One Easter egg included in Zwift’s most recent update is a new bike frame: the Canyon Aeroad 2021. No mention of the new frame was made in the release notes, but Zwifters quickly noticed the frame’s availability in the Drop Shop:
Canyon’s 2021 Aeroad has been seen IRL at various pro races, including stage 3 of the Tour de France with Team Movistar. It’s not yet listed on Canyon’s website for sale, but our guess is we’ll be seeing it there soon. It probably showed up in-game yesterday because it’s related to the final unlock for 2020 Zwift Academy Road (we’re not sure if you unlock the frame or just a custom paint scheme like years past).
The original Aeroad was rated 3 stars for aero, and 3 for weight. It made our list of fastest Zwift bikes (ranking in the 88th percentile), but its climbing performance was quite weak (31st percentile).
Note: the original Canyon Aeroad is no longer listed for sale in the Drop Shop, although it will still show up in your garage if you purchased it previously.
Let’s get to the big question: how does the new Aeroad perform?
A Slippery Climber
The 2021 Aeroad is rated 3 stars for aero, but 4 for weight, meaning it is lighter than the previous Aeroad. Our initial tests have shown that the new Aeroad maintains the same speedy performance of the original Aeroad on flat/rolling roads, but turns in an amazingly fast climb time. In fact, it’s now the best climbing frame in our tests up Alpe du Zwift!
Yes, you read that right. Canyon’s 2021 Aeroad in Zwift is the new best climber and all-arounder, turning in a flat course performance just 3-4 seconds slower than the fastest rigs over ~50 minutes, while it turns in an Alpe climb performance 13 seconds faster than those zippy aero frames over ~50 minutes. Losing 3-4 seconds on the flats to gain 13 seconds is a trade many riders will happily make.
Since it only requires level 23+ and is priced at 532,500 Drops (same as the old Aeroad), this bike is a steal.
Comparing it to the Tron bike (because that’s what racers love to do), we see that the 2021 Aeroad with the new DT Swiss wheels (a nice all-around choice) is 18 seconds slower over a ~50 minute flat, but 12 seconds faster up a ~50 minute Alpe du Zwift climb.
Conclusion: if you’re looking for a non-Tron frame that will serve you well on climbs while sacrificing very little on the flats, the Canyon Aeroad 2021 is your best choice. It’s not quite the most aero, and not quite the lightest – but it’s very close to the best in both of these categories, making it the best all-arounder currently available.
Route Choice
While pan-flat routes are still better suited to the most aero bikes (S-Works Venge, Felt AR, etc), the new Aeroad is the perfect choice for routes with decisive climbs including:
- London’s Box/Fox and Leith/Keith hills
- Innsbruck’s KOM
- Watopia’s Epic KOM, Alpe du Zwift, NYC’s KOMs
- Bologna
- France’s Ven-Top
The frame should also prove useful on courses with punchy decisive climbs such as Yorkshire, Richmond UCI, and Innsbruckring with its Leg Snapper. (In fact, I used the new Aeroad in a race today on Yorkshire’s Royal Pump Room 8 and turned in my best performance yet on that challenging route!)
Coming Up
Once we’ve finished our test runs we’ll update various posts on this site to reflect the new Aeroad’s status. Those posts include our Zwift Shopping Guide, the lists of fastest climbing and aero frames, and charts such as our frame performance charts and Tron-comparison scatter plot.
Questions or Comments?
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.
Thanks Eric, great work. What about a rolling course, something like Watopia Hilly. Taking it the Tron, Venge with 858 disc is still the way to go?
Just to save everyone doing what I just did, which is loading the game to take a look.
Its a level 23 unlock for 532,500 drops.
Thanks!
Eric — Thanks, as always for this excellent info. I’m a bit confused, though. You say above that over about 50 minutes on a flat course the Canyon is 18 seconds slower than the Tron, but also that the Canyon is only 3-4 seconds slower than the fastest bikes over about 50 minutes on a flat course. This seems inconsistent. Would you be so kind as to clarify?
I understood 3-4 seconds slower than the non-tron fastest bikes.
