Gear News

Canyon introduce 665g Ultimate CF Evo – ‘lightest, most technically advanced frameset ever’

Two builds available, weighing just 4.96kg and 5.8kg

Canyon have introduced the Ultimate CF Evo – heralded as the German firm’s ‘lightest, most technically advanced frameset ever’. The Ultimate CF Evo has a claimed frame weight of 665g, while two builds will be offered – with the Ultimate CF Evo 10.0 SL feathering the scales at just 4.96kg.

‘‘How close can we get to creating the perfect road bike?’’ was the key question behind the Ultimate CF Evo, according to Canyon. While bike manufacturers have long sought to shed weight from frames, despite the UCI’s 6.8kg complete bike weight limit continuing to remain in place, Canyon say the Evo’s low weight comes without sacrificing the stiffness-to-weight, comfort, aerodynamic performance and durability of the existing Ultimate CF SLX.

Canyon are calling the Ultimate Evo the ‘lightest, most technically advanced frameset ever’

Nairo Quintana rode that bike to second at the 2015 and 2016 Tour de France, before claiming victory at last year’s Vuelta a Espana, and Canyon have sought to retain its qualities while reducing the frame weight.

– Pro bike: Nairo Quintana’s 2016 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX –

“In the 21st Century, carbon blew the doors off all prior convention in bike design, opening roads for engineers to explore new forms and applications to go lighter than ever before. Low weight, however, was never the only advantage,” say Canyon.

As the name suggests, the Evo is based on the existing Ultimate, and shares the same aero-influenced tube profiles. Instead, Canyon say the secret behind the Ultimate CF Evo’s low weight is the use of ‘ultra-high modulus pitch-based fibres that required special permission from the Japanese Ministry of Defence to access’.

Those fibres have been used across the frame and fork (which comes with a claimed weight of 270g), both of which have reportedly been subjected to the same tests and standards as the rest of the Ultimate range. “[This is] a bike that is meant for the roads, not the trophy case,” Canyon say.

The Canyon Ultimate Evo 10.0 SL is dripping in super-light, exotic components

The frameset is available for £2,949 in mechanical and electronic versions, and comes with Canyon’s H36 Aerocockpit CF, as well as the comfort-enhancing S15 VCLS 2.0 leafspring seatpost.

Canyon will also offer the Evo in two builds. The Ultimate Evo 10.0 SL is equipped with a SRAM Red 22 transmission, and is dripping in super-light components, including a THM Clavicula Sine Exceptione crankset (293g) and THM Fibula brakes (120g each), alongside Lightweight Meilenstein Obermayer tubular wheels (935g). That comes with an unfathomably light claimed weight of 4.96kg and will set you back a cool £8,999.

The frame shares the same tube profiles as the Ultimate CF SLX and comes with Canyon’s wind-cheating integrated Aerocockpit

The most expensive model, meanwhile, costs £11,599, and is dressed in SRAM Red eTap and a THM Clavicula M³ chainset with an integrated SRM power meter. The Lightweight Meilenstein clincher wheels weigh 1,210g and complete a build which comes in at a claimed 5.8kg.

For more on the Ultimate Evo, visit the Canyon website