Canyon wanted to accentuate how much work they have put into developing the new Aeroad. For the old (2016) Aeroad they apparently developed 4 or 5 concepts that they explored, tested and then scrapped to arrive at the actual Aeroad you could buy. For this year’s model (2021) it apparently took them 22 of those drafts, to arrive at the final conclusion. The 19th of which “is the most aero bike possible”. They however went with something easier to live with or as I like to call it, something to sell to a broader, less ambitious audience.
thanks for the explanation.
Generation 19 looks more ‘track orientated’ to my eyes, which is a route I really wish they’d go down.
As forthe new one - Ive lived with and raced the original aeroad for nearly 4 years now - still an amazing bike that is insanely fast…
To me it looks like every other matte black road bike with dropped seatstays, hard pass
Brilliant!
Wonder if anyone has got the Aeroad yet? What’s their thoughts on the bike?
Mine arrived yesterday and I plan on building it at the weekend. Unless we get decent weather I can’t see me riding it until next year. Its practically my first real road bike and a bit of a dream bike to me so can’t wait just to unbox it but even more so finding out just how fast it is. Should have some decent fitness gains by the time we get the better weather to tackle a few epic rides.
Main thought…too much £££ for me!
Unless where you live there’s actually snow on the ground that won’t melt until spring, then recommend getting out there at least a few times this year! I have the older Aeroad, if it’s your first real road bike it’s going to blow your mind. Mine did and that was coming from a decent aluminium race bike with carbon race wheels. It would be a crime to have it gathering dust for the whole winter, at least give yourself enough of a taste of what it can do to motivate you for those warmer days…
It’s awesome. New fastest bike on Zwift 
Which is really stupid. With all due respect to Canyon, I don‘t believe it’s the most aero bike in the market today and the obvious deviation from the super aero „geometry 19“ proves that they left quite some on the table. I find very interesting, that the new bike is 7 watts faster than the old Aeroad disc AS A BIKE ONLY. With a pedaling mannequin on there, it is 4 Watts still. And that mannequin doesn’t have an upper body, so the negative effect (on aerodynamics) of the more relaxed geometry isn’t even considered… So it is only 4 Watts, and how much of that is due to extremely fast SwissSide/DTSwiss wheels? They have the new spokes and hubs and are apparently quite a bit faster on the former models.
Maybe the frame itself isn’t even faster than the former model with a rider on there, 1 Watt for cable integration maybe. I can’t really believe that this is faster than the Cannondale System Six, Cervelo S5 Disc or Factor One.
What I appreciate however, is the fact, that they even publish numbers with a mannequin. Usually, this isn’t even considered, and many of the things we consider „aero“ are rather pointless in reality. I been at a live testing of seatposts. From 27.2 round to D-Shape to full aero seatposts, they couldn’t find a difference once two legs started dangling around there and the are was too „dirty“ to attach to the presumably more aero seat posts.
With all that said, what bemused me the most, is that this frame, is now the fastest climbing frame… What? The frame weighs 915g (claimed) and has a presumably rather heavy cockpit (with the adjustability), yet supposedly climbs faster than some of the much much lighter frames? While I am strong believer of aerodynamics being important on climbs also, Zwift is somewhat split on this topic. You save about a minute up Alpe du Zwift when drafting, but by far the fastest wheelset for climbing is the non-aero Lightweight Meilenstein
What ever is more relevant here, the Canyon Aeroad 2021, albeit likely a very very good bike, is likely not the most aero bike, and certainly not the fastest climbing bike. I am curious if Zwift will upgrade all the new Specialized Bikes, after the big S reportedly invested several hundred million dollars during Zwift‘s funding round? Maybe the Aethos will be the new King of the Mountain…?!
This article says 7.4 watts faster than the old one for the frameset only, which implies without wheels. Though also entirely possible they’ve made an incorrect assumption from an ambiguously worded press release! The old Aeroad still did extremely well on independent tests (there’s a reason they haven’t really updated it for four years) e.g. this one from Tour magazine last year. So no reason not to think that an improved version wouldn’t be right up there with or ahead of the bikes that you mention.
If you buy into the idea that it’s the most aero bike, then also reasonable to say that a build that gets close to the UCI limit is also going to be the fastest climbing bike. Certainly at the speeds the pros go uphill. If you’re not subject to the UCI limit and are going uphill at closer to 200W than 400W then yes, you can probably ignore aero and just get the lightest bike you can afford.
Not sure the slightly relaxed geometry will have much real world impact. Unlikely to be a limiter for most people unless they’re already slammed on the existing geometry and even then there could be options like dropping a frame size and putting a longer cockpit on (maybe easier if you’re a pro given past issues with Canyon having limited availability/flexibility for swapping out parts).
Guess the TLDR is that the old Canyon was a very fast bike, the new one will also be a very fast bike, and the top bikes are likely all close enough these days that the marketing departments can all get away with claiming theirs is the fastest!
