UPDATE (Oct 23, 2020): Zwift added a bit of weight to the Aeroad 2021, so it’s no longer the top climber in game. Still a great all-arounder, but the data below isn’t quite accurate anymore. Best to look at the updated top performer scatter plots for current numbers.
We’ve already talked about how Zwift’s newly-released Canyon Aeroad 2021 frame is exceptionally fast. But how exactly does it line up against the top setups in game?
Test results from the new Aeroad have been added to our frame performance charts, and the results show just what a standout frame this is. Here’s a selection of those charts, so you can see just how this new frame stacks up.
Top Performers Scatter Plot
In this chart, we endeavored to compare the much-loved Tron bike to the fastest frames+wheelsets.
Plot points are colored based on bike frame:
- Yellow = Zwift Concept Z1 (Tron)
- Red = Specialized Venge S-Works: the most aero frame in game (798,800 Drops, level 33)
- Green = Specialized Tarmac SL7: a balanced all-arounder (674,500 Drops, level 5)
- Blue = Specialized Tarmac Pro: formerly the best climber in game (408,300 Drops, level 11)
- Black = Canyon Aeroad 2021: the new best climber and all-arounder (532,500 Drops, level 23)
Wheelsets used, in order of aero performance:
- Zipp 858/Super9 (1,508,800 Drops, level 45)
- Zipp 858 (312,400 Drops, level 37)
- ENVE 7.8 (205,900 Drops, level 39)
- Zipp 808 (177,600, level 13)
- DT Swiss ARC 1100 DiCut 62 (184,600 Drops, level 6)
- ENVE 3.4 (191,700 Drops, level 4)
- Lightweight Meilensteins (unlocked via Alpe du Zwift spinner)
Here’s what the original chart looked like, before the Aeroad 2021 was released (mouse over the plot points to see what they represent):
And here’s the new chart, with the Aeroad 2021 in black and corrected data for the Tarmac Pro:
Impressive, right? What this chart clearly shows is that the new Aeroad’s mix of light weight and super aero performance allows it to meet or beat the best in-game setups at almost every point of the performance curve.
Frame Performance Scatter Plot
This chart shows all the frames in game, except the very slowest. You can see the Aeroad 2021 (the orange dot at the bottom-left) is a definite outlier.
Frame Percentile Rankings, Stacked
This is one of our favorite charts, as it helps us see clearly how frames stack up in terms of overall performance. Look at how the Canyon Aeroad 2021 blows away the field! No other aero bike comes close to the Aeroad’s top-notch climbing performance, and other climbing bikes aren’t nearly as slippery as the Aeroad.
Conclusions
We predict we’ll be seeing a lot of Aeroad 2021 frames in Zwift races soon. It’s a cool-looking frame with color changing abilities, it’s available at just level 23, and it doesn’t cost much (532,500 Drops). But most of all, its performance is unmatched, since it turns in ~50 minute flat within just 2 seconds of the very best frames in game while outclimbing everyone.
Many Zwifters find they struggle most when the road tilts up in a race. Riding the Aeroad 2021 means you’ll have a very lightweight bike while climbing, giving you a bit of an advantage at the most challenging spots in your race. And you’ll get this without sacrificing much of anything on high-speed descents and flats.
To be honest, we were surprised when the recently-released Specialized Tarmac SL7 turned in such lackluster times in our tests. The Canyon Aeroad 2021 performs the way we thought the Tarmac SL7 would. Why did Zwift set things up this way? You would need to ask them!
Page Updates
The new Aeroad is so fast, we had to update several of our “top performer” pages! Here’s a list of posts which now include the Canyon Aeroad 2021:
- Fastest Bike Frames for Climbing (ranked #1)
- Fastest Bike Frames for Flat/Rolling Races (ranked #4)
- Fastest Frame and Wheelset up Alpe du Zwift (guess who?)
- Fastest Bike Frames and Wheels for Zwifters Level 30 and Below (ranked #1)
- Zwift Shopping Guide: What To Buy At Each Level (added as a Must Buy!)
- Updated charts on various pages including Frame Ranking Charts (ranked first in the stacked percentile ranking chart), Tron vs Top Performers Scatter Plot, and Wheel and Frame Performance Scatter Plots. These charts are also included on this page.