It’s dependent on the wheels: If you put the same wheels on the Venge and the new Aeroad, the Venge will be 3-4 seconds quicker (for every wheelset). The Aeroad is 18 seconds slower than the Tron on the flat with the DT Swiss, which by my calculation means it would be about the same speed as the Tron on the flat using the 858 Supers (but 5 seconds slower uphill). If you are on a dead flat course you are still better with the Tron or Venge and 585/s if you have it. But on acourse with any appreciable… Read more »
Thanks. This is very helpful. Any reason you didn’t include the Zipp 454s on your list? Best I can tell from ZI’s analysis, they are basically a wash with the DT Swiss.
no reason other than the DT Swiss were mentioned and you can pick them up earlier than the 454s (I think) 😀
So you reckon this would be better than Tron on a mixed course with some climbs Chris??
I’d go for this + DT Swiss or similar on anything with a medium-long climb, or a course with several shorter but decisive climbs. It will depend on your ride style to some extent: I’m a light rider. I can usually hang in the draft of the stronger riders on the flat and I couldn’t do much good on the front of a group even if I got there. So this looks like a great option for me across a whole range or races, because I’ll tend to want to sit in with the front group then attack on climbs… Read more »
You can still grab this in the drop shop on Apple tv. I just grabbed it right now before it gets removed.
It’s the old Aeroad that gets removed. The new one is there on every platform now.
Ah, cheers, didn’t see that.
I may have missed it, but I didn’t see if you mentioned whether it is level blocked in the drop shop?
He didn’t mention it (probably at level 50 he just doesn’t see it), but someone above wrote it is level 23.
Hey Eric,
I updated my Zwift yesterday but I still can’t see the new frame in the Drop Shop
I opened my drop shop and saw the Canyon but it didn’t say 2021. I exited and updated the zwift app on my iPhone (I usually use the apple tv for zwift). This time the 2021 was there and the old one was gone. FYI to those looking at this.
It was available just now, 9/30, 8am California time so I bought it. I’m Level 29 and it only cost 532k drops. Such a deal!
can you change colour of the frame?
yes, there’s the usual slider
Yes, but only the accent colours change. The bulk of the frame is the light grey seen above.
Does anyone have a good feel for where flat ends and “mixed” begins? Look at Volcano Flat, for example. It’s got 50 meters of climbing per lap. Does that call for the fastest frame you’ve got with the most aero wheels you’ve got or does it call for this setup with the DT Swiss or something similar?
I’m still trying to figure out a solid way to calculate this! But Volcano Flat is super flat, so I would stick with my most aero bike there. I would only switch to lighter bikes where the climbs are longer and/or steeper. I’m just not sure where that line is exactly… for me, it’s when the climbs last more than 2-3 minutes at around 5%.
But I’m sure there’s a way to use physics to get a better answer…
Could be amazing to evaluate every route in some way
Thanks. So if I’m reading your overall frame and wheel charts properly, for folks below level 33 who don’t have a Tron, Volcano Flat calls for a Madone with 808s or 8.9s?
S5 is faster than madone
New BIKE DAY!
I just bought it 🙂
Looking forward to testing it today
I just received it in my garage on loading Zwift along with other Zwift academy unlocks. I had completed the first Zwift academy workout earlier today.
You received it in your garage after completing a ZA workout? Or you have it available in the drop shop? I thought it was the final reward for completing ZA?
I finished a first workout and got it for free.
Same one. Confirm.
Dang it! Just bought the bike! Did it come with the zwift academy paint job? Or just the standard one?
Just did workout 1, didn’t get it, are you sure that you got the bike?
all stars?
Yep!
you can paint it as zwift’s bikes
did you get the zwift academy paint job too?
Same, I did workout 1, got the bike, got the ZA paint job, got the kit.
Didn’t get the bike after either WO1 or group ride. Must have been a bug that they corrected. I guess I’ll have to get it the old fashioned way…earn it or buy it with drops!
Same for me, unlocked ZA kit, socks, bike and everything after WO1. However next log in all but bike and paint job had gone, despite all being equipped.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed it stays in the garage, lol.
Hilarious that Canyon have been beaten to the release of their own bike by Zwift. There must have been some serious problems with the IRL version to delay release for so long.
Brought the new bike and equipped with the DT Swiss wheels which I already had.
Did 4 laps of the London loop with Box Hill climb ang and got faster each lap.
Nice rolling setup n climbed Nice as well. 😊
At 58 I’m not a pro racer but train hard to keep the weight off and a bit of help here n there helps.
Thanks Zwift for another great setup.
