Canyon continues to sponsor Spanish professional cycling team Movistar for the 2015 season, a partnership which began last year. Canyon also sponsor the Katusha team, making them one of just two brands that sponsor more than one squad in the professional peloton.
It’s a partnership that has proved successful. In 2014 Movistar’s Nairo Quintana won the Giro d’Italia aboard the Canyon Ultimate, and had a special pink bike painted to mark his victory. While the Ultimate will be the main choice for the majority of stages and races, we expect to see the new Aeroad CF SLX being used a lot more than the previous version of the company’s aero bike.
The new Aeroad first broke cover at the Tour de France last year with the Katusha squad. I got to swing a leg over one of the first production models at the end of last year, and found it to provide “breathtaking speed with sweet handling.” You can read the full review here.
Now the Movistar team are riding it, this bike was photographed at the recent Tour Down Under. The team are one of the few sponsored by Campagnolo, so it’s a full Super Record EPS groupset paired with Bora Ultra deep section carbon fibre wheels. Tyres are supplied by Continental and saddles from Fizik.
Every team uses a power meter, but gone are the days when most teams used an SRM. This year Movistar are using a Power2Max power meter, which is very similar to the SRM in that it replaces the chainset spider.
This bike was photographed with Canyon’s new one-piece aero handlebar and stem. Aerodynamics are increasingly informing the design of most bicycle components, and there has been a noticeable rise in the availability of aero bars in recent years. Along with this new Canyon bar,. Cervelo, Specialized and Vision all have new aero handlebars out at this year.
With no change of title sponsors for the team, the bikes are painted in the same blue and green colour scheme, but with a slight variation on the application of the green decals.
Photos reproduced with kind permission of Campagnolo.
View some more 2015 WorldTour bikes here.
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11 comments
I want to continue to use Campag, but the price and lack of innovation really pisses me off. I'm a snob, but even snobs have a price.
Me too. But with this bike and Looks 795 not being able to fit the EPS groupset I might have to switch to the other side, if Shimano ever make a lever that doesn't make me want to vomit over my own stem that is (told you I was a snob ).
I'm not sure that's right. The bike component market (or at least the mid-market) used to be much more diverse and Campag used to have a much greater market share.
IMHO Campag have not invested in innovation as much as Shimano did (using fishing reel profits maybe) and as a result have lost out in the mid-market. That's left them as a boutique brand drawing attention to their history and heritage to distract from the fact that they've been late to market with some key technology changes. Lower volumes of cheaper groupsets has also left them struggling to compete on price.
I'm sure those workers being laid off in Italy would rather they flogged more Centaur or Athena groupos than invited quite so many ex-superstars to their birthday bash.
I agree with RobD's comment.
I don't like the blue and green combination. It makes a great bike very unattractive.
its just a shame that they don't sell one with campag on it
I think it's because Campag don't do direct mount brakes. I do wonder what Movistar are using, they look a little like the Dura-Ace calipers but I can't tell from the pics, maybe someone who has them could tell.
I do wish they'd do a Campag version though, save you having to buy it all individually to build your own.
They might be up for request for a sensibly priced custom build - they do Campag with a lot of their other road line, maybe a bit of Shimano/Campag mix or TRPs or something like the Hayes B1-R - might be worth an email.
Campy (I guess) will never go into the (large) mainstream production for off-the-peg bikes.
Part of the Campy philosophy / heritage / culture - which I pray will not be to their demise.
I guess they are the Koenigsegg of the cycling world....
By the way - this isn't my bike...
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Apart from the mainstream off-the-peg bikes that already come with them I guess.
...could be something to do with price as well maybe ? (Up front cost that is, not saying they wouldn't be cheaper in the long run)
Love that it's got Campag on it. Better to sponsor fewer teams if winning teams?
It's green isn't it?
I do think the Movistar colour scheme would make most bikes look good.