My New Summer Ride Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Ui2 2013

look565wong

Hello Fellow Members,

I just want to show a few quick photos of my new ride, a present from my good wife!

2013 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Ui2
Size Small
Stock item from Canyon except for the following upgrade:
Ritchey Classic Bend Alloy Bars
Fizik Arione CX Carbon Braided Saddle
Rotor 3D+ Crank-set with Rotor Ceramic BB Bearings
Fast Forward F2R Full Carbon Tubular Wheelset with Vittoria Corsa CX Tubs
Dura Ace 7900 12-25 Cassette
Dura Ace 10s Chain

Total Weight with above on cheap Digital Scale 6190g (13.65lb)

Sram Garmin Mount
Look Keo Max Carbon Pedals
Look Carbon Bottle Cage

Its been a long time coming, I ordered it back in late November. So thats more than 5 months wait. Its the longest I've had to wait for any thing. Is it worth it? Yes, I think so (so far). I cannot say for sure yet as I've yet to ride it even though I got it delivered 2 weeks ago but first impression its extremely positive. Had to wait on the parts & LBS to sort the BB & cranks out first hence the delay in getting it ready.
Just on the looks, I think its great. It has massive squarish down tube with quite a beefy BB area as you would expect from modern carbon bike these days. Coming off a Look 565 lugged carbon frame, this certainly looks more "modern" and "purposeful".

I'll try to get a few ride first before I can give my opinion on how the bike ride, hopefully thats sooner rather than later!

Here's some images of the bike:


Untitled by look565w, on Flickr


Untitled by look565w, on Flickr


Untitled by look565w, on Flickr

The last 2 images in the set show the internal battery thats hidden inside the lower part of the down tube with an access at the bottom of the BB area ..... neat & clever me think!

Here's the link to all the images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55693145@N ... 725886547/

Hope you like it!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

BianchiBiker

Blimey that is a good looking bike there mate!

look565wong

Thanks BiachiBiker, for the compliment! I couldn't agree more my self ;-)

Bagggers

K-edge and Garmin 500 finishes it off nicely. Very nice ride.

Coudy

Beautiful. :-)

declan1

That looks awesome!

Philly8mt

Very nice .... She's a good girl!

Skerryman

Beautiful looking machine, looks fast just standing there. Enjoy !!

stan1000

Fantastic photos, enjoy!

There's no way I'm cancelling my order now!

Crozza

Wow

Might be time to upgrade the garden fence :P

metronome

Very nice

Haven't seen an internal Ui2 battery like that. Do you remove the battery to charge it or is there a mini USB charge point on the cockpit, like the 9070 ?

Cheers

roadiemk

Very nice bike :-). Love the stealth sleek look.
I too am becoming tempted to purchase one of these beauties.

look565wong

Thank you chaps for the kind words, really appreciated!

Crozza, I know my priorities are completely wrong - too much money & time on bikes & not enough on garden duties!

Metronome, yes, the battery charge is done via a tiny USB port on the junction box mounted underneath the stem! I was informed when I ordered the bike that the battery was externally mounted under the left side chain stay.
So, this came as a very pleasant surprise when I got the bike!

Go on Roadiemk, you'll love it!

The weather today have been pi**, so didn't get a chance to ride it, and tomorrow will be riding my Ti bike. So afraid my views on how the bike ride will be later.......boo!

Thanks again!

metronome

Look565wong wrote:

Metronome, yes, the battery charge is done via a tiny USB port on the junction box mounted underneath the stem! I was informed when I ordered the bike that the battery was externally mounted under the left side chain stay.
So, this came as a very pleasant surprise when I got the bike!

That's awesome. Far neater solution. So is it the new 9070 internal seat post battery, but instead located / accessible via the BB area? Be very interested to see some shots of the battery and the slot next time you get the camera out

look565wong

Metronome,

To be honest, I've not actually physically seen the battery inside the down tube. When I took the original Ultegra Chainset off, the Shimano Pressfit BB which had a sleeve inside so can't see right through up the tube. I'm guessing it's the new version of the battery for the seat post as you said but just mounted inside the DT.
The last 2 images in the Flickr set did show the access point for the battery if you want to refer to it.

Cheers

sloppyschleckonds

Looks really really nice, Rotor cranks look superb also. I read somewhere that Probikkit have an offer on the red/black garmins

awsm

Looks great. But how does it ride? :shock:

canny_lad

awsm wrote:

Looks great. But how does it ride? :shock:

^^ This. Get it ridden FFS

RideOnTime

Nice bike...

look565wong

^^ This. Get it ridden FFS

Believe me, I DO want to ride it. But the weathers just been awful - its Scotland after all!

I was doing a hilly century ride yesterday, so I really don't want to given that its a completely new bike & I've yet to dial in all the set-up! I'll go for a wee run during the week to test everything (weather permitting) & hopefully go on a long Clubroom this Sunday, fingers crossed! :roll:

I suppose I've waited 5 months for it, what's a few more days!

