Canyon Endurace CF SLX Disc 8.0 eTap 2020

The Canyon Endurace CF SLX Disc 8.0 eTap is the ideal bike for riding fast and long. It's quick, offers plenty of stiffness, and comes fitted with the highly efficient gear ratios of the 12-speed SRAM Force eTap groupset. It's a match made in heaven.

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Ride

The Endurace is Canyon's take on the endurance bike – a road bike that sacrifices a little bit of performance for a gain in comfort. Although, this CF SLX Disc 8.0 model doesn't really sacrifice that much.

With hydraulic disc brakes and wireless mechs, this medium sized eTap model weighs in at a pretty light 7.77kg (17.1lb), which transfers to the ride. It's very responsive under acceleration and pretty good on the climbs too.

Stiffness levels are high, which means you can attack the hills either seated or smashing it out of the saddle, and when I only had time for a quick blast of an hour or so I enjoyed riding the Canyon hard. It definitely has a get up and go attitude.

It's on longer trips where the Endurace really shows its hand, though, mostly because of how comfortable it is.

The first thing you'll notice is the bump-taming properties of the leaf-spring S15 VCLS 2.0 CF seatpost. It allows a small amount of movement which takes the edge off rough road surfaces and just smooths the ride – great when you are out for four or five hours as you'll return home noticeably less beaten up around the chamois area.

What I like the most about it, though, is that there is no 'bounce' like you get with a suspension seatpost. If you are riding at a decent lick it doesn't feel like any of your effort is being wasted through the post; the Canyon feels taut and you're getting back everything that you are putting in.

The Endurace also has impressive tyre clearance, coming as standard with 30mm tyres and with room to go up to at least 32mm. The Reynolds wheels are tubeless ready as well, so you can drop the pressures if you like. I didn't. I like the feel and feedback of a pumped-up tyre and even when swapping out the S15 post for a standard rigid carbon one, the CF SLX frame shows its quality ride.

The carbon lay-up seems to have been done well, and while you are getting all of that stiffness, that doesn't cause harshness.

Geometry-wise, the Endurace sits somewhere between a race bike and many endurance bikes. It's a well-behaved machine that's easy to live with, but let it off the leash and you can have some fun.

The steering is quick, but surefooted. At speed on technical descents, the Endurace feels planted, and I was really comfortable just staying off the brakes and letting the bike get on with it.

This size Endurace has a top tube 7mm shorter than the equivalent Aeroad (Canyon's race model) and an extra 12mm of height at the head tube for a more relaxed position, but that didn't stop me being able to get relatively stretched out. Whether pushing along on the flat or tackling a downhill, I could get my bodyweight well distributed over the bike, either for aerodynamics or for balance through the tight bends.

Frame and fork

Unlike many brands Canyon doesn't give too many details away about what materials are used in the construction of its frames and forks, but when I visited the factory a few years ago an employee told me that they use a range of grades of carbon fibre in the frames.

Whatever the specifics, Canyon gives a claimed weight of just 820g for the CF SLX frame.

Overall, the quality looks to be very good, and I especially like the Red Tinted finish which looks to be a red lacquer sprayed over the top of the natural carbon finish. It catches the sun well!

With SRAM eTap being completely wireless, the only thing you have entering the frame is the rear brake hose, but should you go for a Shimano Di2 or mechanical groupset everything will be run internally anyway, which gives a clean look overall.

The seat tube clamp is also integrated into the frame.

In fact, even though the Endurace isn't designed to be an out and out race bike, it does have quite an aero and sleek look to it.

The Endurace does have a slightly taller head tube than the Aeroad, but Canyon has increased the front end height through the fork length, so it still retains the smooth transition between the head and top tube.

Also, the seat tube, top tube and seatstays are all moulded into one.

For increased stiffness, Canyon has gone for a press-fit bottom bracket. Pressing the bearing cups into the frame rather than screwing a set of outboard bearings onto it means you can achieve a wider BB shell, and therefore wider down tube, seat tube and chainstays without affecting the distance between the pedals, known as the Q-factor.

This design can creak if the tolerances aren't spot on between the mating faces, but in what has been a real mixture of very wet and very dry rides over the last few months, there have been no issues on that front.

Other details are pretty much standard: 12mm thru-axles front and rear, and flat mounts for the brake callipers.

The Endurace is available in seven sizes from 2XS to 2XL, which isn't bad for a carbon frame – moulds are expensive to create, after all. You get a stack range of 510mm to 644mm, and reach options of 360mm through to 417mm.

The F38 CF Disc fork has quite slender legs for a performance bike, but they do help to tame the road buzz while retaining enough stiffness to cancel out any understeer when you corner hard. There is no 'dive' when you brake hard, either.

Finishing kit

As you can probably guess from the name, this model comes with SRAM's electronic groupset, eTap.

Canyon has gone for the Force level components and they really are very good. It's also really changed my opinion on gear ratios.

