Canyon announce new Speedmax Disc UCI legal TT bike

Canyon has announced a brand-new UCI legal version of its recently updated Speedmax model ahead of the upcoming Giro d’Italia. Canyon has constructed no apologizes with this bike, provide the CFR( Canyon Factory Racing) level spec simply and simply with disc brakes. This bike is clearly all about travelling fast, with rate and mode options well down the listing in terms of importance. Oh, and let’s hope you craved black, as that’s the only colour option.

The Canyon Speedmax has become somewhat of an icon in the time trial arena over the past decade, exploiting Canyon’s immense array of construct options with a price point for almost any rider. Canyon updated the triathlon-specific Speedmax in November 2020, introducing a brand-new disc-only frame with big tubing profiles, a fork wide enough to double up as a picnic table, integrated aero barrooms with a mono riser and one-piece extensions. The bicycle appeared fast without even moving. But it wasn’t UCI legal.

One spec level, one colour, one focus; acceleration for UCI time trialsThe triathlon Speedmax CFR Disc Di2 launched last November

Around the same time, the UCI loosened the regulatory environment on frame design for road racing and occasion experiments. That combining of a brand-new triathlon motorcycle and loosened regulations generated a breeding grounds for supposition and rumours about a forthcoming Canyon UCI legal hour trial bicycle. Fast forward to the Tour de Romandie, and we caught our first glimpse of this new bike under Team Movistar’s GC contender Marc Soler.

Canyon has now confirmed that brand-new bicycle, which will formally debut at the Giro d’Italia prologue. The CFR TT is only available in one body-build kit featuring payment constituents throughout. That includes Zipp wheels and barroom expansions, 1X SRAM Red Etap AXS groupset, Continental tyres, and Ceramic Speed pulley wheels. All in the new bike rates a cool PS10, 799. So what’s it all about?

New frame

The new frame, unsurprisingly, has a striking resemblance to the triathlon Speedmax announced last November. The horizontal top tubing, deep profiled front forks and dropped seat stays all appear the same on first impressions but the frame does have some noticeable differences to comply with UCI regulations.

Annemiek van Vleuten aero testing her brand-new CFR TT at the track in Alkmaar velodrome and gale passageway last week.

Let’s start with those UCI regulations. The brand-new regs allow for increased tube profile section, which has allowed Canyon to increase the forking profundity, chief tube depth and possibly some other aspects unseen in the press release photos. But despite much hypothesi, Canyon has not opted to relocate the seat post or even retain some of the features of the old-time Speedmax.

One such aspect is the so-called compensation triangle at the seat tube to top tube interface. If we cast our minds back to the outgoing Speedmax and its large-scale triangle in this area and compare it to the new frame, it does away with this feature.

Similarly, if we look at the seat tube, sole bracket, and down tube junction, Canyon has opted to leave this fairly standard appearing relative to other modern TT bikes. This is in stark comparison to the triathlon frame, where Canyon has enlarged this area so much it has a built-in toolbox. This will be due to the UCI regulations restriction the dimensions of this part of the frame, but Canyon seems to have forgone the opportunity to get creative with water bottle placement to smooth out this area further, as ensure on the Cervelo P5.

The seat stays are another area with noticeable differences from the outgoing Speedmax. Where previously the seat remains extended out from the compensation triangle mentioned above and gradually flared out to the rear hub, the brand-new motorcycle seems to feature a more pronounced detachment from the seat post creating a wider and straighter path to the rear end.

As mentioned many times, this is a feature we are seeing more frequently in modern aero frame designing and the CFR TT’s seat remains are far from the widest even on the road.

Dropped and widened bench bides, the brand-new normal?

Moving now to the front end, Canyon seems to have mixed a number of aspects of the brand-new triathlon frame and outgoing UCI legal Speedmax.

The front forks are perhaps the most striking visual element of the brand-new bike and although similar to those on the triathlon version of the Speedmax, the forking on this UCI legal rig is not quite as profoundly shaped or as wide.

