Owners of 2021 Canyon Aeroad told “reinforced” handlebar on its way... but don’t ride your bike until July

Canyon has emailed owners of the 2021 Aeroad CFR and CF SLX bikes to tell them that a redesigned handlebar is expected to be available in July. Meanwhile, a solution to the seat post issues is not expected until autumn and outstanding orders are delayed until then too.

A stop ride notice, issued to owners of the 2021 Canyon Aeroad models that feature the CP15 and CP18 cockpits, is set to remain in place until at least July.

In the email sent to Aeroad owners, Canyon says a “reinforced” replacement handlebar is set to be available in July.

> Mathieu van der Poel's broken Canyon Aeroad bar could have been caused by collision with car, claims his father

The email suggests that customers will have to send their bikes back to Canyon to have the replacement handlebar installed. This could mean that Aeroad owners are left without their bike for the majority of 2021.

To thank customers for their “loyalty and patience”, Canyon says that customers will be issued with a “credit” once their bike has been fitted with the new handlebar and returned to them. In an email to road.cc, Canyon's UK Market Manager Nick Allen said owners will recieve "€1000 or €1300 compensation dependant on model if they accept to wait for the fix in July."

> Canyon says pro teams will use previous Aeroad "until further notice" and 'stop ride' issue ordered for customers

Meanwhile, Canyon says it is still working on a fix for the seat post issue that saw some users experiencing excessive wear to the carbon walls. In the email to customers, Canyon stated that the solution is not expected to be in place until autumn.

> Canyon says solution to Aeroad seat post issue is expected sooner rather than later

A statement made on Facebook read:

“As promised, we'll keep you updated on the actual Aeroad topics. In addition to this Social Media statement, we will inform all customers via email – those who already got an Aeroad and of course, all who actually have a bike on order.

As you know, our Alpecin-Fenix Cycling Team pro Mathieu van der Poel broke part of the handlebars of his Canyon Aeroad CFR during a bike race at the beginning of March. This did not show up in any of our industry-standard intensive testing procedures according to ISO4210-5, which we always carry out before launching new products. To ensure the safety of our customers, we will replace the drop bars on the cockpit with a reinforced version.

Therefore, we will equip all CFR and CF SLX bikes in the market with the new drop bars, which will be available from July. We have asked our customers not to use their Aeroads until then. To compensate them for the downtime of not being able to ride their Aeroad CFR and CF SLX and to thank them for their loyalty and patience, we will give them a credit. The payment is linked to the repair and will be made after the replacement of the drop bars has been carried out and they have received their Aeroad back from us. We will contact them in due time about the exact repair and payment procedure.

You are probably also wondering about the status of the seat post. The improvement of the seat post will take longer than we originally thought. We currently expect to be able to offer a suitable solution in the autumn that will satisfy our customers and us 100%. We are sorry that we cannot give you an earlier date now. We are also very sorry that we will probably not be able to deliver ordered Aeroads before autumn this year. We ask for your understanding and apologise for a long time off the bike or the waiting time and will also offer compensation for those who won’t be able to use their bikes.

It is important to us that all customers can ride their Aeroads as soon as possible - just like the riders of our pro teams who are currently riding the Aeroad from victory to victory. The handlebars solution used here is safe and complies with UCI regulations, but unfortunately, it is not suitable for series production. Our pro teams will also receive new drop bars and will be equipped with the same configuration as our customers in the future.”