The majority of the bikes we get sent in for testing are specced with a Shimano groupset, most with a compact 50/34-tooth chainset, mated to an 11-28T 11-speed cassette, but SRAM has gone 12 speed; the sprockets on the Canyon range from 10T to 33T, which gives you extra ratios at either end of the range.

It doesn't feel as though it has any large gaps between the gears either. Well, except the five-tooth jump from the second biggest sprocket to the biggest. That's a bit of a step, but to be fair, if you need the 33T it's as a bailout gear.

The use of a small 10T sprocket means SRAM has been able to drop the large chainring to 48T while still giving you a top-end gear inch measurement of 127 compared to 120.4. On the Vitus Vitesse Evo Team I reviewed, which had the same setup, I managed to achieve 57mph while still having a gear to push against.

At the other end, the 35T small chainring and 33T sprocket relates to a 28in gear as opposed to the higher 32in of 34x28.

Having this large spread of gears, I found the Canyon to be very efficient and, to be honest, unless you are sprinting you never need to stand up – which means you need a very good saddle.

Canyon has gone for a Fizik Aliante R3, and it has a shape I really get on with.

As I mentioned earlier, the eTap system is completely wireless. The shifters use a coin-style battery which should last around a year depending on how much you change gears, and both the mechs come with their own rechargeable offerings.

I've set the system up from scratch when I fitted the Canyon with the Wide version of the Force groupset, and it is really easy to do, so any fettling will be a breeze for even the biggest technophobe.

Shifting is very good right across the cassette and chainrings, and it is an intuitive groupset to use. You have just one paddle button on each shifter. The right hand one moves the chain down the cassette, the left one up it. If you want to switch chainrings then you press both together – simples.

As an added bonus, the chainset comes fitted with a Quark DZero power meter as standard.

When it comes to braking, the Endurace uses 160mm rotors front and rear.

I find SRAM's hydraulic braking systems a little more on/off than Shimano's, requiring a little more control to avoid locking up, but I can't fault the overall power, and modulation is still very decent.

With the gearing being electronic and not requiring the mechanical workings, the hoods are reduced in size over other SRAM shifters; they still aren't quite as svelte as the Di2 equivalents, but they are comfortable.

I've touched on the fact that Canyon supplies the seatpost and it also provides the handlebar. Well, handlebar/stem combo... it's an all-in-one job. The H31 Ergocockpit is designed to reduce the bike's frontal area and it's a comfortable bar, with just enough flex to take the edge off, but not so much that it feels soft in your hands when sprinting. The flat top sections give a comfortable hand position too.

Different size frames get different combinations of stem length and bar width, but that isn't going to suit everybody. This medium comes with the equivalent of a 100mm stem and 420mm wide bar. I normally go for a bit more length in the stem, but it didn't affect me too much.

If you have wide shoulders or a long torso and want to increase the sizes, it does make things a bit of a faff; you also can't adjust the angle of the bar.

To be honest, I've ridden loads of integrated systems without issue, but if you have a very specific bike fit you might struggle.

Wheels and tyres

As you'd expect on a bike costing north of five grand, the usual suspects that are scrimped on, aren't.

This Endurace comes with a lovely set of Reynolds AR41 carbon wheels which, when we reviewed them back in 2019, delivered a solid all-round performance.

They are 41mm deep, so offer a small aerodynamic advantage on the flat, but also work well in the hills thanks to their 1,630g weight.

With a 21mm internal width and 30mm external, they work very well with wider tyres, hence why Canyon has gone for 30mm Schwalbe Pro One Evos. Very nice tyres indeed, offering loads of grip and a very supple ride.

Value

With its direct-to-consumer model, Canyon often scores well on value for money. Here, though, it faces some stiff competition.

The Vitus I mentioned earlier has a slightly more aggressive position thanks to a stack height some 30mm lower, but other than that things are very similar. With the same groupset, carbon Prime wheels and a traditional bar/stem combo it costs just £3,699.99 which makes it a very competitive option if you aren't that bothered about having the power meter. It's only 300g heavier too.

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Rose is currently offering the X-Lite Six Disc in a Force eTap build for £4,264.67 (down from £4,699) and it has a claimed weight of a mere 6.9kg. (We tested the Shimano Ultegra Di2 model in 2018.) Again, it doesn't come with the power meter of the Canyon, which helps explain the lower price as the Quarq DZero has an rrp of around £860.

Even if you add this into the equation, though, both the Vitus and Rose look good value.

With the Endurace you are also getting a very good set of wheels in the package, and that carbon cockpit, so I wouldn't say it's overpriced. And it's all backed up by a very good frameset.

Conclusion

Overall, the CF SLX Disc 8.0 offers a great ride with loads of comfort and impressive stiffness for when you need it. If you like to ride fast and far then it should definitely be on your short list, especially if you want all of the added data from the included power meter.

Verdict

All the comfort of an endurance bike while delivering the pace of a race bike