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Canyon WMN Road raises the bar for women roadies with improved fit & options

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Canyon tells us that as they continue to grow, they see more women riding at the top of the sport, especially on the road. Their title sponsorship of the Women’s World Tour team Canyon//SRAM has certainly seen them develop top-level bikes just for women riders, but now they are taking that even a step further to give all women the same wide range of choice that men have enjoyed.

So what Canyon has done is create a new disc brake only WMN Road range. And while it sticks with just three key framesets for now – the Endurace WMN AL, Endurace WMN CF SL & Ultimate WMN CF SLX – they’ve tailored the fit and build options to give smaller riders better selection. The redesigned Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disc is even more aero now than the existing men’s/unisex version. Check out what the big (and small wheel) deal is after the jump…

all images courtesy Canyon

Pretty much the core of the WMN Road range to Canyon has been developing the new geometry & fit around their XS frame size (166-172cm/5’5″-5’8″ height), since that is the one that is the most requested by women. Canyon is a firm believer that women’s bikes should offer the same basis as men’s for getting the same body position on the bike.

Canyon was reluctant to make too many broad generalizations about different body geometry of women as a whole, but after looking at the 60,000 points of rider position data they’ve collected for women they did settle on a fit for riders who are typically shorter, lighter, have shorter arms vs. their torso, narrower shoulders vs. torso, and generally greater pelvic flexibility.

While the previous generation of rim brake WMN’s bikes used essentially the same geometry as the men’s bikes with an extra smaller size, the new geometry effectively goes with shorter reaches and marginally higher stacks across the board to make it easier to get the same optimal arm & torso angles on the bike.

Staring for the WMN’s bikes from the XS frame (Canyon keeps comparable sizing terminology so any rider can smoothly move back and forth from women’s to unisex geometry depending on their individual needs) and the shorter reach meant they could optimize the angles and handling of these bikes for smaller riders. It also meant that the two smallest sizes 3XS & 2XS make the move to a new 650b wheel size across the three bike line-up to maintain the same ride character and performance of the larger bikes.

Each of the new WMN Road bikes is available in a bike size range from 3XS-M. That ends in Canyon’s sizing spread from 3XS up to 2XL being one of the broadest in the industry, and there very few riders who couldn’t be comfortably fit on their popular disc brake Endurace.

Ultimate WMN CF SLX

Besides being smaller the WMN Road bikes get lighter construction due to lighter riders, with proportionally lower power outputs. That means that the new Ultimate WMN CF SLX is even lighter than the men’s bike (down to just 765g claimed for the XS), while retaining the same stiffness-to-weight ration for a similar ride quality.

The lighter tubes also get more slender profiles that also deliver better aerodynamics, thanks to less frontal area. (Be careful guys about trying to get the more aero frame, unless you have the same lighter weight and lower total power output that mesh well with the WMN frames.) The bikes are very much not the typical ‘shrink it and pink it’ that some women’s lines end up with, as Canyon took a much more technical and analytical approach.

Not just lighter, but more aero, the new Ultimate WMN CF SLX builds on the Ultimate’s race pedigree as one of the most respected in the pro peloton. It gets a WMN-specific variation of Canyon’s Sport Pro geometry.

It gets all the same features as the other disc brake bikes in the family, including 12mm thru-axles, flat mount calipers, a hidden seatpost clamp, aero fork, plus new smaller cockpit sizes. It is offered in four builds starting at 3000€ with SRAM Force, up to 6200€ for a SRAM Red eTap bike with Reynolds carbon wheels. Colors on offer vary from the Canyon//SRAM team replica to more understated black on black.

Endurace WMN CF SL

The Endurace WMN CF SL also builds off the same performance character of it all-road endurance predecessor. Built for women who love to go long, it gets the same comfort-boosting tech and features for all day rides. It uses a slightly more relaxed and upright WMN-specific version of Canyon’s Sport Geometry. Tech features out of the disc Endurace family carry over, including the Comfort Kink seattube, spec with VCLS 2.0 seatposts, plus 12mm thru-axles, clearance for 33mm tires, and aero fork and downtube shaping.

It is also offered in four complete bikes, starting with the 2000€ Shimano 105 build and climbing to a 5900€ bike again with Red eTap and Reynolds carbon wheels. The Endurace again comes with understated color schemes, either this aquamarine blue or the stealth black version.

