The integrated cockpit is good at lowering wind drag at the front of the bike, but it has raised the ire of a generation of bike buyers and bike fitters since it became commonplace on high-end road bikes. The reasons are obvious: to get the correct fit on a bike – mostly the reach via the stem length but now increasingly also the bar width – is a much more involved and expensive process.
Up until now, Canyon hasn’t offered customers the opportunity to choose the dimensions of their cockpit, at least not the stem length part of it. The latest PACE bar, which comes with the current Aeroad CFR, is width adjustable, has 20mm of height adjustment and comes with replaceable drops, but there was a default stem length that depended on the frame size selected. The launch of MyCanyon addresses that, with stem lengths from 70mm to 140mm available with the Aeroad CFR initially, with more models to follow according to Canyon.
Aeroad CFR customers also get to choose between Shimano Dura-Ace and SRAM Red; three different saddles from Selle Italia and two different wheelsets from Zipp and DT Swiss. And finally, Canyon has sprinkled stardust – or rather splashed paint – onto the Aeroad via three new artwork collections – Fabrio, Mano and Opus, the latter featuring collaborations with artists Felipe Pantone and Elena Salmistraro. According to Canyon, these require a “deeply complex paintjob that is extremely hard to pull off… the results are stunning, offering you a rare chance to ride a real piece of art.”
There will be upcharges at different levels for these, starting at $500 for the Fabrio collection. Canyon says there is a small weight variability due to the hand painted process: across all designs, the average difference compared with the regular Aeroad CFR is 59 grams. The German brand points to some of the memorable designs its pro riders have shown off in the past, including of course Mathieu van der Poel’s glittery World Championship scheme; Kasia Niewiadoma’s yellow Tour de France Femmes-winning paintjob; Annemiek van Vleuten’s gold Speedmax, hand decorated with real gold leaf to celebrate her Tokyo Olympic TT win; Ironman legend Jan Frodeno’s ‘Frodissimo’ design using real coffee grounds and the Tekkers Volvo Touring car retro fest – as seen at Rouleur Live. Canyon says these are now the “three pillars” on which you can build your dream bike: fit (stem length), function (groupset, saddle and wheels) and aesthetics.
Stem length, components and paint are chosen via the Canyon website using a step-by-step configurator and with 3D visualisation, which allows users to “view colours and components from various angles, helping them to envision their dream build”. The German brand also promises instant cost breakdowns and stock updates to ensure there are no surprises at checkout, and customers can follow their bike’s build journey with live updates in the app. Canyon estimates a lead time of 6-12 weeks at first.
At present what Canyon still doesn’t offer is chainring and cassette ratio choice, but global communications manager Ben Hillsdon told Rouleur that this was a possibility in the future: “This initial phase required a huge change to our business operations. Providing live MyCanyon in-stock information to customers on canyon.com requires many of our systems to 'talk' to each other at a deeper level than we've ever had before – so we're starting MyCanyon with the fit and function options customers want most. But as MyCanyon grows, we will check customer feedback to learn and adapt the programme, offering more customisation options in future when there is demand for it.”
How does customisation work with other major bike brands? Giant, for example, doesn’t have any online option to make component tweaks. A spokesperson for the brand explained: “Even if you buy a bike through our website it doesn’t come from Giant UK, it comes from a dealer. We don’t sell bikes direct to consumers. Dealers can upload their stock via their EPOS [electronic point of sale] systems to our system and our website shows which dealers have which bikes in which sizes in stock. The dealer could make any component changes before collection or delivery and the consumer would deal direct with the retailer to make these changes.” According to data from the Bicycle Association, in 2024 over 70% of Giant bike sales in the UK by value were made either in person in store or by click and collect.
Interestingly, Giant doesn’t offer its top bikes with one-piece integrated cockpits, sidestepping the entire cockpit debate: “We have taken the decision so far to stick with two-piece set-ups to give that flexibility of bar width, material and style, stem length and material, bar roll etc and if the customer wants [an integrated cockpit] then we have the Cadex options that can be fitted aftermarket [as used by the Jayco-Alula pro teams]. It’s about offering choice rather than avoiding complications.”
Factor partners with Vires Velo in the UK and by contrast doesn’t shy away from the integrated cockpit with its Ostro VAM, as ridden by Israel-Premier Tech and Human Powered Health as well as its customers. Vires Velo offers a huge choice of 28 Black Inc integrated cockpits in different combinations of dimensions, even 36cm x 140mm. There are two seatpost setback options, a choice of five wheelsets, six groupsets, three power meters, four crank lengths, three chainset ratios, two cassette ratios, tubeless or tubes, three saddles, the option of a CeramicSpeed OSPW in black, red, blue or gold, Black Inc bottle cages, a computer mount and you can add an idmatch bike fit at Norfolk or Buckinghamshire for £300 and opt for collection or personalised delivery. You can also choose your own bespoke paint scheme to be created in the UK for an extra £1,200.
But going back to integrated cockpits, which makes literally only millimetres of difference but from a bike-fitting point of view is the biggest and the most important element of MyCanyon, the question has to be asked: is it worth it? Wouldn’t life be easier for a direct-to-consumer brand of Canyon's scale if it stuck to a separate bar and stem? With no dealerships and therefore no opportunity to change parts at point of purchase, will it only lead to more frustration that its other high-end bikes, the Canyon Endurace CFR for example, still come with default-sized cockpits, the CP0018? Canyon says: “With the launch of MyCanyon and the additional customisations we can now offer on the Aeroad, we're aware that customers of our other bikes may be interested in different stem length options. This isn't a feature that's currently available from Canyon but it is our goal to make alternative cockpits available for aftermarket customers with various stem length options in future.”
It's clear that Canyon is determined to address the inherent limitations of the large direct-to-consumer brand no matter what. Last month it announced two UK Experience Centres – Moloko in London and Veloroo in Sheffield – and pledged to open 15 in Europe by the end of 2025. This, it says, is "to support product testing and expert consultations in the buying process." According to Canyon’s research, "this is a hugely important factor for those who prefer not to buy bikes online. Of those surveyed, 65% say that they would like to test their next bike prior to purchase, up to 60% of prospects saying they would love to get expert advice prior to purchase, and 53% say that they would prefer the after service of a bike dealer."
MyCanyon launches in the US immediately; for Asia-Pacific customers in April, with Europe and the rest of the world to follow by the end of summer 2025. Go to Canyon's website for more details.
