Canyon Ultimate Range - The Ultimate question

gnave

Good evening all, i am rather new to this forum so please be kind with you answers.



I am in the market for a new bike, i received an insurance payout of £3k after an incident i had. i came out without any serious damaged. but the bike , not so much



I am having real difficulty to decide between two canyon models



Ultimate CF SL 9.0 Aero https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road/ultimate/2017/ultimate-cf-sl-9-0-aero.html and the Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road/ultimate/2017/ultimate-cf-slx-9-0.html



I am aware of the frame materials, integrated seat tube and aero cockpit and overall weight that the SLX has and if i am honest its the look of the SLX i love. its looks more clean lines and like a real racing machine.



The Wheels on the SLX are MAVIC COSMIC PRO CARBON and on the SL Aero REYNOLDS STRIKE CARBON. both wheel-set are good, the reynolds are slightly deeper sectioned.



What worries me is not the first cost of the bike, i can handle the extra £1500 for the SLX over the SL. what i am concerned about is the ongoing cost off maintaining a higher end bike. The SLX comes with Dura-Ace 9100, the top end off shimano group set. the SL comes with Ultigra. quick googling for replacement parts for Dura-ace and you can see each part is more the dabble the cost, also not every bike shop has replacement parts for the new dura ace and the knowledge of how to repair/index etc. i am also after a power meter for the new bike and again dura ace compatible power meter is more expansive



So what are your thoughts ? am i being paranoid. will dura ace turns in to a money pit ?



It's important to mention i am not a professional racer i do few sportive a year and long rides in the summer weekends, but at the same time i love quality and perfection.



Thank you in advance

markhewitt1978

Ultegra 11 speed parts are fully compatible with Dura Ace 11 speed so if you need to swap a component out you can use Ultegra. But realistically barring crash damage you're only going to need to do that with the chain and cassette the rest should last almost forever.

keef66

If you can afford it and prefer the looks, go for the SLX. As already suggested the chain and cassette are the only parts you may need to replace in the medium term and you can always choose Ultegra or 105 parts if you want to do it cheaper.

Just keep the chain clean and lubed and replace at 0.75% worn to avoid wearing out the cassette prematurely.

Oh, and brake blocks. The rest should last for years.

sloppyschleckonds

Go with the Dura Ace, and when it arrives sell the cassette/ chain and swap it for a 105, should save £100 or so

lakesluddite

Difficult - one part of me thinks get the best bling you can afford, but part of me thinks go for the SL and use the leftover for clothing/shoes/helmet upgrading. It's a nice dilemma to have, but whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy it no end!

fenix

For the £1500 saving then I'd prob go Ultegra. You won't notice 1500 worth of improvement ultegra to DA.

FWIW I used to use DA but I've gone down a model as they've progressed all of their kit.

Don't be worried about replacing the kit unless you ride all through the winter on the bike or mistreat it. If its a best bike then it will last for years with little replacement needed.

If its your only bike then definitely get the ultegra and buy a winter bike. Or treat yourself to a foreign bike trip.

w00dster

I've got Dura Ace on the good bike, I do about 6500 miles on it, replaced the BB, cassette and chain once. Goes for a service each winter and comes out again late spring. I'd estimate it costs me about £350 per year to maintain it.
Having had Ultegra previously I'd estimate it cost me about £150 to maintain, being one service and replacement parts.
In terms of performance difference, minimal if any. Mine have always been mechanical groupsets, they all just work seamlessly enough. I do think Ultegra is butt ugly though - but that's the only difference in my opinion.
I personally don't have a powermeter, but there are non crank based power meters that may be worth looking at. DC rainmaker is worth a look. Could save you a lot of money and help with your decision.
I would go with the Aero Road, but that just because I think its a great looking bike (apart from the Ultegra!)

BarleyPointer

I would split the difference and go for this...

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road/aeroa ... x-8-0.html or even the next one up with DI2

I have a lower model Aeroad, it came with those mavic wheels. I changed them for full carbon tubs, super light and they made a really good bike into something quite special for me. In my view the Mavics don't belong on a bike like the Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 in that price range.

Any of them will be a really great bike

288GTO

I just ordered a pair of Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 SL's with SRAM ETap that were suppose to be completed by December 19-25. After receiving a PDF receipt I noticed the completion date was April 10-14th
I contacted them via lame ass chat and asked if it was an error. Apparently, it was not. The guy from the chat, Carsten, told me the new date would be mid February and quickly transferred me to Canyon in UK. Michele, a Canyon rep in UK, apologize for the delay and told me she would get back to me, via email, by end of the day. In her email Michele explained to me the new date would me March 30 to April 4th. So we have December 19-25, Mid February, March 30 to April 4th, and April 10-14th. LOL
I told them to go F**k themselves and canceled the order. What a joke!

fenix

TBH if you're in Britain you won't want to be getting the best bike out much earlier than that anyway.

The delays on Canyon have been well documented on here before.

mamba80

Unbelievable that Canyon still post totally unrealistic delivery times.... but tbh their prices are so high now, despite having 2 canyons, i d not look at get another, too expensive for a mail order firm.

so Epic cycles are doing Orbea Orca with e tap, mavic wheels, bike fit etc custom paint and be able to swap parts for £250 approx more than a similar Canyon, big plus is you get to speak to people who know what they r talking about.

fenix

Every time I've ordered a custom steel bike the delivery has been late - from local suppliers too. I always take delivery dates for stuff like this with a pinch of salt.

MBCaad8

mamba80 wrote:

but tbh their prices are so high now, despite having 2 canyons, i d not look at get another, too expensive for a mail order firm.