Endurace WMN AL

The Endurace WMN AL pretty much takes all of its design and technology cues from the carbon bike, but in a more affordable aluminum platform. Canyon calls the new bike the “smoothest-riding and most versatile women-specific aluminum road bike” on the market. It gets the same WMN Sport Geometry and endurance road hydraulic disc brake tech, while lowering the cost of entry to all day comfort.

The alloy bike gets just two complete build options – the 1500€ 105 bike and a 1700€ version that steps up to Ultegra. Color choices are a deep red, or stealth black with a bit of aqua detailing.

The entire new Canyon WMN Road range is available to order now. Actual availability and delivery times vary with a couple of sizes and colors. Some are expected to ship before the end of May, with a few heading out at the start of June, and the majority remainder before the 1st of July.

As for Americans waiting for Canyon’s arrival, you can expect these to make their way to the states later this year.

Canyon.com/WMNroad

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boom
boom
6 years ago

So if I’m reading this right, their XS size is the smallest that fits 700c wheels, and is only good for riders down to (roughly, yes I know) 5’5? Really? I get the move to 650c wheels for riders below 5′ or so, but women below 5’5 seem to be a significant portion of the bell curve.

Ed Ng
Ed Ng
6 years ago
Reply to  boom

Strangely, they chose 650B, not 650C. That being said, they probably, in development, tested two different designs for XXS and found that the 650B version rode better than the 700C version. From an inventory perspective, it drives up the order size/down the cost per unit for 650B wheel and tire stock to have twice the number of frame sizes on that wheel size, so that helps make the 650B offering less costly to them than otherwise. Question really is: who’s making great road clinchers for 650B? Even more important question: Does anybody even make great tubeless pure road clinchers for 650B (and I don’t mean road plus or something like that–they have their place, but these race bikes is not that place).

-Ed

Brad Comis (@BradComis)
Reply to  Ed Ng

Lots of good 650B disk wheels out there, so that’s an easy choice. In the GCN video for these bikes the Canyon designer states that they have Schwalbe and Continental on board for 650B tires. The photos show Schwalbe Pro One tubless tires, which are very fast.

typevertigo
typevertigo
6 years ago

Curious to see what Canyon’s new range does for 650B tire availability that isn’t around 38 mm or wider. Right now that’s about as slick as 650B tires get. The smallest sizes on the new Canyon range are all running on 25 mm wide rubber – definitely new to these eyes.

A.
A.
6 years ago

You know who else makes women-specific preformance road bikes? Every other brand out there!

Canyon offers nothing over Specialized, Giant, Trek, Cannondale, or any other LBS brand. They are trying to elbow into a crowded market, ruining it by bypassing the local bike shops. Stop giving them so much press. You’re becoming a part of the reason our industry is starting to suck.

Jonathon
Jonathon
6 years ago
Reply to  A.

My wife is 5’2 and we had to go through every brand to find a bike small enough (AKA the right size). Geometry constraints from the large wheels, paired with the sloping top tube on her Specialized means she can only fit a single short bottle on the frame, and that’s with a side loader cage.. Wheel/toe overlap is an issue on these smaller bikes, and Canyon seems to be the only brand that choosing to do women’s bikes differently in order to get things right. It’s nice to see some actual competition in this sport 😉

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
6 years ago
Reply to  A.

If you think the industry sucks that bad, A, maybe it’s time for you to find a different one. You sure as hell don’t speak for me.

Brad Comis (@BradComis)

Smaller wheels for people below 5’5″ is definitely a good idea. It is especially relevant for a woman’s bike as most woman have a shorter torso relative to their leg length than an average man. So, that means less reach, which means the wheel gets closer to the toes, so small wheels are extra helpful on a women’s bike. Really the 3XS should have 26″ wheels, the XS should have 650B and then the 54cm+ frames should have 700C but big manufacturers aren’t willing to pay for low volume parts. Just look at the geometry charts. These bigs have head angles below 71 degrees. They don’t list the trail numbers, but I’ll bet they are really high.

Andrew
Andrew
6 years ago

Great! Now come to Canada so that we can buy you!

Jon
Jon
6 years ago

Do you know what cranks they’re offering on the smallest frames? Are they still Ultegra/105/RED/etc.? It seems like the next piece of the puzzle is cranks shorter than 165 mm and we’re not going to get that from Shimano or SRAM (without significant pressure?).

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