Ah Canyon, direct-sales custodian of our hearts. Your Germanic marketing and ridiculous value for money are forever the bane of bike reviewers trying to carry out fair group tests.
We’ve tested Canyon’s Ultimate AL in a few different builds and it’s always done well, and this time we asked Canyon to send us one of its weight weenie specials. While the SLX 9.0 Aero isn’t the lightest build the company offers, it has an impressive spec that includes Shimano’s excellent Ultegra Di2 groupset, some stylish Reynolds carbon clinchers, and the usual decent finishing kit.
This is one bike that doesn’t need to make any apologies for its choice of frame material. Built around a very nice aluminium frame weighing a claimed 1,170g, the Ultimate AL is light for a metal bike, and within spitting distance of decent carbon ones.
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It doesn’t hide its construction, having welds that are prominent and visible, but they do nothing to detract from a smart, purposeful-looking package. We wouldn’t mind a bit more colour — in true German bike maker tradition, the paint job is rather conservative with black dominating.
Canyon makes specific versions of this frame for electronic and mechanical groupsets, with the former lacking the necessary holes in the frame for gear cable outers. It makes it look nice and clean, but it’s something to bear in mind if there’s a chance you might want to switch. While we’re on practical matters, the non-standard 1.25in fork steerer reduces aftermarket stem choices.
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