Focus.

rando

Cheers SmoggySteve - very true about the end user giving real feedback about riding bikes in everyday use. So I presume most of your fellow club riders are on carbon bikes. Interesting that Focus is alongside Canyon's in number terms. What about Cube or Rose bikes then with them also being German. Are you not tempted then for a German brand !

smoggysteve

Focus are as common as muck over here. The Cayo is a bloody good bike mind. Not seen many Rose ever in Germany believe it or not. I don't think they actually rate them!! Get a few Cube riders too. I was put off them by 2 Cube Agree owners selling them cos they said they get bad fork vibration. Ghost get a good rep here if anyone owns one.

I have considered a Canyon before but I love my Bianchi's. But, I would go so far as to say Germany are making some of the best bikes you can get right now.

rando

Thanks SmoggySteve for your replies and apologise to the OP for hijacking his thread.