Last week, Zwift rolled out the new Canyon Speedmax CFR TT frame in coordination with its IRL release. Spoiler alert: it’s fast. Read all about the new bike on Slowtwitch >
There are two much older Speedmax frames in game – the original Speedmax, and the Speedmax CF SLX from March 2021. In fact, this is the 6th generation of the Speedmax frame. It’s priced at 1,250,000 Drops and described in the Drop Shop like this:
Pure innovation. Pure cycling. Pacesetter. Record breaker. The Speedmax CFR was already the most accomplished bike in world triathlon. So how could we improve it? By applying all our experience to engineer the most intuitive, adaptable bike the sport has ever seen. For pros. For age-groupers. For all.
See our master list of all frames in Zwift >
Zwift created some nice imagery of the new bike, to show off its unique details:
It’s rated 4 stars for aero, like all TT frames in Zwift. But here’s what grabbed my attention: it’s rated 2 stars for weight, while all other TT frames are rated just 1 star. So we at least know it’s lighter than any other TT frame in Zwift. But 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
The Canyon Speedmax CFR is an aero weapon indeed. It beats all other TT frames in Zwift in our flat tests, making it the new King of Tempus Fugit.
The frame’s time puts it 47.1 seconds ahead of our baseline Zwift TT frame across an hour of riding. That’s ~1 second ahead of the former king, the Cadex Tri. The next-closest frame is the Canyon Speedmax CF SLX Disc, and it’s ~5 seconds behind the new Speedmax CFR.
Climb Performance
While aero performance is the major focus for most TT racers on Zwift, climb performance is a key factor as well, particularly when races include hilly bits! The new Canyon Speedmax CFR shines on the climbs, outclimbing every TT frame in Zwift, including the former two top climbers, the Scott Plasma RC Ultimate and Felt IA 2.0. Two stars for weight, indeed…
The frame’s climb test time puts it 58.9 seconds ahead of the baseline Zwift TT frame after an hour, which is 1 to 1.5 seconds ahead of the former top climbers (Scott Plasma RC Ultimate and Felt IA 2.0) and, notably, ~7 seconds ahead of the Cadex Tri frame that is so pervasive in Zwift’s TT races.
Upgrading Your Canyon Speedmax CFR Frame on Zwift
Like all frames in Zwift, the Speedmax CFR can be upgraded in five stages. It uses the Duration, 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 (Duration, High-End)
- 6 hrs: Aero Upgrade for 100k Drops
- 7 hrs: Weight Upgrade for 200k Drops
- 8 hrs: Drivetrain Upgrade for 350k Drops
- 9 hrs: Weight Upgrade for 500k Drops
- 10 hrs: Aero Upgrade for 750k Drops
Conclusions
The new Canyon Speedmax CFR is the undisputed king of TT frames in game, full stop. It outperforms everyone else both on flats and climbs, which is quite remarkable.
But here’s what’s tricky: most serious TT racers will already have a fully-upgraded Cadex Tri in their garage. A fully-upgraded TT frame outperforms the un-upgraded version by ~48 seconds on flats and ~27 seconds on climbs. And it takes 40 hours of riding to fully upgrade a high-end TT frame on Zwift.
So just like that, thousands of riders dropped 1.25M Drops and began upgrading their new Canyon frames… while still racing their Cadex Tri frames. See you in 40 hours. Ride on!
This bike has been added to the following posts:
- Zwift Shopping Guide: What To Buy from the Drop Shop at Each Level
- Fastest Aero TT Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level
- Zwift Speed Tests: TT Frame Ranking Charts
- Speed Tests: TT Top Performers Chart (Un-Upgraded and Fully Upgraded Versions)
- A Complete List of Zwift Bike Frames
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.
In my very amateur and not-fast Zwift racing career, if a frame won’t gain me more than a few seconds I’m not very eager to spend the drops *and* time to upgrade for now. But shaking up the elite cats and faster humans’ meta is always fun. Many such cases where spending a LOT of money/drops IRL or in zwift nets a very very very tiny gain.
In racing, hundreths of a second matter sometimes. Besides, what else are you going to do with the drops? You can’t spend them elsewhere.
Aye, aye, aye, what to upgrade first, SL9 or this one…decisions decisions.
Cant wait for the ranking charts to be updated. For all frames that is (TT, Gravel, Road). Thats been a while since they were updated.
Until next year , this upgrading nonsense has lost it’s value .
Imagine being upset that tech keeps advancing
Waiting for the Alex McCormack world record colorway
The Diamondback has a beautiful color slider. But, Cadex when it counts.
I like all of the new stuff to buy, but it would be so much easier if Zwift just had a “buy all the new stuff” button…lol
Glad I decided to upgrade two more specialized bikes along with the SL8 instead of going for the Cadex Tri.
I wonder if the increased speed at level 5 is enough to make this bike worth it for the Rapha 500 on Tempus Fugit.
You don’t get draft with a TT bike
Compared to the Cadex Tri, you would finish like… 12.5 seconds faster if you did the 500 all in one go
So it’s just not the badge, but it’s frameless when you ride it as well. This is why it’s the lightest and fastest.
I didn’t have this issue. I’m using Macbook. You?
older Ipad Pro. Those that were riding along with me saw the same thing….no frame.
As someone holding out to see if anything faster than the Cadex came out this year, super happy. Appreciate the testing as always. 1 hour down, 39 more to go to get this thing to Stage 5! Even the base version is faster than my current Zwift TT Stage 4 😀
Too bad it’s ugly af with all those appendages sticking out. Is everyone at Zwift blind or something? 😖
Genuinely curious to know if you think Zwift designed this?
They put it in the game. Could have chosen to make the graphics just for the bike without all the weird stuff attached to it.
I’m willing to bet Canyon would have said “no thanks” to that offer. The “weird stuff” is part of what makes the new Speedmax special IRL.
Recently reached LV 40. Spent my precious drops on the SL8 & Cadex Tri, in the process of upgrading both, then the SL9 & the new Speedmax dropped in the drop shop recently. If I would have known, I would have saved my precious drops and got the new frames instead.
I’m not complaining, I guess I reached LV 40 at the wrong time. Eitherway, still happy with the SL8 and Cade Tri purchase.
Yeah, that stinks. I pay attention to the remarks in real world for new frames….know if happening in real world, it will be coming to Zwift.
Don’t worry, everyone who bought this for the sake of having the greatest new TT bike in the game is going to be disappointed next week when the new Shiv comes out.
Thanks, you probably saved from next week regrets
Thats what I’m worried about lol. Ready to pull the trigger on a TT bike as I dont currently own one but should I wait until all the new Summer bikes have been released? Who knows…
I decided to skip this months ZRL as the first week was a time trial and I couldn’t compete. Hope to have a leveled up TT bike for the next time this happens.
It’s pretty, but the thought of 40 more hours to upgrade for almost no difference just isn’t there for me.
Is this actually faster on flats than a stage 5 halo like the Pinarello?
Yes … by a lot. I think the Espada is 25 to 30 seconds slower 🐌
It will have to wait a Zwift Millennium. I just blew most of my drops on the Tarmac SL9 🤑
New bikes are great but we still need a garage organizer and the ability to sell back bike we don’t use anymore.
What does it cost?
1,250,000 Drops
I’ll never be a 75kg, 184cm rider holding a steady 300 watts for an hour. And judging from the fact that I almost NEVER see anyone even touching 4W/kg out in the real world, I’d guess fewer than 1% of Zwifters will ever be, either. If you’re one of the 8% of Zwifters that race in any given 3-month period, go for it, have (no) fun, I guess.