The Takeaway: A smooth, fast, exciting road bike for a great price.
- A high-performance carbon bike with full Shimano Ultegra and disc brakes for less than $3,000
- Women’s-specific touch points and an extended range of small sizes
- 650b wheels on the smallest sizes for a no-compromise fit
Price: $2,599
Weight: 16.5 lb.
The Canyon Ultimate WMN CF SL Disc 8.0 is one sweet bike at a surprisingly affordable price. It rides like you want a race bike to ride: fast, whippy, and confidence-inspiring. It's a well-balanced bike with excellent handling—I felt myself taking corners hotter and leaning further into them than usual because it feels so comfortably stable. And it's light and smooth too, which makes tough climbs feel a bit more tolerable.
To better fit smaller riders, Canyon’s product team designed the 3XS and 2XS sizes around 650b wheels (larger sizes use 700c wheels), which let them shrink the frame’s dimensions more than is possible with larger wheels. The high-quality carbon frame is outfitted with Shimano Ultegra disc, the component maker’s second-tier group (though its performance is on par with Dura-Ace). The Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes are crisp and reactive, and while the DT-Swiss wheels and Schwalbe tires are tubeless ready so you can switch if you want fewer flats.
This model also has a lightweight one-piece carbon bar and stem, and a carbon leaf-spring seatpost for a smoother ride. Getting all this on a bike for less than $3,000 is pretty rare, and you don’t notice any huge compromises the product team took elsewhere to make it happen. If you’re ready to invest in a no-compromises road racing bike, this is a great one at an excellent price.
Style: Women’s road bike
Material: Carbon
Wheel size: 650bx25 (on 3XS and 2Xs, 700c on XS, S, and M)
Drivetrain: Shimano Ultegra mechanical
Crank: Shimano Ultegra 36/52 (with 650b wheels; 34/50 with 700c)
Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 11-32
Brakes: Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes (140mm as tested, 160mm on XS, S, and M)
Tires: Tubeless Easy Schwalbe Pro One 25mm
Seatpost: Canyon S14 VCLS 2.0 CF
Wheels: DT Swiss P 1800 Spline DB
Saddle: San Marco Aspide Supercomfort Dynamic Wide
Bar/Stem: Canyon CP10 Aerocockpit CF
The Women’s Ultimate Line
A step down from the Ultimate WMN CF SL Disc 8.0 is the Ultimate WMN CF SL Disc 7.o at $2,099. This version has a Shimano 105 drivetrain, which is a little heavier than the Ultegra but offers similarly superb shifting and braking. Above the version we tested is the Ultimate WMN CF SL Disc 8.0 Di2, available for $3,699, which is the same as our review bike except it has Shimano Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting. And if you want a top-of-the-line road race bike, the Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disc 9.0 Team CSR is available with SRAM Red eTap electronic shifting, Mavic Cosmic Pro carbon wheels, and Ergon SR1 Sport saddle, and the trademark Canyon-Sram paint job for $7,000.
Component Highlights
If you’re ready to invest in a no-compromises road racing bike, this is a great one. The high-quality carbon frame comes with Shimano Ultegra, their second-lightest mechanical groupset with the same butter-smooth shifting performance as top-of-the-line Dura-Ace. The Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes with 140mm rotors (160mm on sizes XS and up) are crisp and reactive. And in this price range, full Ultegra on a full carbon bike is an excellent deal.
The chainrings are 52- and 36-teeth on the bikes with 650b wheels (compared 50/34 on the 700c), to compensate for the smaller wheels’ effect on the gearing.
The compact integrated carbon bar and stem creates a nice cockpit that’s only 37cm wide at the hoods on the model we tested. The carbon bar itself and the thick tape add to the smoothness of the ride, even on rougher roads. Also helping smooth rough roads is the leaf-spring seatpost which offers more vertical flex than a traditional post.
Integrated Cockpit
One-piece bar and stem for a more aero profile.
Shimano Ultegra
Smooth 11-speed mechanical shifting.
Sleek Seatpost Clamp
The seat clamp hides in the seat tube with the clamping bolt tucked between the seat stays.
Aluminum Rims
The DT-Swiss wheels with aluminum rims are sturdy for everyday riding.
Internal Routing
Keeps the frame looking clean and gorgeous.
Geometry
Ideal for races and fast group riding, the Ultimate WMN CF SL Disc 8.0 is a bit more on the aggressive side: It puts the rider in a more forward, aerodynamic position that can be less comfortable for some riders but lends itself well to precise line choices and hard cornering.
To help reduce the overall dimensions of the 3XS and 2XS sizes so those sizes better fit smaller riders, Canyon’s product team chose 650b wheels instead of the larger 700c wheels used for most road bikes. (This model in XS, S, and M sizes uses 700c wheels.) Reach on the 3XS is just 350mm; reach on the 2XS is 355mm. Compare that to 360mm reach for the smallest Specialized Tarmac and Trek Domane SL, and you can see that the 650b Canyons really are smaller.
As a shorty (I’m almost 5’3”), most 700c bikes I ride give me some major toe overlap with the front wheel, which is never really an issue at high speeds or wide turns, but it does make parking-lot-speed turns very challenging, and always ends up skid-marking my shoes. But on this Canyon with smaller wheels, I had, for the first time ever, no noticeable toe overlap. And that was pretty sweet.
And I was lower to the ground that riders next to me on 700c wheels, but hey, it’s not like they got much of a draft off me before either. Smaller diameter wheels are also lighter and spin up faster, which gives the bike a livelier feel. The smaller-wheeled Canyon also felt very manageable to me, and its handling felt intuitive.
However, the tradeoff is smaller diameter wheels are, in theory, slower—because they have more rolling resistance—than larger wheels. And perhaps they are slower, but the difference wasn’t enough that I noticed—I didn’t feel any slower on this bike than I do when I’m on 700c wheels.
Like anything, the smaller wheels have pros and cons. But if you’re a smaller rider that has struggled to feel comfortable on a 700c road bike, the smaller-wheeled Canyon may provide a game-changing fit and feel.
Ride impressions
If you’re dipping your toes in the world of cycling and aren’t sure if you are in LOVE yet, this bike still might seem a little pricey. But if you’ve been around the block on a budget bike and are ready to get behind the wheel of something faster, this is your ride. The Ultimate WMN CF SL Disc 8.0 gives you a lot of bike for the money. The parts are all top-notch, and the bike’s performance is tops as well.
This is a fast and super smooth bike, and the handling is well balanced. It’s so planted and confidence-inspiring, it allows you to expand your limits in corners and down winding descents.
If you’re taking your riding to the next level and looking for a high-performance bike that’s also a killer value, the Canyon Ultimate WMN CF SL Disc 8.0 is your next bike. For the investment, it is a heck of a ride: fast, whippy, and a whole lot of fun.
Riley Missel is an experienced road racer, mountain biker, national champion on the track, and a former Bicycling editor. She is a USA Cycling-certified Level 1 coach, a loud and very stoked Spin instructor, and she will definitely stop the ride to pet that dog.