Many Thanks

Supergoose

Nice bike Mister!

look565wong

Thanks Supergoose!

Crozza

Look565wong wrote:

Crozza, I know my priorities are completely wrong - too much money & time on bikes & not enough on garden duties!

you've got it wrong - I am not worried about the state of your garden, I am worried about the level of security you have around that bike

spasypaddy

nice bottle cage!

Uncleiven

You need the Black/Red 500 :-p

look565wong

Hi there,

I have finally managed to get out and ride my new bike yesterday, be it only for a short 15 miles round the block!

Before I start on this initial mini report I'm going to say that these are my opinions, views & feelings only (I'm not a bike review expert, just a club cyclist who likes to ride & have done so for 8 years) of this CF SLX. So be warned that there's going to be a lot of cliches & familiar terms to describe this!

For the purpose of reference & compare, this is my 4th road bike to date. I'm 170cm tall & weight 10 stone exact, I like climbing (but not very good at it) & hopeless at TT (only ever done 2 in my cycling life) :roll:
I started out on a (1) Aluminum Trek 1400 (2004) with Shimano & stock component, then (2) a carbon lug construction Look 565 with full Campagnolo Record & carbon tubular Corimas, the (3rd) being a titanium Van Nicholas Chinook with mix Campagnolo grouppo on Fulrum Racing 5s (my current winter hack). As with everything in life, they all have good points & bad points. They are all different bikes & have different characters I suppose!

So, I've had a few different ride in my time & as you can see - every new bike I buy, I tend to buy something different from what I've had before just to make things interesting & fresh.
But personally speaking, this Canyon is a radical departure for me! You see, I had vow never to buy a carbon frame thats not lugged constructed (a Parlee, Colnago etc was my wish list) & when the Di2 & EPS came out I dismiss the product as a gimmick. I also detest the very fact that it needs a battery on a human power machine, in my view it really defeats the fundamental idea/beauty of the bicycle!
What has changed then?
Well, I don't really know. I suppose my views on the above have changed through time, a mid-life crisis maybe or was it just that the Canyon represent such a value for money buy (even with-out any proper ride report) that I have to give it a go?

But what ever the reason is, I think I've made a great choice!

First of all, personally I really dig the look of the frame. Its well proportioned even though with a mix of large diameter head & down tubes coupled with very slender seat stays which some times can create an in-balance look to the frame. But for this Canyon, I think its done a good job in the aesthetic department!
Pardon my emphasis on the looks, but its important to me as to how a bike looks as well since I'm a designer by training & trade.

O.K then, the ride!
My initial feeling of the Canyon even after the short ride, is that this is a completely different beast all together compare to what I had before.
It's lighter than the Look 565 (the lightest bike), therefore it climbs really well (only short climbs so far) thanks no doubt to the weight, also the BB area is stiffer & chunky chain-stays makes the bike very good at acceleration. I'm not sure how much thats also down to the Rotor cranks & Fast Forward carbon wheels. But nevertheless, its a really stiff combo for me anyway.
One really noticeable difference is the front end, again compare to the Look, this Canyon is much stiffer & secure. Of all the bikes, the Van Nicholas was the best to descend on especially since I changed the fork to a Easton EC90 SL. The Look I always felt slightly "vague" when going fast down hill (maybe its just me). So far, for me the Canyon scores high in this area also!
Not haven ridden a carbon bike for a while (last September), this certainly feel fresh in that when riding the Van Nic going over rough grounds or small pot holes I would feel a solid "thud-thud" coming through, where as the Canyon- its more like repeat "cracks" if you understand what I mean? :?: I don't know if this is going to be comfortable on a really long ride, only time will tell. But It's certainly different even to my Look!

Shimano Ui2
I had to get use to a few things about the Ui2 gears on the bike. I found my self wanting to push the "thumb" paddle (Campagnolo changing to smaller sprocket) initially but after a few miles I had already gotten more use to just using the index finger to change gears. But changing is a lot "easier" but so far not intuitive though, just like clicking a computer mouse! Is that good or bad? I don't know yet. Sometimes I have to look just to make sure I've done so just because its so quick & easy. Hopefully I'll get use to it after a while. I also like the ergonomics of the hoods, it fits my not so big hands perfectly & also the brake/gear lever reach as well! It's certainly looks a lot better than the previous designs that was bulbous & huge which kind of put me off Shimano in those days.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with this & I can't wait to go on a long run tomorrow!

Anyway, I hope I wasn't too long winded even for an initial short ride report but I'm just so excited about this new bike thats all! :P

Thanks for reading, cheers for now!

rc856

Look565wong wrote:

10 stone exact, I like climbing (but not very good at it)

Lies! All lies!!! I've seen your 10stone frame disappear up hills many a time and I don't think I'm THAT bad

Nice review by the way