- I'm here in Saitama, in Japan,
and I've managed to get my hands on this,
Alejandro Valverde's Canyon Ultimate CF SLX road bike.
Just check it out, what a piece of beauty.
Now, it's not the bike he actually piloted to victory
back at Innsbruck, back in September.
However, this one is ever so special.
Let's take a look at just why.
Well, Valverde himself, he stands at one meter 77,
which is five foot 10 roughly, there or thereabouts.
And he's opted for a size small frame,
which does actually surprise me,
'cause I would have thought he'd go for a medium,
just being a couple of inches shorter than myself.
But, well, Valverde, his palmares,
it speaks for itself, doesn't it,
so I'm not gonna advice him on a bike fit, that is for sure.
So the Ultimate CF SLX from Canyon
is in fact their kind of standard bike,
so it's not an aerodynamic all-out race machine,
it is the lighter addition of the two options available
for the Movistar riders.
But, the frame colors, wow.
This has been truly and utterly customized
for a world champion,
including some gold stripes here on the top tube,
as well as his name, and also, if it needs reminding,
the fact that he's world champion in Innsbruck in 2018.
Then mounted into frame, we've got a Canyon S13 seatpost
that has quite a bit of layback on it too.
Fitted into the seatpost is a Fizik Antares
and this one is ever so special too
because it's got some really thin stripes there,
just a reminder again that he's world champion
and I do like a white saddle.
And importantly, as well, in my opinion,
it's got carbon fiber rails on there,
just keeping it a little bit lighter too.
Moving forward, we've got a Canyon H36
integrated handlebar.
Now the width of them, they are 41 cm,
and that comes with a 12 cm stem.
Wrapping the bars, we've got the Lizard Skins bar tape,
which is really sticky, it's a little bit grubby,
but we're not gonna hold that against Alejandro,
because well, he's made it all the way to Japan
to race this, so I bet he's looking forward to it.
Mounted onto the bars are the Campagnolo Super Record EPS
brake levers/gear levers.
Stopping power on the rims,
so that's provided by Campagnolo too,
and it's the Super Record calipers.
And interesting here, a little interesting fact even,
is that the rear caliper is a single pivot
and the front is a dual pivot,
'cause most riders, they tend to actually use
the front brake for the majority of the time,
probably about 90% of the braking goes to the front,
believe it or not.
Fitted in there are the red pads from Campagnolo as well,
and they're specific for the carbon rims.
Moving on to the carbon rims,
well, we've got Campagnolo Bora Ultra 50s,
and they're fitted with ceramic bearings.
What is so cool about these wheels though
are those rainbow-colored decals.
They finish off this bike absolutely brilliantly.
But, we've not finished yet, have we.
Let's move on to the drive train.
Well, we've got Campagnolo Super Record EPS derailleurs,
by front and rear, and those derailleurs,
they are electronic, of course.
Cassette-wise, we've got an 11 to 29,
which is pretty much standard across the teams
using Campagnolo.
And the tires fitted onto these rims, well,
they're the Continental Competition Pro LTD ALXs,
which have a latex inner tube fitting inside of them.
Chainset-wise, well, we've got a power meter
integrated into the unit,
and the chainset is a Campagnolo Super Record,
with a 170 mm cranks.
But the power meter, that's courtesy of Power2Max,
and it's the NG model.
Now, if you look here, as well, we've also got some
World Championship colored bands on there as well
just to finish it off, I do like that.
And chain rings are 53/39 combination.
Pedals-wise, again, we've got some customizations,
because we've got some Look Carbon Keo Blade.
Check out that, Valverde with some, wow, I think,
really cool modern-looking stripes on the bottom there.
Now, if you're interested in Valverde's release tension
on those pedals, it's 16 newton meters.
So what about the finishing touches on this bike, then.
Well, first up, we've got some
spiral band wrapping material here,
so that's to join the EPS cable
along with the rear brake cable,
where it goes into the top tube,
always nice to keep those things nice and tidy.
Then, we've got a pair of Elite Custom
Race Plus bottle cages,
making sure he's nice and hydrated along the way, too.
And then, one of the really nice things
I like about this bike is the chain catcher here,
on the front derailleur.
It actually mounts onto the water bottle cage bosses,
on the seat tube.
I love that, I actually want to get one of those on my bike,
'cause I think it really tidies up the front end,
you don't need to mess around
adjusting your front derailleur to actually get that fitted.
Also, not forgetting here, we've got a couple
of Movistar logos too,
just to remind everyone who he races for.
Fitted on the underside of the integrated handlebar and stem
we've got a mount here from Canyon too,
and that's for the GPS unit to be fitted into.
And then, one of the things which we don't normally see
on any pro bikes like that,
are actually these little locking nuts here on the valves.
Why though?
Well, they're actually gonna prevent those valves
from rattling away inside of the carb
and giving a very irritating sound
that they sometimes can do.
So, slight weight penalty, but for the piece of mind
and the OCD lovers out there,
you will certainly agree that those things are a necessity.
What about Valverde's measurements, then?
Well, from the top of the saddle
to the center of the bottom bracket is 76 cm.
And then from the tip of the saddle
to the center of the bars, 56.5cm.
Now, take a quick look, and you'll see
how far-forward his saddle is,
absolutely slammed on those rails.
Also, there's no setback at all on the seatpost there.
He's got that all the way forward too.
And interestingly as well,
the drop from the saddle to the handlebars is 13 cm.
And the weight to the bike, including an empty water bottle,
I must just add, is 7.03Kg.
Right, the moment you've all been waiting for, I know.
The freehub sound check.
Let's have a listen.
So there we are, Alejandro Valverde's
World Championship colored Canyon Ultimate CF SLX.
Let me know what you think of it
down there in the comments section below.
I absolutely love it, because I love custom paintwork.
Now, as ever, remember to like and share this video
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this time another pro bike,
how about clicking just down here.
And I'm gonna take this bad boy for a quick spin.
Bye!