canyon bikes - how much do you actually save?

le_boss

Was just wondering how much you save by buying direct from canyon? Are their bikes really as good as they claim?

How do the frames compare to other top end frames?
Take the Ultimate CF SLX, until recently Canyon had the frameset priced at at £1700 (i cant seem to find it on their website since they have upped all the prices). So how does the frame compare to others in that category? Stiffer? Lighter? Is it better value for money?

Has anyone actually received the Ultimate CF 2014 yet? (cant find any reviews online even though it has, according to Canyon, been shipped from the start of October)

Any views/advice would be appreciated

diamonddog

There is one here.
viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12945477

le_boss

diamonddog wrote:

There is one here.
viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12945477

Thats the Ultimate SLX, not the new 2014 Ultimate CF version.

diamonddog

Oops.

look565wong

Hi Le_boss,

My view is that its actually quite hard to answer your question "How much do you actually save" by buying Canyon.

For a start Canyon ONLY sell through their web-site, so that means its the only way to buy a new Canyon!

In terms of comparing to other brands, is it better value? Again it's hard to quantify since no bikes can be the same, they are similar bike but not 100% identical.
I have a Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013, I had several "choices" before I decided on this particular bike. They were as follow:
Cannondale Super 6 Evo
Cervelo R5
Parlee Z5
Colnago C59
& of course the Canyon

The criteria for choosing my then new bike was as follows (in order of importance)
1 Budget (Even thought my wife paid for it)
2 Comfort
3 Weight

If cost was not an issue, then I would be riding a Parlee now!

I did some research on all the above bikes before going for the Canyon. Basically most of these frames weight around the 800-900g mark and according to reviews are said to be stiff & light with good comfort properties (maybe some more than the other).
In the end, I choose the Canyon because for £2800 I got a complete bike with Ultegra Di2 & really good Mavic wheels. For that money, I can only get a frame-set with some of the above choice. 1 or 2 will allow me some spare cash to spend on group-set or wheels but not the whole bike. So, given all the reasons I went for the Canyon due to cost. Thats not to say I don't like the bike. In fact I love it! Even-though I've only had it for 5 months.

I don't ride it enough but I look forward to riding it every time we get good weather. It is my summer bike after all.

Hope that helps!

From a happy Canyon owner

Cheers

Bar Shaker

The frames are good. They are stiff and they are light. They aren't the lightest (but are good) and aren't the stiffest (but are very comfortable) but the SLX is a good balance.

The only thing that stopped me buying one was the lack of LBS back up.

Whether it is right for you will, depend on where your priorities lie. If you want something which is in stock at a dealer and has his customer service back up you will have to factor in about 10% for a dealer margin (after haggling).

There are quite a few very comparable bikes but all are slightly more expensive so if you can live with the lack of dealer network, you will not be disappointed with the Canyon.

le_boss

Look565wong wrote:

Hi Le_boss,

My view is that its actually quite hard to answer your question "How much do you actually save" by buying Canyon.

For a start Canyon ONLY sell through their web-site, so that means its the only way to buy a new Canyon!

In terms of comparing to other brands, is it better value? Again it's hard to quantify since no bikes can be the same, they are similar bike but not 100% identical.
I have a Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013, I had several "choices" before I decided on this particular bike. They were as follow:
Cannondale Super 6 Evo
Cervelo R5
Parlee Z5
Colnago C59
& of course the Canyon

The criteria for choosing my then new bike was as follows (in order of importance)
1 Budget (Even thought my wife paid for it)
2 Comfort
3 Weight

If cost was not an issue, then I would be riding a Parlee now!

I did some research on all the above bikes before going for the Canyon. Basically most of these frames weight around the 800-900g mark and according to reviews are said to be stiff & light with good comfort properties (maybe some more than the other).
In the end, I choose the Canyon because for £2800 I got a complete bike with Ultegra Di2 & really good Mavic wheels. For that money, I can only get a frame-set with some of the above choice. 1 or 2 will allow me some spare cash to spend on group-set or wheels but not the whole bike. So, given all the reasons I went for the Canyon due to cost. Thats not to say I don't like the bike. In fact I love it! Even-though I've only had it for 5 months.

I don't ride it enough but I look forward to riding it every time we get good weather. It is my summer bike after all.

Hope that helps!

