- This is Alexander Kristoff's Canyon CF SLX Disc.
Oh yeah, you heard right.
Your eyes do not deceive you.
This is Alexander Kristoff Disc brake road bike,
and yes, it has already been raced in anger.
It's not just for show, even though,
to my eyes, at least, this is the one of the
prettiest bikes in the Pro Peloton.
(intense music)
The Aeroad Disc was released in August of last year,
although we have actually, thanks to
Alexander Kristoff, seen one or two
spy shots on his own Instagram account.
Lifting the lid on not only the frame set,
but also SRAM eTap HRD,
and for that, we do thank him still to this day.
Back to the frame set though.
The disc brake version is almost
identical to the rim brake version.
We gather that you have a slight penalty
aerodynamically for running disc brakes
by about one watt.
So not a great deal at all,
and in fact you can get that watt back
by removing the quick release handle
on the front through axle.
So interestingly enough, this bike
has just one quick release through axle,
and that's at the back, but you
can take the handle off, stick it on the front one,
and take your front wheel off.
So not lightening fast, but as I said
you do get that one watt saving.
And we did actually ask the mechanics
what their plan is in the event
of Kristoff getting a puncture on this bike,
and they said that at the sharp
end of a race, they just give him
a new bike entirely, but if there's
a little bit more time, the Peloton's
going slower, then they will change the wheel.
Now what about those wheels then?
Well, they are Zipp's 454NSWs.
You can spot them a mile off because
they have that characteristic bumpy, wavy profile.
The idea being that it helps to increase
the stability of the wheel so you
can run deeper wheels and at much
more turbulent conditions without
getting worried about being buffeted
from those side winds.
And so, they should be a much faster
set of wheels for Kristoff's bike,
but it took a while for the Pro Peloton
to adopt them and that's because
they're only sold in a clincher version,
but it doesn't take a genius to see
that actually these are tubular tires
glued onto the rim.
So we can therefore assume that
these are special Team Issue 454 tubular versions.
The tires that are glue onto these wheels
are Continental Competition Pro Limited tubulars,
and they're 25 millimeters wide.
Now before we leave the wheels entirely,
let's take a look at the disc rotor, shall we?
So the UCI standard for disc rotors
is 160 millimeters in diameter.
So that's what this bike's got.
And the reason they've tried to
implement a standard is so that
if Alexander was to get a puncture,
and his team cars weren't anywhere near by,
then he could conceivably get a
wheel from a neutral service,
but of course, he has to have the same
size disc rotor as everyone else.
So that is why your bike will probably
come with 160 mil rotors.
What it might not have is the really
rounded smoothed off edge that this has got,
and that is a new stipulation to
allow racers to continue to use discs,
and so whereas you have quite a square
edge on this disc that you might buy
from the shop, this is super super smooth,
and it's really really notable actually.
Now move around to the back of the bike
so I get a little bit closer to the group set.
It's got SRAM’s Red eTap HRD group set on there,
and that you'll remember is the wireless group set.
So nothing coming out the back
of this rear derailleur, and in actual fact,
there's a nice little rubber bung
placed in what would be the cable exit
to the frame there.
It is super smooth.
Now the rear derailleur is actually
a SRAM WiFli rear mech.
So that means it's got a slightly longer cage,
and therefore the mechanics can swap
any size cassette into this bike up to a 32.
So it's currently got an 11-28 in there,
but should there be a particularly
brutal mountain stage, they can
effortlessly swap to an 1132 with no further adjustments.
Moving forward a little bit then,
we've got SRAM Red cranks.
It uses pretty long now 175 millimeter cranks,
and he's got 39/53 tooth chain rings on there.
And don't forget as well, he's got
a really neat Quark D Zero power meter on that as well.
Now at the end of those cranks,
we've got a set of Look Keo 2s on there.
Now I asked the team mechanics why
they didn't have Look's absolute
top of the range pedals on there.
They've got a slightly more budget version.
And he said two reasons.
Firstly, they felt that the spring
was slightly more robust being
metal compared to carbon fiber.
So in the event of a crash,
they'll be less likely to be susceptible
to any impact, and also you can
adjust the tension really easily,
and I would imagine being a sprinter,
Kristoff's probably got those
cranked down pretty hard indeed.
Now one last point about the group set.
I've noticed that Kristoff doesn't use the SRAM blip.
So those are the kind of satellite shifters
that allow him to change gear
from different positions on the bar.
So you could attach them to the tops here,
and you could therefore shift when climbing
or indeed as a sprinter he might want them
on the drops there so he can sprint more easily,
but if I'm completely honest,
although I'm not a WorldTour sprinter,
I've never felt the need to add
blips on my SRAM eTap bike, and he doesn't either.
Being an aero bike, this Canyon comes
with its own proprietary one piece handle bar
and stem and also it's own seat post as well.
The reason being that actually,
particularly the handle bar and stem
has a huge impact in the overall
aerodynamic performance of the bike.
So conceivably, you could buy an aero frame,
and then stick a ridiculous stem on there
and a non-aero handle bar,
and you'd undo most of the good work
that you just invested in.
So, therefore he has this super aero
looking one piece number,
and it's particularly massive as well.
That's a 130 mil stem on there,
and it's absolutely slammed.
We'll come back to just how big
the drop from saddle to handle bar is in a moment
because we're going to turn our attention
to the seat post here.
It is a Kamm Tail design, so it's got
this flat section at the back.
As well as being aerodynamic,
one of the main reasons for doing so
is it actually improves the comfort of the seat post.
So you can get quite a lot more compliance
from there which is pretty important really,
let's face it.
Particularly if you're going to spend
long days in the saddle like at the Tour de France.
And the saddle, yes, of course.
It's a Selle Italia SLR Team Edition.
So carbon rails, and it's also got
a cut out in the middle as well.
Before I bust out the tape measure
and the weighing scales,
one last point to mention is the Tacx Bottle Cages.
So a lot of aero bikes have three bottle buses here,
so you can choose which height
you have your bottle cages at.
The lowest setting being
the most aerodynamic setting,
but Kristoff chooses to use a higher setting.
So sacrificing a little bit in
the way of aerodynamics, presumably
to make it easier to get his water bottle out.
Right then.
The vital stats.
Saddle height?
Oh, 80 centimeters.
Pretty punchy.
Pretty monster 61 centimeters reach as well.
15 centimeter saddle to bar drop.
That's pretty punchy 'cause these frames
are low and long at the best of times.
That's quite an extreme position.
Finally then, let's weight it.
Now you'll have to forgive me 'cause
it's windy up here, so it's going to go ballistic.
7,835, whew.
So not a featherweight, but super aero.
We did ask the mechanics whether or not
Alexander Kristoff was particular
about the set up of his bike,
and they said, that actually no,
he's pretty relaxed really.
As long as everything works, and it's in the right place,
he is a happy chap.
So there's no weird or eccentric touches on here.
Everything is just work horse and very, very pro.
Now make sure you let us know in the
comments section down below
exactly what you think about it.
Like I said, this is probably one
of my favorite looking bikes in the Pro Peloton.
So do you agree with me?
That's the question.
Now make sure you subscribe to GCN.
If you're into pro bikes or any
cycling content really, we've got
loads on the channel and loads coming up.
So make sure you click on the globe.
It's completely free to do so.
And then if you're after some more content
from here at the Tour de France,
we've got another pro bike for you
just down there or for a look inside
the Katusha team truck which is
rammed full of Canyon Aeroads, SRAM eTap and Zipp Wheels.
Click just down there.