Undoubtedly the new forks are made possible thanks to the recent relaxation in UCI regulations on bike intend. The forking aspects a super-thin frontal area paired to a super-deep profile which Canyon say is” sculpted for maximum aerodynamic concert .” In fact, just as it did with the frame, Canyon turned to its aero spouse SwissSide to shape and test the brand-new UCI-legal fork use CFD.

Interestingly the fork also includes a shield( speak fairing, for anyone who is not a UCI commissaire) built into the front fork to integrate the front disc calliper. Nonetheless, likewise missing from the tri bike setup is the air channelling gulley moving between the forking and the tyre and conducting onto the down tube of the frame. Most likely another casualty of UCI regulations.

Just as with the outgoing Speedmax and the triathlon-specific bike, the integrated fork extends the duration of the frame’s head tube and effectively increases the front end’s aero profile without falling fouled of UCI regulations.

That fork is wide enough to be mistaken for a misplaced bench tubing.

Discs

The inclusion of disc brakes will come as no surprise to most of us, period trialling is the last of the rim brake strongholds, but the switch wholly to disc brakes seems imminent even here. This is partly due to increased development going into disc brake wheels, and I suspect partly also due to the efficiencies for world tour teams and mechanics in having simply one braking system.

Rim brakes are said to be more aerodynamic, so in a discipline where every second counts, there may be some lingering reluctance to build the be changed to discs. Nonetheless, with most development now going into disc brake frames and wheels, many rim brake TT systems are in danger of being left behind.

This mismatch in development resources has many questioning if modern discs experiment much closer or even better in areas of aerodynamics to that of somewhat older rim brake systems. The differences in setup requirements and that advancement in designing intend it is virtually impossible to compare apple to apples with rim and disc setups.

With an integrated cockpit, that big front fork, and disc brakes, the front end of the brand-new CFR TT is incredibly sleek.

One fact that is worth considering is the lower yaw angles generally experienced at day trialling velocities, which will reduce any aero penalty from moving discs. Coupled with the often more technically challenging tracks the WorldTour pros race on and disc brakes start making a bit more sense. Integrated TT rim brake setups are notoriously poor, so this is one area where the performance benefits of disc brakes is surely beyond doubt.

Most time trials I compete in personally are on” out and back” drag piece style tracks with little or no requirement for braking, in this scenario I would prefer to stick with rim brakes but the pros rarely tackle such straightforward courses.

Never the less, Canyon does seem keen to address the aero question marks with disc setups with that “shield” on the front fork. However, unlike the BMC TM0 1 disc, which has the disc callipers obscured both front and rear, the brand-new Canyon appears to have the rear callipers similarly exposed to those of a standard road bike.

Cockpit

The new Speedmax got its firstly outing under Marc soler of Team Movistar at last week’s Tour de Romandie. Soler was using what appeared to be aftermarket carbon aero expansions which are increasingly more popular with day test addicts and World Tour pros alike.

Unsurprisingly these aftermarket extensions do not feature on the final Speedmax CFR TT spec sheet. It’s not all bad news, though, as Canyon has included the ultra-high-end Zipp Vuka Shift AXS 90 expansions with integrated AXS Clics and “brains”.

Somewhat disappointingly, given the level of integration of the expansions and the wireless groupset, the two wires from the Vuka Shift extensions to the brake levers route externally behind the risers and into the base bar.

Zipp Vuka Shift AXS 90 expansions add another level of integrationThe mono-riser on the tri bicycle offerings further integration and easier readjustment

Perhaps more disappointingly is the shift from the mono-riser setup found on the triathlon Speedmax to the more traditional twin riser setup on the UCI legal bicycle. The mono-riser configuration is presumably slightly more aerodynamic and gives much easier height adjustment for the shoulder remainder. The triathlon-specific bars also feature two-bolt adjustable reach and angle for the expansions, a system we like.

