In the past week, cycling media has begun announcing Canyon’s new Aeroad. It’s an updated version of their flagship race bike, and seems to be a strong upgrade over the previous model from 2021. Given the media blitz for the new frame, it’s not surprising that they coordinated with Zwift to launch it in game as well.
The Canyon Aeroad 2024 is available in Zwift’s drop shop once you’re updated to game version 1.70.0. Here’s how it’s described in the Drop Shop:
“Aero, stiff, light, and all-around rapid. From high-speed Grand Tour stages to the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix, the Aeroad is a contender at any road race on the planet. All thanks to its complete performance and profile: game-changing aerodynamics, superlight builds, and benchmark stiffness.“
It’s rated 3 stars for aero performance and 4 stars for weight on Zwift, which is an improvement over the Aeroad 2021’s 3-star weight rating. But new stuff doesn’t come cheap: at a price of 1,100,000 Drops, it costs 250,000 more than the older Aeroad, 2021.
Big news for Zwift n00bs, though: the new Aeroad is available at level 10+, while the old one was unlocked at level 27. That’s quite a shift.
Since Zwift’s 5-star rating system isn’t granular enough to communicate in-game performance in a precise way, we ran the Aeroad 2024 through our battery of speed tests. Given that it’s the updated version of the Aeroad 2021, which already is a strong all-arounder, we expected the new Aeroad to perform well in our tests. And it did!
Here’s everything you need to know about the performance of the new Canyon Aeroad 2024 frame in Zwift.
Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance
The new Aeroad is faster on flat roads than the 2021 Aeroad, but just barely. Strava rounds times to the nearest second, so while we compute that the two frames are separated by ~1.6 seconds, Strava shows it to be a 1-second gap.
The Aeroad 2024’s flat test time of 51:18 puts it just 1 second behind the “fast four” (Cervelo S5 2020, Felt AR, Specialized Venge S-Works, Uranium Nuclear) which all turn in identical times of 51:17. That means it’s 7 seconds faster than our “baseline” Zwift Aero frame on our test course, which is two laps of Tempus Fugit totaling 34.6km.
Climb Performance
With its ultra-light 4-star weight rating, we knew the new Aeroad would perform well in our climbing test. It turned in a top-10 time, in fact, coming in at #10 on the list of non-Tron bike Alpe times.
The Aeroad 2024 turns in an Alpe climb time of 48:58.5, which is 29.5 seconds faster than our Zwift Aero baseline and 8.5 seconds slower than the best climbing road frame in game – the Specialized Aethos.
Note: all test results above are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock 32mm carbon wheelset.
All-Arounder Comparison
Up to this point, the Scott Addict RC has been considered the best all-arounder in game, at least if you remove the Tron bike from the equation.
The Aeroad 2024 is 3.5 seconds slower than the Scott Addict RC on our climb test, but it’s also 4.5 seconds faster in our flat test compared to the Addict. So you could say the two frames are quite evenly matched, with the Aeroad 2024 having the edge in terms of aero performance, and the Addict having the edge on climbs.
What if we compare it to the Tron bike, or to the older Aeroad 2021? Here’s an updated version of a very useful chart that makes comparison easy.
Tron vs Top Performers
Colored based on frame. Mouse over each point for details.
Zwift Concept Z1, Specialized Venge S-Works, Canyon Aeroad 2021, Canyon Aeroad 2024, Scott Addict RC, Specialized Aethos
The enlarged leftmost blue dot for the Aeroad 2024 is the biggest outlier here. It shows that the Aeroad is just 1 second slower than the fastest aero setups on flat ground, while being 7.5 seconds faster in the climb test. That’s a solid tradeoff in many races!
Zwift Academy
Zwift Academy 2024 includes a ZA paint job unlock for this new Aeroad frame, but you’ll have to buy the frame to use the paint job. Unlock the paint job by finishing the full Academy (6 workouts and 2 races). Here’s what it looks like:
And don’t forget, if you finish Zwift Academy 2024, you be entered into a giveaway for a Zwift Academy-painted Canyon Aeroad 2024 bike!
Conclusions
Zwift nailed the performance of the Aeroad 2024 frame, in our opinion. It’s marginally faster than the previous Aeroad, and pushes the performance curve of the game’s top bikes just enough to make it compelling.
Three reasons why the new Canyon Aeroad 2024 frame is about to become very popular with Zwift racers:
- It’s a better choice than the “fast 4” frames in races with any climbing thanks to its superior uphill performance
- It can be paired with ENVE 7.8 wheels to basically become a climb-advantaged Tron bike
- It’s available at level 10
The only bummer is that you don’t get a color slider: “You can have any color as long as it’s black.” But the paint does have sparkles, just like the IRL bike.
We’ll be updating various posts soon to add the Aeroad 2024, including:
- Zwift Shopping Guide: What To Buy from the Drop Shop at Each Level
- Fastest Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level
- Zwift Speed Tests: Frame Ranking Charts
- Speed Tests: Zwift’s Fastest Bike Frames for Flat/Rolling Races
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.
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