The original Aeroad had a VERY low stack height…one that I doubt most people would slam. I can hold a very low HB position and I still have 2.5cm of washers.
Also worth noting that a slammed stem doesn’t necessarily equate to a more aero position. Frame stack is a just a number, not an indicator of positional aerodynamics.
7.4 Watts on the frame alone, yet 4.4 Watts with pedaling legs (without a torso, see slideshow 2021 Canyon Aeroad | Lighter, more aero and disc-only - BikeRadar). With pedaling legs is also how Tour Mag tests.
While the numbers of the old Aeroad were impressive, beware to compare apples to apples. The one you posted is the rimbrake version. Rimbrakes usually test 3 to 6 Watts faster at 45kph in wind tunnels (no rotating disc creating turbulence, brake caliper more „out of the way“).
The former Canyon Aeroad Disc (!) was measured at 208W in Tour Magazin, which is really really good. However, it doesn’t match the 203W the Cannondale Sy6 was measured at, and is very close to the 210W, the much lighter SL7 came in at.
I had a very extensive discussion on the weightweenies forum about aerodynamics on climbs, and I am a strong believer still, that the most aero bike climbs the fastest, as long as you can hold around 9mph on that climb. I just don‘t know if the Aeroad is the most aero bike, to my eye it looks great, but not more aero than the current best bikes.
Back to Zwift, here, so far, even if you go up a climb at 30mph, weight is superior to aerodynamics, for whatever reason. So picking the Aeroad as the fastest makes no sense, not even in Canyon‘s portfolio, it should be the best climber…
While the geometry doesn’t give away whether a bike and rider system is aerodynamic or not, it does have a huge impact. What makes time trial bikes faster than roadbikes with clip on aerobars? Maybe 5 watts are lost due to having „useless“ drops and long STI levers, but that is not the biggest factor. A time trial bike is made for one thing and one thing only. Get the rider „comfortable“ in the most aerodynamic position. A TT bike has a geometry, that completely revolves around having loads of adjustments to keep the rider long, low and powerful.
To replicate that on a roadbike is just very difficult, but not impossible.
Why am I telling all this? Because the geometry of a bike has to allow a rider to get „comfortable“ (I mean this word in a sense of being able to stay in a position and produce power, not as in Gravel Bike comfort) while sustaining the most W/CdA possible. A geometry doing that for person A doesn’t necessarily do it for person B. However, a lower stack and longer reach definitely offer the potential to get everyone in such position. If it‘s too long you can shorter the stem or size down the frame, if it‘s to low, use spacers or use a „straighter“ stem. But if it is too tall AND too short, there is hardly anything you can do to get fast on it. I myself like to start at the most aggressive geo possible as a baseline and work my way „backwards“ to find my sweetspot. Pro riders, who are much more flexible than I am, and much more adapted to putting down power in a long and low position, will likely always prefer the option of the bike being rather „too aggressive“ than „too relaxed“.
hey…I am the preacher for long and low bikes. I’m all about going UP form a low stack height (especially for a TT bike). When Specialized went to the Shiv Tri geo, they eliminated me as a customer. I literally could not fit on one of those bikes.
But you are kinda comparing apples & oranges here…a road bike and tri bike are different beasts entirely. Having a slightly higher stack on a new version of the Aeroad doesn’t mean that it is a “more comfortable” geometry. Again, the Aeroad had one of the lowest, if not the lowest, stack heights for road bikes. I haven’t looked at the actual geos for the new model yet, but a few extra mm are not gonna be a huge deal for the overwhelming majority of their customers.
Also worth noting that a frame structure tends to be more aero than spacers, although that delta has certainly been reduced with the advent of fully integrated cockpits.
No snow yet at least but mostly wet and muddy roads atm. Just finished building it and have to admit I’m not going to be able to wait until the spring so first chance we get a clear dry day I’ll have to get out on it. Super excited what with it been my first road bike but can’t help but feel a bit nervous about riding it. It’s an awsome looking bike though.
Am I the only one who’s gone onto eBay just to check for any previous gen Aeroads in my size…? 
Something about the old one’s lines just hits me, the new one not quite so.
Ever given Canyon‘s own outlet a look? Road bikes for sale | CANYON GB
Not the best prices, but most of the bikes are new and have warranty still.
Anyone heard if there are clip on aerobars for the new aeroad? Canyon says they won’t work because of the adjustable nature of the bars, but that seems like hogwash to me. Anyone in the know?
Seems pretty reasonable to me…if you look at the design of the bars, I don’t see how you are going to put aerobars on that new cockpit.
The only potential option I could see would be a custom bar from Canyon that has a clamp designed to match the profile of the bar design…but my guess is that the wall thickness of the bars have been thinned out to meet the adjustable width concept work…and thus would not be able to stand up to the clamping force.
Not anymore…at least not on the climbs.
https://twitter.com/zwiftinsider/status/1319716509460160515?s=20