Your Thoughts
What do you think about the new Aeroad’s standout performance? Have you added it to your garage yet? Comment below!
Replaced the Cervelo S5 as my new goto frame for most rides. Keeping the S5 for totally flat. Not upto Venge level yet but wondering if now worth getting that considering limited advantage over S5 on flat.
In the garage, bought it when it came out in the release. Like the color change ability, seems to be the top all around best choice. One thing I think Zwift should bring back and put on the drop shop is that Ceramic Speed Rear Mech That was a nice Watt Pick Up!
The OSPW was fast, for sure! A big advantage.
It seems the OSPW disappeared. I thought you keep it once you completed the challenge… 🤷
Nope. It was always a temporary thing.
Is this the bike door completing the Academy this year?
The Tron bike is missing in your stacked graph, but looks like it would still be the overall king but the slightest of margins
Is the Tron Bike really still the best bike for all round and flat stages? How is the Canyon 2021 with Meilenstein wheels for Climbes?
No, there are at least three frames which are faster than the Tron, when coupled with a disc wheelset.
The tron bike is still the coolest looking bike out there though!!
10/10 in style. Would love if a tron outfit existed. Can’t imagine what the unlock for that would be.
climb the equivalent of earth to the moon
*lets make this happen!*
We’ve never included the Tron in the stacked graph, since that graph is only comparing frames, and the Tron is a frame+wheelset combo.
The scatter plot up higher on the page compares the Tron to some top performing frame+wheels combinations though.
Specialized must be delighted that Canyon is the new king of Zwift. Until a Specialized fanboy developer quietly changes the Canyon frame weight in the database 😉
Zwift still can’t nail the colors. As with the Tron bike, it’s either orange on one end of the color scale, or pink at the other — why no red???
The color selection allows only hue. It should also allow for saturation, to provide for a richer color space.
Do you think they’ll dial it back a bit soon, like they did with the tarmac pro?
I.e
Will they think they’ve made a mistake later on?
Anything is possible with Zwift HQ. And you can bet they’ll leave us in the dark about any changes too, let us keep thinking its performance is something it’s not. They’re very good at that.
I wonder how much they paid Zwift to have the best climbing bike?
I’ve always wondered why brands would want their products on Zwift when Zwift make them perform so poorly. Its not exactly good for the brand.
This particular bike looks like an aero bike not a light climbing bike. To make it quick up the hills therefore seems strange to me.
Does anyone know how it performs on the flats? Is it better than the Venge?
I like to have the best equipment for the rout I’m riding so I will use it. Its a shame though that its so ugly. The one positive though is you can adjust the colour so I’ve been able to make it match my Level 50 jersey.
The post above shows how it performs on the flats.
Now I have to finish ZA for the frame.
You can buy the frame now
Well, this shows how zwift really works. You can make a aero bike to the best climbing bike, if you just pay enough money to a software company. Well done canyon, and at least on zwift you don’t have to fight with this poor customer support from canyon when you have a problem with you bike 😂
To be fair the new aeroad hasn’t launched yet irl 10/6/2020 it launches.. maybe the new one will be that good.
well, this looks straight up overpowered :3
I like that I am riding a 12 pound Helium SLX IRL yet pick a 15+ pound Canyon Aeroroad in game because it is lighter.
Given Specialized is an investor in Zwift, how did this happen? Sinyard must be apoplectic.
Or, to look at it from a different perspective, competing bike brands are now paying money (indirectly) to Specialized as part of an almost completely inconsequential digital game of one-upmanship. I think i’d be laughing all the way to the bank.
@eric schlange, does the ranking change if you’re timing all the frame with flat section + hill section + downhill section ? You didn’t timing the downhill section yet, could be a huge avantage i guess ! (in bigger loop for example)
If a bike is faster on the flat, it’ll be faster on the downhill as well. So we haven’t spent much time analyzing decent times, since they can be inferred from flat times.