So does it look that this is the Canyon bike unlocked on completion of the Zwift Academy, that some lucky folk have already unlocked due to a bug?? If so, for anyone doing the ZA it isn’t worth purchasing, right??
Looks like very probable that you will unlock the bike by completing the ZA yes
Thanks Jeremie, that’s what I suspected. I think I’ll save my drops for now…
Anecdotal evidence: I did my first ZA Road group workout yesterday OCT01 and did NOT get the Canyon unlock (or the ZA kit, so maybe there’s a bigger issue). Will be looking for both again after this afternoon’s ZA group ride.
The bike looks like a solid “buy” in any case, but I would happily save my drops with a bonus unlock.
I’ve done the first ZA workout and group ride now and nothing unlocked either. I think, however, that the four ZA unlocks (cap, socks, jersey, bike…??) happen every 25% of completion and I am at 16% after my two events, so everything actually looks as it should right now. Definitely I’ll get the Aeroad one way or another but will probably wait it out until after I have completed the ZA. No big drama either way!
This is a good question. Has anyone confirmed yet that the bike which is currently available for 500K+ drops, will just be given away to 2020 Academy completer’s? I am wondering if it’s not a similar scheme to the 2019 Giro de Rigo, whereby you earned the unlock of an exclusive paint scheme, but had to buy the fame with drops to use the paint. Thoughts?
I agree that it perhaps does seem a bit of a generous giveaway, but then completing the ZA is no mean feat either so who knows! Unfortunately, I always over-analyse everything and anything anyway, but perhaps an exclusive paint scheme will be the unlock, yes. I’m going to “enjoy” getting through the ZA and it will be a surprise as to what happens. 🙂
in a previous Zwift Academy I think there might have been a colour scheme unlock for a bike on completion, not
an actual giveaway of the bike itself.
So up the Alp what s the fastest Wheelset with this Frame, the lightweight wheel?
Yes, Lightweight is the fastest wheelset up long, steep climbs.
Hey Eric,
which bike is the best for a 80km Whole Lotta Lava tour with KISS? The Tron-Bike or the Canyon / Venge?
The Canyon Aeroad 2021 with a climbing wheelset will give you an easy time up those Volcano repeats. But the Tron will be a bit more aero than the Aeroad with climbing wheels. So it’s a question of where you want to save a few watts!
Me, I’d go with the Aeroad 2021 and DT Swiss wheels.
I’m a little confused – you say that the Canyon Aeroad is now the fastest climber on the charts, but then you also say it is “just two seconds slower than the best climbing frame (Specialized Tarmac Pro) – up Alpe du Zwift!” so which is it – Is the Aeroad 2021 the best and fastest climber on AdZ / Ventoux or is it still the Tarmac Pro?
Just fixed this! I had published this post before we discovered the Tarmac had gained weight since our last tests (https://zwiftinsider.com/tarmac-pro-update/)
I wonder how much the manufacturers have to pay to get their CDA and climbing performance improved in Zwift? Is it purely Zwift’s testing of the frame? Probably not, right?
In the past Eric Min has said no money has changed hands for this type of stuff. No idea how it’s currently done, though.
Hello,
I am level 21 and the Canyon Aeroroad 2021 was unlocked in my shop, and I was able to buy it.
How is possible?
I check it in another zwift-profile; this profile is level 8 and the Canyon Aeroroad 2021 appears as “Locked” until level 10 with 568.000drops
ok,so now it’s been nerfed, can we get a refund on our drops? ^_^
Odd, i am only L21 and was looking forward to leaving up and getting this frame, but now see that it’s already available, only three stars for weight and cheep price … did they change something with the recent update. Are ur comparisons still valid?
See the link at the top of this post. Updated all our stats yesterday.
I used this bike yesterday for the first time. I found going uphill much easier but tougher going down. That’s not the bike, right? I was using the stock Zwift bike before which was easier to pedal down descents, or is my Kickr playing up?
Geez, inflation hit this zwift too. This frame is now 568,000. So up 35,500 from the graphic at the top. Only need 18,000 more.
Just bought this yesterday…but the weight rating is now three stars, instead of the four mentioned in your post. Did it change, and if so, is it still a good climber?
It changed a long long time ago: https://zwiftinsider.com/updated-canyon-aeroad-2021/
Still a solid all-arounder: https://zwiftinsider.com/charts-frames/