This week’s Zwift update includes a new Aeroad from Canyon. This is the 4th version of the Aeroad to come to Zwift, and the fastest yet:
This is a “team edition” of the bike, in the Alpecin-Premier Tech colorway. On Zwift, you’ll need to be updated to game version 1.117+ to see this bike in the Drop Shop. You’ll also need to be at level 30+ with 1,750,000 Drops to buy it. Here’s how it’s described in game:
Inspired by one of the most exciting teams in the peloton, this special-edition Canyon Aeroad celebrates the attacking spirit of Alpecin-Premier Tech. Raced by Mathieu van der Poel and some of cycling’s fastest finishers, it pairs WorldTour-winning aerodynamics with a design built for riders who aren’t afraid to animate the race. When the opportunity appears, this bike is ready to go all in.
See our master list of all frames in Zwift >
It’s rated 3 stars for aero and 4 stars for weight, like other top all-arounders on Zwift. But that’s a sizeable group of bikes at this point, so the question becomes: how does it actually perform? Since Zwift’s 4-star system isn’t the most granular performance metric, we ran this frame through our precise tests to measure performance in nerd-level detail. Let’s dive in!
Note: test results below are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock 32mm Carbon wheelset on the un-upgraded version of the frame, unless otherwise noted. Test results have an error margin of approximately 1 second.
Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance
With the Canyon Aeroad 2024 already one of the most aerodynamic bikes in the game, we figured this updated version might be slightly faster. And we were right! The new Aeroad CFR is just a bit more aero than the 2024 version, turning in times just a fraction of a second faster across an hour of riding.
The frame’s time puts it 63.3 seconds ahead of our baseline frame across an hour of riding. That’s just behind the most aero bike in game, the new Cervelo S5 at 63.5 seconds.
Climb Performance
The Aeroad CFR weighs the same as the Aeroad 2024, which means its climb test results are essentially the same (within our test’s margin of error). That means the Aeroad CFR is at the bottom of the list of top all-arounders when it comes to climbing performance, easily beaten by bikes like the Specialized Tarmac SL9, Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71 Team, and Pinarello Dogma F 2024.
The frame’s climb test time puts it 43.6 seconds ahead of the baseline frame after an hour, which is ~14 seconds behind the Specialized Tarmac SL9.
Upgrading Your Canyon Aeroad CFR Alpecin Premier-Tech Frame on Zwift
Like all frames in Zwift, the Aeroad CFR Alpecin Premier-Tech can be upgraded in five stages. It uses the Distance, High-End upgrading scheme, giving it the following characteristics:
Performance At Each Upgrade Stage
This chart shows how many seconds this frame will save across 1 hour of riding compared to our stage 0 baseline frames (Zwift Carbon or TT). This is based on a 75kg rider, 183cm tall, at 300 watts, riding on tarmac.
Upgrade Stages (Distance, High-End)
- 200km: Aero Upgrade for 100k Drops
- 260km: Weight Upgrade for 200k Drops
- 320km: Drivetrain Upgrade for 350k Drops
- 380km: Aero Upgrade for 500k Drops
- 440km: Weight Upgrade for 750k Drops
Conclusions
The new Canyon Aeroad CFR Alpecin Premier-Tech is super aero, second only to the new Cervelo S5. But it loses enough on the climbs to other top all-arounders that I doubt we’ll see many of these bikes in the Zwift race peloton.
The Canyon 2024 is popular because it’s fast and available at just level 10. While this new Aeroad CFR is available at level 30 (and most of the top all-arounders are level 40), I would guess most riders will simply buy the Aeroad 2024 at level 10, then hold on to level 40 to buy their next strong all-arounder.
We’ll be adding this bike to the following posts soon:
- Zwift Shopping Guide: What To Buy from the Drop Shop at Each Level
- The Top 10 Road Bikes in Zwift
- Zwift Speed Tests: Frame Ranking Charts
- A Complete List of Zwift Bike Frames (added)
Questions or comments?
What do you think of Canyon’s new Aeroad in Zwift? Share below…
Important note: this post contains speed test results for Zwift frames or wheels. These results may change over time, and a bike's performance relative to others may also change. We don't always revise posts when performance rankings change, but we do keep current, master versions of our speed test results which are always available. See the frame charts, wheel charts, and Tron vs Top Performers for current performance data.
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