This - can't see the attraction anymore. Shame I missed the boat, but then if I hadn't I'd probably still be waiting.

teebs_123

MBCaad8 wrote:

mamba80 wrote:

but tbh their prices are so high now, despite having 2 canyons, i d not look at get another, too expensive for a mail order firm.

This - can't see the attraction anymore. Shame I missed the boat, but then if I hadn't I'd probably still be waiting.

Completely agree. Higher prices combined with poor communication on delivery dates and no local support for issues is a recipe for disaster.
I'm sure their frames are great, but I don't see much advantage over Giant/Trek/Cannondale et al.

jdee84

Teebs_123 wrote:

MBCaad8 wrote:

mamba80 wrote:

but tbh their prices are so high now, despite having 2 canyons, i d not look at get another, too expensive for a mail order firm.

This - can't see the attraction anymore. Shame I missed the boat, but then if I hadn't I'd probably still be waiting.

Completely agree. Higher prices combined with poor communication on delivery dates and no local support for issues is a recipe for disaster.
I'm sure their frames are great, but I don't see much advantage over Giant/Trek/Cannondale et al.

Good point! Canyon were already taking advantage this time last year by charging about £200 more if buying in sterling than
they were charging if buying from a country using the euro, i d imagine that's gotten worse since the fall in the value of sterling post brexit vote. Giant/Trek/Cannondale/Specialized can generally be had with some sort of mid season discount for around the same price or less for a similar spec

diamonddog

Mine arrived within 10/11 days from stock a couple of years ago but TBH I wouldn't consider ordering now with all the problems they are having. There are loads of good bikes out there at better prices and IME for all the so called r&d that is talked about the differences in frame quality nowadays is minimal.

teebs_123

jdee84 wrote:

Teebs_123 wrote:

MBCaad8 wrote:

mamba80 wrote:

but tbh their prices are so high now, despite having 2 canyons, i d not look at get another, too expensive for a mail order firm.

This - can't see the attraction anymore. Shame I missed the boat, but then if I hadn't I'd probably still be waiting.

Completely agree. Higher prices combined with poor communication on delivery dates and no local support for issues is a recipe for disaster.
I'm sure their frames are great, but I don't see much advantage over Giant/Trek/Cannondale et al.

Good point! Canyon were already taking advantage this time last year by charging about £200 more if buying in sterling than
they were charging if buying from a country using the euro, i d imagine that's gotten worse since the fall in the value of sterling post brexit vote. Giant/Trek/Cannondale/Specialized can generally be had with some sort of mid season discount for around the same price or less for a similar spec

By shopping around, I built a Trek Emonda Sl8 with di2 & Chris King/Archetype wheels for £3k. Built by a local shop.

288GTO

Im actually USA based but had the bike destined to a friend in Mexico. In terms of price nothing high quality comes close to the Canyon's I had ordered. My bikes, two Ultimate CF SLX's, had specs like SRAM Etap (well over $3k here), Mavic Ksyrium Pro Exailth SL ($1800 value), and of course the frame/fork/saddle/seatpost. The bike with the US Dollar exchange rate came out to $4750!! The cheapest bike available here with Sram Etap is a Giant TCR or Cannondale SS Evo which cost north of $8K. Specialized Tarmac S-Works is $9500. Trek Emonda over $10K.

gnave

I did a fair amount of research and found that even with the higher price Canyon is charging. the SLX deal is still a very good one. That id you try to buy each part of the bike separately and assemble yourself.

With regards to delivery times. its winter anyways so no rush.

stueys

As everyone has said, the cost of maintaining Dura over ultegra is non-existent. I run dura on my nice bike and do what everyone else does, put an ultegra cassette on the back.

Re Canyon I ordered a canyon ultimate cf six a few years ago and it was a great bike for the money. The recent price hikes have killed off the bulk of that advantage. I ordered a road lite al for the misuses that arrived two weeks ago, that was a birthday present and Canyon managed to commit to one delivery date (which I reconfirmed with them four weeks before the bike was due) to then tell me (once the delivery date had been missed by 3 days and I chased) that in fact the bike was going to be another 5 weeks. They have appear to have zero control over their supply chain, it's beyond annoying. Having said that the bike quality is good.

I'd probably look locally now, they make good bikes but dealing with them is a pain, I suspect a problem with the bike that required a return would be a complete nightmare and you aren't saving much to warrant that overhead.

dastott

The cheaper Aero SL bike will probably be marginally quicker. Why not go for the Aeroad instead? About a year ago I seriously considered the Ultimate SLX but managed to find a Cannondale Super Six Evo Hi-Mod for slightly less money and much shorter delivery time. Considering Giant make the Canyons and they aren't so cheap anymore, I would also look into a Giant TCR or Propel. Both lovely bikes.

Eittch

I own an Ultimate CF SLX now and am absolutely happy with it. Canyon indeed has a strange way of doing business, that's for sure. I ordered it (to be send to Germany, so not far from the HQ in Koblenz) and got end of November as the expected delivery. After a couple of weeks they changed the delivery date to January which I thought was annoying but then again: its winter... When I called them they said that this date won't change anymore. A couple of hours (!) later I got a mail that my bike had been shipped and it arrived in perfect condition a day later.

My conclusion: Canyon does great work (quality-wise the bike is top notch and the customer service was very, very friendly) but for some reason they want to conceal this... Honestly, they still seem to have a huge IT issue, but if you do not need your new bike to arrive at a specific date, it should not matter that much...