Again, Canyon designers most probably had their hands forced on this decision. Even with the loosened UCI regulations, the spacers under the mono-riser at 90 mm x 25 mm would miscarry a UCI 3:1 characteristic rate inspection. Nevertheless, we wish Canyon had developed a UCI legal version of its mono-riser setup and instead of opting for what appears to be a somewhat updating report of its H33 base bar.

Running gear

Canyon has equipped the CFR TT disc with unquestionably fast and uber desirable Zipp Super 9 backside disc and front 808 Firecrest tubeless-ready wheels. I like this decision which is a change from standards and norms with many TT bikes delivered with mid-deep depth wheels, which do give more versatility but typically get swapped out for a rear disc by most serious time trialists.

The decision to equip the motorcycle with a true time trial wheel setup makes more sense here, given that many potential customers will be stimulating the leap from rim brake TT bikes to disc brake rigs for the first time.

Those wheels get wrapped with the ever-popular Continental GP5 000 tyres. Another solid option, but perhaps astonishingly not the tubeless option.

A SRAM Red Etap AXS 12 quicken groupset takes care of shifting and braking. Anyone who has ever built or serviced a day experiment bicycle will undoubtedly be delighted to see the wireless setup as the only option.

A SRAM Red Etap AXS groupset offers easier integrating but perhaps less optimisation alternatives in a highly optimisation dependent discipline.

However, marginal gains and time experiment aficionadoes may be less delighted given the comparatively small 50 t chainring and ten tooth sprockets, which can’t match the efficiency gains of a much larger chainring. We often ascertain occasion experiment equestrians now opt for 58 tooth chainrings, which in turn signifies use bigger sprockets on the rear for a double whammy of lessened articulation and increased drivetrain efficiency.

Although SRAM now offers larger chainring combinings right up to a 56, it’s not just as inexpensive or straightforward as swapping out a standard chainring. The resounds equipped as standard on the CFR TT disc and the larger options from SRAM both include the built-in power meter, so unless you can find a store willing to swap, this likely means a costly upgrade to an already costly component. Also, don’t forget to factor in a front derailleur as “the worlds largest” chainrings are currently merely offered as a 2x setup.

The marginal gainers will be pleased by the rear derailleur, though, as the motorcycle gets a Ceramic Speed OSPW as standard, one less aftermarket upgrade to contemplate.

Another angle of those Zipp Vuka Shift extensions

Does triathlon now own period trialling?

All in all, the brand-new Canyon CFR TT looks a lot like one seriously fast bicycle that I’d enjoy tackling a few time trials aboard, but it does seem very much a little sibling to the triathlon-specific bike. Again I want to stress: I don’t see that as a mistake of Canyon’s, rather a knock-on effect of the strict UCI regulations.

It seems to me that the UCI governs are so restrictive compared to what is achievable with a modern TT/ Tri bike it is now to the detriment of time trialling. Is cycling losing the time trialling discipline to triathlon?

Major labels like Canyon appear to be focusing their aero evolution on triathlon ready frames that can be adapted to meet UCI rules for pro squads at the expense of outright speeding and technological advancement. Is triathlon now the Formula 1, with street occasion test bikes the general public’s road-going auto with some trickle-down technology? Certainly may seem like it.

Should we need any further convincing, we need only look at the similarities of the new high-end CFR TT Disc to the triathlon ready mid-range Speedmax CF 8, which is effectively the same motorcycle minus that integrated forking and chief tube.

The new Canyon Speedmax CFR TT Disc is now available in three sizes from small to large-scale at Canyon.com

The Canyon Speedmax CF8 triathlon bikeThe UCI legal Speedmax CFR TT aspects a rear-end similar to the CF8The triathlon Speedmax Disc , mention the greatly magnified brain tube, forks, and bottom bracket areaThe built-in toolbox on the Speedmax triathlon bikesThe same tool box with encompas addedThe mono-riser on the tri bike presents further integration and easier accommodation