All About the New Canyon Speedmax CFR TT Frame on Zwift

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, and it’s 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)

1. 6 hrs: Aero Upgrade for 100k Drops
2. 7 hrs: Weight Upgrade for 200k Drops
3. 8 hrs: Drivetrain Upgrade for 350k Drops
4. 9 hrs: Weight Upgrade for 500k Drops
5. 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!

We’ll be adding this bike to the following posts soon:

• 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
• A Complete List of Zwift Bike Frames (added)

Questions or comments?

What do you think of Canyon’s new Aeroad in Zwift? Share below…