Top spec AL SLX 9.0 bike gets carbon wheels and SRAM Force 1 groupset
Top of Canyon's 2017 cyclocross line is the Inflite AL SLX 9.0. Priced at £2699 (an increase of £300 from the 2016 model), it has an aluminium frame kitted out with Canyon’s proprietary VCLS carbon seatpost. With a built-in leaf spring it’s designed to add some shock absorption.
>>>The best cyclocross bikes: a buyer's guide
It’s kitted out with Reynolds Assault carbon wheels and Schwalbe X-One tubeless-ready tyres. The groupset is SRAM’s single ring Force 1 with a 42 tooth chainring and a 10-42 cassette, making full use of the huge range which SRAM 1 allows.
The chainset is a Quarq Prime Carbon unit which will allow the installation of the soon to be launched Quarq DZero power meter.
While the SLX 9.0 comes in the same black as last year, the Inflite AL 9.0 has brightened up with a baby blue and yellow colour scheme.
For £1799 you get Canyon’s Inflite AL frameset with the same VCLS seatpost. Shifting uses Shimano Ultegra 22-speed with RS85 hydraulic disc brakes.
Wheels are DT Swiss R23 Spline DB with the same Schwalbe X-One tyres as its bigger brother.
Watch: Cycling Weekly's cyclocross bike buyer's guide
Inflite AL SLX 8.0 comes with SRAM Rival 1 groupset
The same colour scheme is shared by the Inflite AL SLX 8.0 Pro Race. At £1699, it comes with a SRAM Rival 1 single ring groupset with the same large range as the top-spec bike. You also get the Quarq Prime chainset. Wheels are the same DT Swiss model as the AL 9.0.
The AL 9.0 S is priced at £1599. More road focussed, you get the same Ultegra groupset and hydraulic disc brakes with DT Swiss R24 Spline wheels and Continental Grand Prix 4000S II tyres. There’s a more tarmac-oriented 52/36 compact chainset rather than the AL 9.0’s 46/36 cyclocross unit. Colour is a metallic green.
The entry level Inflite AL 8.0 comes in at £1399. It comes with Shimano RS505 hydraulic brakes, 105 shifting with an RS500 46/36 chainset. You get DT Swiss R24 Spline DB wheels and Schwalbe X-One tyres. The colour scheme reverts to black and blue.
Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.
He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.
