Mathieu van der Poel won Strade Bianche with the inexpensive carbon fiber specification of Canyon’s Aeroad frame, the Aeroad CF SL, after leading its steering function during Le Samyn on Tuesday, and asked Canyon to use its teams ‘alternative bikes’.
Al Canyon’s sponsored athletes were forced to switch off bikes after Van der Poel’s steering wheel inexplicably broke during the final stages of Le Samyn, and the Dutchman had to throw away part of his bars and complete the race with his move to the cables. . .
Before the race, there were rumors that Van der Poel and his teammates would switch to Canyon’s lightweight racing bike, the Ultimate, which has the same CFR carbon setup as its preferred Aeroad racing bike.
However, technically savvy viewers would have noticed that the Dutchman is indeed driving an Aeroad.
Both the Aeroad CFR and the second-level Aeroad CF SLX are currently undergoing a stop-motion investigation, as both use the same integrated cabin with adjustable rods and stem pin clipped at Le Samyn. However, the lowest Aeroad CF SL uses the CP10 cabin found on the previous model Aeroad, giving Van der Poel a further option.
It may be that the Alpecin-Fenix mechanics simply switched the fork of a CF SL into its CFR frame set, but the frame on which he rode at Strade Bianche to victory had the now out-of-line cables in the frame on the non-driving side of the the head tube.
The integrated design of the CFR means that there are no cable connection ports on the frame, as evidenced by a close-up look at the same area of the CFR frame that he drove at Le Samyn.
One possible explanation for this is that mechanics took Van der Poel’s Van Aeroad CFR frame with a drill to provide cable ports, which enabled him to use his regular racing bike with the older out-of-control cabin. However, the more likely scenario is that Van der Poel managed the already available CF SL.
Assuming that Canyon Van der Poel did not issue an exclusive CFR model with external cabling, one of the above explanations is a great way to shed light on the importance of aerodynamics versus weight for Van der Poel.
The CF SL is said to have exactly the same tube shapes as the CFR model Aeroad, so the aerodynamic performance of the bottom frame will share the same 7.4 watt improvement as Canyon claims the new Aeroad offers on its predecessor.
We’re not aware of any aero tests comparing the new Aeroad frame shape directly to the Ultimate, but the difference is probably significant.
The weight of the Aeroad CF SL frame is quoted by Canyon as 1,020g, compared to the 915g frame of the CFR, and the hyper-lightweight of 614g for the Ultimate CFR.
The step also helps a lot in demonstrating the capability of today’s so-called ‘budget’ bikes.
The Aeroad CF SL is available at a starting price of £ 3699.00, modeled with Shimano 105. Van Der Poel’s frame, made of corse, is specified with the top component you would expect in the WorldTour peloton, with Shimano Dura-Ace group and wheels.