Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero review | Race Bike of the Year contender

Canyon’s Ultimate CF SL platform offers a value-driven take on the German brand’s popular all-rounder road racing bike.

With the Ultimate range pitched as delivering “the perfect balance” of low weight, stiffness, durability and aerodynamics, Canyon says this third-tier Ultimate uses a carbon fibre layup that prioritises toughness and value.

At £4,799 / €4,999 / AU$7,649, it also undercuts many similarly-specced rivals significantly.

In use, the Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero impresses as a highly competent all-rounder, feeling fast and engaging.

The only notable downside is that the proprietary integrated cockpit limits adjustability significantly. For many riders, this may not be an issue, however, it’s worth ensuring you’re happy with what’s on offer before you buy.

Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero frame

In terms of shape, the Ultimate CF SL frameset is identical to the range-topping Ultimate CFR.

Developed in partnership with Swiss Side (which provides aerodynamic expertise, performance consulting and race simulation tools for numerous brands and professional teams), Canyon claims this fifth generation Ultimate is 5 watts more efficient at 45kph compared to its predecessor.

The frameset retains a familiar silhouette, but the truncated aerofoil shapes have been sharpened and elongated, while a D-shaped seatpost has been added in place of a round one.

Up front, the Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero adopts Canyon’s sleek and adjustable CP0018 Aerocockpit, which first debuted on the Aeroad CFR – Canyon’s aero road bike – in 2020.

Canyon claims a size medium Ultimate CF SL frame weighs 1,062.4g. Our test bike (also a size medium) weighs a competitive 7.83kg, including two composite bottle cages supplied by Canyon.

As you might expect for a direct-to-consumer brand such as Canyon, though, the major selling point of the Ultimate CF SL range is arguably the value proposition.

The £4,799 / €4,999 / AU$7,649 asking price is notably lower than similarly specced road bikes from rival brands.

Specialized’s Tarmac SL8 Pro (which uses the American brand’s second-tier Fact 10r carbon fibre layup), for example, costs £8,000 / $8,500 / €8,500 for a build with SRAM Force AXS or Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8100.

It’s also a decent chunk cheaper than the Focus Izalco Max 9.8, which costs £6,599 / €6,799, although it’s worth noting its frameset uses the top-spec carbon blend Focus offers.

Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero geometry

While the frameset shares a similar appearance with its predecessors, this latest version of the Ultimate saw a few geometry tweaks to bring it in line with the Aeroad.

The changes are subtle, though, with stack and reach figures only changing by a few millimetres.

Reach, for example, has been increased by just 2mm on my size medium test bike to 393mm. However, the stack is now 7mm lower on a size medium at 560mm.

For comparison, the Focus Izalco Max is a little taller and longer with 571mm of stack and 399mm of reach in a size L/56.

The Specialized Tarmac SL8 Pro, meanwhile, is closer with a stack height of 565mm and 393mm of reach in a size 56cm.

The Ultimate's ride position is classically long and low, as you’d expect of a racing bike. Given this, it’s worth noting the handlebar stack height can only be increased by up to 15mm using headset spacers, due to the quill stem-style system.

Likewise, the size medium Ultimate CF SL gets a 100mm stem paired with a 410mm (centre to centre) handlebar, which can be adjusted by 20mm to offer a 390mm or 430mm bar width.

Unfortunately, Canyon doesn’t offer a choice of stem length or handlebar width at the point of purchase.

It’s also worth noting the Canyon CP0018 Aerocockpit is the only front-end option for this frameset, due to the proprietary fork steerer and stem design. This means you can’t swap in a standard stem and bar as you can on many other bikes.

Canyon has previously said you can purchase the CP0018 Aerocockpit in alternative sizes. But it isn’t clear how much this would cost or what sizes are available, as Canyon doesn’t list the CP0018 Aerocockpit as a spare part on its website.

For people in the middle of the fit bell curve for each size, this likely won’t pose any major issues – you can still adjust reach by moving the saddle fore or aft, after all.

However, it's less ideal for those at the margins or who are fussy about their bike fit.

Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero specification

Despite its competitive price, Canyon hasn’t made many compromises in the build spec.

The Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero is the top spec build in its respective range. It gets a full Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8100 groupset, complete with the new and improved RT-CL800 disc brake rotors.

Canyon has even specced a 4iiii Precision 3 power meter crank. It’s a single-sided unit, meaning it measures the power produced by your left leg and doubles it to estimate your total power output.

In terms of gearing and wheels, Canyon supplies speed-friendly options. This sees a 52/36t crankset paired with a tight, 11-30t cassette out back and a set of DT Swiss ARC 1600 Dicut wheels.

The wheelset has a 50mm-deep front rim and a 62mm-deep rear, built to DT Swiss 350 hubs with DT Aero Comp spokes.

These rims are on trend. They are tubeless-ready and measure 20mm wide internally and 27 mm wide externally, though they used hooked rather than hookless rims. This means they’re compatible with clincher and tubeless road bike tyres.

On that topic, Schwalbe’s mid-range One TLE tyre is specced here, with a 700x25c up front and a wider 28c on the rear.

Although it’s a tubeless tyre, Canyon ships the bike set up with butyl inner tubes. If you want to ditch these, you’ll need to source tubeless sealant and potentially valves too (DT Swiss wheels normally include tubeless valves, but they didn’t arrive with our test bike).

On the Ultimate CF SL and CF SLX, Canyon includes a D-shaped carbon seatpost with 10mm of setback (a zero-offset post is available separately for £186.95).

On this build, the post is topped with a Selle Italia SLR Boost Superflow S manganese saddle.

Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero ride impressions

On the road, the Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero is an intriguing bike.

Thanks to its speed-focused build, with an aero cockpit, deep section rims and tall, fast gearing it clips along with surprising pace on flat and rolling terrain.

Counter to my expectations, though, the Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero felt a little tamer on the climbs.

This is likely a result of the wheelset, with its deep rims making the bike feel a touch less reactive on steep gradients.

Much like the Aeroad, the Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero is a competent climber thanks to its stiff pedalling platform and competitive weight. I don’t think the small amount of additional weight of the deep rims (compared to shallower ones) costs much in terms of climbing performance against the stopwatch – but it nevertheless feels more sedate on hills than I’d expected.

The middling Schwalbe One TLE tyres also contribute to this. Though fine training tyres, these exhibit around 50 per cent more rolling resistance per tyre compared to the pricier Pro One TLE, according to bicyclerollingresistance.com.

It wouldn’t cost loads to upgrade these, but they’re a small weakness in an otherwise excellent spec.

The handling is sharp and engaging, with the front end feeling stiff and responsive. I also didn’t experience any issues managing the deep rims on windy days – the handling remained predictable throughout testing.

For my tastes, the lack of front-end options would be a deal breaker. As someone who's fussy about customising bikes, it’s simply not my cup of tea.

However, it’s also fair to say it didn’t have any major impact on the day-to-day experience of riding the Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero. Making do with the stock setup was fine.

Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero bottom line

All things considered, the Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero offers a lot of bike for the money. It’s fast, well-specced, competitively light and offers an engaging, responsive ride feel.

The tyres are uninspiring and I’d prefer a dual-sided power meter in an ideal world, but the spec and performance are hard to fault at this price.

The only notable downside is having to make do with Canyon’s one-size-fits-all front-end solution.

Given the adjustable wings provide a workable (albeit limited) solution to the handlebar width question, and reach can be adjusted via saddle setback, I suspect many riders will be able to make peace with it, though – especially in light of the value on offer here.