Carbone SLEs

Hi Ashfanman,

The crack is at the back of the seat post. It must have been a faulty frame - I have had a response from Germany and the frame is being replaced. I'm 70kg and had only put in a few hundred miles, (no crashes!) so would expect no less!

Not overwhelmed by how they have dealt with it - I get a different story every time I ring up Canyon UK, and still don't know when I will get it back. It has certainly taken longer than their initial estimate. If you have a problem everything needs to go back (bars, wheels, etc) so hold on to the giant cardboard box if you have space!

Sigma are really helpful - if you are a customer I imagine they would be happy to put you on their jig, if not, I did it at Velosport on Upper Richmond Road for £40 (I think!) I tried a couple of different frames, and they did know it was for a Canyon!
My body shape was too difficult for the Canyon automated sizing system, and I got too many different recommendations from Canyon in the UK to have any confidence in them!

I got an Aeroad 7 in February.

I had the same concern that the wheels were rather obsolete, with very narrow rims and a sharp v section. Having ridden them a few times I'm pretty pleased with the way they ride. The braking is great - much better than a standard alloy rim in the wet. They are not nearly as scary in crosswinds as I was expecting - not significantly worse than a shallow section. They are stiff, fairly light and apparently very tough.

The bike itself actually turned up 2 weeks early. Wonderful bike, unfortunately it's been back in Germany for a month as the frame developed a crack…

Size-wise, I'm 6 foot with very short legs - the medium is perfect. Well worth dialling the size in on a jig if you can - my LBS was happy to do it for a small fee.

Hi, I have an Aeroad CF SLX and it actually came with a 25mm rear tyre and 23 front. There is plenty clearance. Have you considered what size frame you're going to buy? The reason I ask is Canyon's PPS recommended a size L to me. I looked at the frame dimensions and decided to go with XL. It is pretty much perfect although I have the seatpost right on the max line. I'm quite a gangly 6'4" and I see you're even taller so just be careful and don't automatically trust their recommendation.

R.E.: Exalith
You won't get better braking, especially in the wet, this side of (hydraulic) discs. I reckon if this technology had trickled further down the range a couple of years ago discs wouldn't be getting quite the grip on the market that they are now. (I say that as someone who has been running cable discs on my winter bike for 3-4 years now).

Wheel smith Aero 38's: http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/aero-38-clincher or Walker Brothers 40mm Aero carbon clinchers: http://www.walker-brothers.co.uk/shop/4585910039/fleet-40mm-clincher-whe.... I'd also consider Tokyowheels based on their warranty: http://www.tokyowheel.com/products/epic-50-carbon-clincher-wheelset.

I've never ridden snub nosed deep section rims myself, but virtually all the reviews I've read indicate they handle crosswinds better than more pointy profiled designs. Of course I'm not saying the Mavics are bad, I'd just prefer rims with a more modern design.

I have no idea whether gusts are more or less likely to catch your front wheel if you're a heavy or a light rider but at 77kg I've found my front wheel being blown around more of a worry than the same happening to my body.

I've had SLE's the last 2 years now, can't fault them.
Bit quicker and stiffer than the fuclrum racing 3 i had before, better braking than any carbon rim my mates run (a range of eBay-404's) pretty aero as well.
Never had problems in cross winds either.

I think it is about time Mavic update their rim widths, but they seem quite a slow at adapting their products...maybe a good thing, I dunno. However, from running similarly profiled Reynolds carbon clinchers, I wouldn't buy a set of aero wheels that didn't have a more rounded profile and a wide width. Control in gusts is...exciting. You can get descent wide carbon clinchers of reassuring quality for under a grand, so at worst you could sell on the SLEs and then maybe fork out a couple hundred quid for a better profiled whelset.

By the sounds of things these mavic rims last a lot longer than a standard Alu rim if that is any conciliation. The AEROAD builds ain't as diverse as the other models, which is a shame. Don't understand why they don't offer SRAM or campy for instance!

They must surely accept a 25; we know a wider tyre is more aero...

What colour are you going for? I quite fancy the grey and yellow.

You are not wearing them down anymore than you are wearing down an Alu or Carbon rim when you brake - you will eventually wear out ANY rim. The SLEs are just breaking in...

Can't see the point in carbon clinchers, unless you are going into ENVE/ lightweight territory the price/performance ratio dosnt make sense. Carbon tubs on the other hand though...

Braking on exalith is vastly superior to carbon, especially in the wet. Yep, the narrow thing has gone out of fashion, with most manufacturers selling some variant of the wide rims made so popular by Zipp. Whether you can notice the difference between this design and the latest trend is another matter...

I don't think you would get enough cash from the sale of the SLEs to get a better carbon clincher really, I'd be inclined to stick with the much better braking on the Mavics. Plus exalith rims make a cool sound when slowing down The rim wear is normal, Mavic advise that some rim wear is expected with the Exalith coating.