From a happy Canyon owner

Cheers

Thanks for the replies, exactly what i was looking for!

The main reason i have held back ordering is the delay in expected delivery.
Seems to be getting ever longer as well : (

The spec seems to be excellent value, my main query was whether the frames were as good as Canyon claim.
So really appreciate your feedback.

look565wong

Le_boss,

I posted a wee report earlier on my Canyon:

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12921363

Enjoy!

Cheers

sloppyschleckonds

Bar Shaker wrote:

The frames are good. They are stiff and they are light. They aren't the lightest (but are good) and aren't the stiffest (but are very comfortable) but the SLX is a good balance.

At 790 grams how many pro tour level frames are lighter?

You sound like you've read too many reviews and never ridden the CF SLX.

navrig

le_boss wrote:

Look565wong wrote:

Hi Le_boss,

My view is that its actually quite hard to answer your question "How much do you actually save" by buying Canyon.

For a start Canyon ONLY sell through their web-site, so that means its the only way to buy a new Canyon!

In terms of comparing to other brands, is it better value? Again it's hard to quantify since no bikes can be the same, they are similar bike but not 100% identical.
I have a Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013, I had several "choices" before I decided on this particular bike. They were as follow:
Cannondale Super 6 Evo
Cervelo R5
Parlee Z5
Colnago C59
& of course the Canyon

The criteria for choosing my then new bike was as follows (in order of importance)
1 Budget (Even thought my wife paid for it)
2 Comfort
3 Weight

If cost was not an issue, then I would be riding a Parlee now!

I did some research on all the above bikes before going for the Canyon. Basically most of these frames weight around the 800-900g mark and according to reviews are said to be stiff & light with good comfort properties (maybe some more than the other).
In the end, I choose the Canyon because for £2800 I got a complete bike with Ultegra Di2 & really good Mavic wheels. For that money, I can only get a frame-set with some of the above choice. 1 or 2 will allow me some spare cash to spend on group-set or wheels but not the whole bike. So, given all the reasons I went for the Canyon due to cost. Thats not to say I don't like the bike. In fact I love it! Even-though I've only had it for 5 months.

I don't ride it enough but I look forward to riding it every time we get good weather. It is my summer bike after all.

Hope that helps!

From a happy Canyon owner

Cheers

Thanks for the replies, exactly what i was looking for!

The main reason i have held back ordering is the delay in expected delivery.
Seems to be getting ever longer as well : (

The spec seems to be excellent value, my main query was whether the frames were as good as Canyon claim.
So really appreciate your feedback.

I've not ridden a Canyon, in fact I have only ever ridden one CF bike, my Ribble Gran Fondo, so I am pretty ignorant on franes etc. However I do get the impression that there could be a bit of very clever marketing going on withy Canyon.... sell your frames as top end, clever marketing on your website and then keep supply tight and delivery slow just to make demand increase...

Most other suppliers can keep up with demand why can't Canyon?

mattbass789

Read the bit on their website about their business model.

But they get great reviews, they are excellently spec'd, no other bikes compare at each given price point. I don't really know what is gained by buying from a LBS unless they have the bike you want, at a competitive price. Which IME most don't.

graemeho

i have had a 2013 SLX ( after a long long wait through the summer) and have also riden some of the other bikes mentioned. Can confirm that the SLX is as stiff and probably more comfortable than most of them. Its also incredibly light. So if it fits you ( its somewhere between agggressive racer and sportive bike n set up). If you do not need the security of a local bike shop to do minor maintenance / setup , then you get a great quality bike at a nice price.

Thats not the end of the story, i spotted a fault on my bike after 2 rides and canyon were fantastic. One photo and the offer of an exchange bike was made within 24 hours. No quibbles. Sadly they had sold out on my model at the end of last year , so they simply picked up the bike and refunded all the money along with a small gesture of goodwill. Handled the situation exceptionally well. I will soon receive my replacement from the 2014 production run. The guys in the UK were great, explaining how their production process works. Frankly a combination of way more volume than they expected and a few early yeild issues meant that they could never catch up with production capacity in 2013. This made absolute sense to me with their JIT / small batch manufacturing approach.

