Impressive comfort, weight and performance to a degree, but a clinical feel to the ride reduces the fun factor
Generally, I like the new Endurace. Canyon has created a bike that is comfortable to ride, has lots of neat finishing touches and, thanks to the low weight, is pretty nimble and fast for a non-racer. It's still a road bike, though, so it needs to have that confidence-inspiring ride feel at typical road speeds, something I feel it just lacks a touch, and I've struggled to pinpoint exactly what the reason is.
The seat and head angles of both bikes are identical, and the reach measurement is very similar too, although the top tube of the Canyon is 8mm longer. It's definitely helped by the VCLS seatpost's leaf spring style design, which does have feedback levels that are involving enough to let you know exactly what the rear tyre is up to.
The option to run 35mm tyres does open up the possibility of riding away from the road on various hardpacked surfaces, but the handling is very much road focused – it copes with short sections of bridleway or canal path, so you can take the odd shortcut or explore that track you've never travelled before, but I'd say stick to short distances.
There are a lot of performance-orientated road and semi-gravel tyres in 32mm and 35mm on the market, so that does give you plenty of options in terms of where you are going to ride. Others, like the Cannondale Synapse or the aforementioned Scultura Endurance, can also run 35mm tyres, although they also offer the ability to fit full mudguards of some kind or another.
Other than that, it is exactly what you'd expect from an endurance road bike, accessory-wise. There are twin bottle cage mounting positions and that's your lot. For the bottom bracket Canyon has gone down the press-fit route, which can have a bit of a stigma about it. Some press-fit setups creaked like mad after a few wet rides because of the tolerances between the frame and the bearing cups not matching, allowing for water and grit ingress. Thankfully, that is rare these days, and I've ridden in some pretty poor conditions over the last month with no issues.
The CF SLX models have the same geometry but a slightly heavier frame and fork. The range starts at a much more affordable £3,499 for the CF SLX 7, which comes withand alloy DT Swiss wheels, and tops out with the CF SLX 8 AXS, with SRAM Force eTap AXS and DT Swiss ERC 1400 Dicut wheelset for £5,249.
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