Canyon launch Inflite AL and Ultimate CF SL at Eurobike

Canyon have launched the Inflite AL, a disc-equipped cyclo-cross bike, here at Eurobike. It's available in two 'cross builds, and showing its versatility, a slick tyred build with 28mm tyres and mudguards. We really like these sort of adaptable bikes here at roadcc; you could do a cyclo-cross race on a Sunday, and ride to work with slicks and 'guards on Monday morning.

It's Canyon's first cyclo-cross bike. The frame is made from aluminium and has some similarity with their Ultimate AL road bike in some of the tube profiles and the shared Maximus seat tube. Both gear cables on this Ultegra model are routed internally, while the brake cable for the mechanical Shimano disc brakes is laced along the top tube, so it's well out of the way of mud being flung up by the wheels.

The fork is carbon, and they've gone with quick release axles front and rear. There's mounts for mudguards, utilised on the Infite AL 8.0 S model, along with a Shimano 105 groupset, Mavic Crossone 29 wheels and Continental Grand Prix 4-Season 28mm tyres. Prices haven't been confirmed for this bike yet, but they're suggesting it should be about £1,000.

We reckon this bike is an appealing prospect for anyone seeking a versatile do-everything bike, whether it's for year-round commuting or as a winter training bike, especially as you can't fit mudguards to any other Canyon road frames. The other two models, the AL 8.0 and AL 9.0, are both built with Schwalbe Racing Racing 'cross tyres and obviously better suited to 'cross riding and racing.

All three bikes use Shimano's CX77 mechanical disc brakes. Canyon UK were hoping to bring this bike to market in the next month or so, but a voluntary recall of the brakes means it's likely to be pushed back to October at the earliest.

The new Ultimate CF SL is produced using the exact same mould as that used for the Ultimate CF SLX we tested earlier this year, but uses difference carbon fibre in the layup process to keep the price down. At 940g, the frame is little heavier but still firmly under the kilogram so still a good candidate for a light build.

No prices yet, but seeing as it slots in below the Ultimate CF SLX range which starts at about £2.5k, that gives you some idea of how much this Ultegra build with Cosmic wheels here might cost. We'll confirm all prices when they're released, likely in October.

No changes to the Ultimate CF SLX, other than this Campagnolo build utilising the new internal EPS battery.

We here at road.cc like aluminium frames, and this Ultimate AL SLX is a very nice looking high-end aluminium bike.

The frame has been tweaked a little bit, with a new straight blade carbon fork, carbon seatpost and slightly longer chainstays to produce greater ride stability. It's available with Shimano Ultegra Di2 or SRAM Force 22. It has even been approved by the UCI... 

Alexander Kristoff finished 9th in Paris-Roubaix this year, and here is the bike he raced, still covered in mud and dust from the pave.

He raced the Ultimate CF SLX and it's built with a mechanical Shimano Dura-Ace 11-speed groupset, which is interesting because it's races like Paris-Roubaix where riders can be very particular about the bike set-ups and the products they use.