So in summary, the bike is great. The folks in the UK are also super. They have put their prices up in 2014 as word spreads. No suprise there!!
Reflecting on last years production issues ... I do wonder ( and this is complete speculation) if the sl range is simply slx's that do not pass the frame manufacturers SLX QC for weight and / or stiffness. Looking at the SL 9.0 vs the SLX 7.0 the difference in quoted weight netting off the different wheels, makes me think that the frame weight may be much closer than their marketing dept. indicate in the collateral. so that may be the best deal going, especially if you are thinking of future upgrades

Hope that helps.

remirom

Came across this topic,

Now, I have already recieved en riden the new canyon ultimate cf sl 2014 frame , I've ordered myself the canyon ultimate cf sl 8,0 (campa athena groupset) .

Now for starting, it's not my first canyon, I already have a canyon grand canyon 29er and wanted to upgrade my racebike. With a budget around 2000 euro , canyon seems to give the best bang for the buck but that is not the only reason why I bought a canyon again.

- I ' ve seen the SLX frames (the SL frame exactly the same but another carbonfibre) and they are beautifull, no extreem oversized tubes or bended tubes etc... just a plane perfectly finished carbonfibre frame.
- About the finishing, canyon, even they send it to you in a box, the finishing is perfect, the protectionstickers are perfectly placed, everything is mounted perfectly, even the bolts for your cupholders are greased a litle bit.
- about the frames, in almost everything canyon makes, they score very good in tests, canyon bikes are not just some no name taiwan frames with a sticker on it, they are engineered very good.

About the ride
the bike feels very stiff, every stroke on your pedals is going the full 100% into speed, also there is a good level of comfort on the bike (remark, using my neutron wheels and nog the standard mounted mavic wheels) , I have the standard cf vcls seatpost 1,0 (not the 2,0) . I live in Flanders (flamish ardens) , around my neighbourhood there are lots of cobblestones and climbs, on both the bike has proven to be very good , at least untill now because the bike only had about three intensice testruns.

Final remark, all repairs needed on the bike are done by myself

picture
http://users.telenet.be/rombaft/cany1.jpg

look565wong

Remirom,

You have a cracking looking CF SL! Surely it deserves more picture ............ Please!

Cheers

Bar Shaker

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Bar Shaker wrote:

The frames are good. They are stiff and they are light. They aren't the lightest (but are good) and aren't the stiffest (but are very comfortable) but the SLX is a good balance.

At 790 grams how many pro tour level frames are lighter?

You sound like you've read too many reviews and never ridden the CF SLX.

I have ridden a 2013 SLX and I really liked it. One of my friends has one, another friend has ordered a 2014 SLX. But then I have yet to find a frame in this price break that I haven't liked. None stand out from the others, they are all good, as you would expect at £3k.

There are 3 factors in any frame, lightness-stiffness-budget. You can have two with the third working against you. Canyon have not somehow re-invented carbon material technology. Their frame is a good balance though, as I said above. My SLR is stiffer, to the point of being much less comfortable on poor surfaces, but the frame is 60g heavier. Frame costs are about the same and they may well be made in the same factory, some have said they are.

For frames that are lighter, there is the SuperSix Evo Nano, Cervelo R5CA, Scott addict SL and the Madone 7. All of these come in at around 1kg with the forks and dropout! The Addict SL is under 1kg but is a £7k bike.

Another bike in the SLX category is the SuperSix Evo (non Nano). Very similar frame spec to the SLX and my SLR, but more expensive in the same bike spec. That will be down to 'Dales distribution network. Any of these frames can be sub 5.5kg bikes if you load them up with DA/Red and carbon rims. My whole bike including two cages and XTR pedals rocks up at 6.8kg, that's good enough for me.

You need to be spending twice the money for a frame to be even lighter (Scott Addict is the lightest I know of), but I think most frame makers are now seeing that going below the 800g mark quickly becomes counter productive. A few frame makers are going back towards 1kg, as the stiffness is more important that the lightness, when talking of such small differences.

The SLX is a really good bike but like all of them in this category, they are very well made using the latest FEA techniques for BB shapes etc but aren't what you could call 'game changing'.

gsk82

I got an ultimate cf slx with sram red and mavic r-sys sl wheels in 2012. I know the prices have gone up since then but for £3200 I got a bike that was comparable and in many cases superior to cannondale, specialized, trek etc costing £2000 more. No problems with delivery or communication, had it within a week. But as I say this was 2012