Great. Aeroad 2021 is definitely in my garage now. The virtual one 😉
Waiting for the wheelset comparison scatter plot! 🤓
There’s a wheelset comparison scatter here: https://zwiftinsider.com/scatter/
I thought something was wrong when SL7 was made available at such a low Level compare to all the previous one (Allez Sprint etc.). Glad I hold off and got the Canyon last week; otherwise, it’s going to be another Zwift disappointment lolz
according to VeloNews: 7.26 kg with the DT Suisse wheels in top-end model, no paint (which is heavy), with SRAM (lightest component group). Since DT Suisse wheels are within 1 second of the best climbing Edge 3.2s, and now this is the best climbing frame, this is completely implausible, as it’s 2 kg heavier than my 2008 Fuji SL/1. ref: https://www.velonews.com/gear/road-gear/canyon-aeroad-cfr-aero-road-bike-review/
The DT swiss wheels IRL are the 64mm deep, not the 48mm in game. Depends on the frame size that Zwift weigh, but Canyon sizes are odd, I ride a Small Canyon, but medium anything else, so if the weighed a small frame, even with deep wheels it could come in around 6.8 kg. Still should not climb better than a Emonda or a Cannondale EVO, but looks like Zwift gave the Tarmac Pro its correct stats, as it used to perform like an S-Works Tarmac SL6 XLite, not a Tarmac Pro.
Comparing the Dura Ace Di2 Ultimate SLX rim brake and the Dura Ace CFR Di2 Aeroad 2021, removing wheel weight from each shows Ultimate weighs in at 5kg without wheels whilst the Aeroad weighs 5.5 kg. I’m not sure if zwift factors in the difference in weight between disc groupsets and rim group sets. Also one review found their size medium arrived at 6.9 ish kg, whilst another received one at 7.2kg
If zwift don’t factor in rim vs disc groupset weights, and zwift weighed a particularly light Aeroad frame (assuming they weigh frames themselves), it would be possible for the in game aeroad to be around 100 grams lighter than the Ultimate SLX, which would match the in game performance of both frames
Or Canyon could have paid them a lot of $$$
They don’t weigh anything.
I think what happened is they said “this bike is 150 grams” or whatever less than the last AeroRoad (according to someone @ Canyon). That was the only comparison. But the thing is in Zwift is actual differences in bike performance tend to be compressed, to reduce w/o eliminating the effect on the game. So if you apply a full impact (as was done with CeraminSpeed pulleys, for example, using a comparison to Shimano, the worst pulleys on the market), it ends up being a game-buster.
I got a lot of criticism on FB for comments about this — “you take the game too seriously”, or “it’s not supposed to be realistic”. I disagree — aspects aren’t realistic, for sure, but it is supposed to adhere the basic physics, which is lighter stuff (bikes, riders) climb faster @ the same power.
If you look @ Eric’s plots, the AeroRoad + the best wheels are essentially as good as the Z1. This is the only bike for which this is true. You draw line segments thru the data points, and anything to the lower left is better. This bike and the Z1 fall basically on the same curve. All other bike/wheel combos are to the upper right. So this is sort of a game buster, at least until the Specialized Aeros is introduced, perhaps net release.
For me, up Alpe du Zwift in ERG mode at 4.1 w/kg (61kg, 250W), Aeroad 2021 with Meilenstein wheels was 23 seconds faster than the Tron bike. (48:15 vs. 48:38)
Sounds about right. In our tests at 300 watts/75kg there was a 19s difference.
Can you do a test with road helmets? I saw you mention in an article way back that their is an advantage to wearing an aero helmet – but I’ve not seen any data on that. And it would be handy to know.
We’ve tested them and found no measurable speed improvement (like, not even 1 second over 50 minutes).
With yesterday (10/22/20) ‘s update, the Canyon Aeroad 2021 now only has three stars for weight, so the data presented here is likely out of date. The Tarmac Pro might be the best climbing frame again now.
I’m pretty new to zwift (5/6 weeks) and I’ve got to level 15.
Based on a few other articles and some videos I opted for the cannondale evo for climbing and the specialised allez sprint for others. It’s pretty confusing and hard to keep up with which articles are up to date so thanks for this. My question is should I buy and be using the canyon for everything now?
I got myself this nice looking canyon airoad 2021 just won the specialized tarmac so I was checking out perhaps to swap my canyon for the specialized which is an awesome bike in real nope for the game sake I keep the canyon
Zwifting on Colnago CX1 EVO Carbon with Campagnolo Super Record 11 speed super bike