{"id":779696,"date":"2026-09-23T06:32:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T06:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/779696\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T06:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T06:32:27","slug":"on-the-edge-of-the-uci-rules-canyon-engineer-opens-up-about-marlen-reussers-new-worlds-winning-time-trial-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/779696\/","title":{"rendered":"‘On the edge of the UCI rules’ – Canyon engineer opens up about Marlen Reusser’s new Worlds-winning time trial bike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marlen Reusser and Zoe Backstedt raced to 1st and 2nd place in the Women\u2019s Elite Individual Time Trial World Championship on Sunday, both aboard unreleased Canyon time trial bikes – the all-new Canyon Speedmax CFR – which set tongues wagging online.<\/p>\n

Reusser (Switzerland) beat Backstedt<\/a> (Great Britain) by 40 seconds, while third-place Franziska Koch (Germany) finished 6 seconds behind Backstedt.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This new bike has some very eye-catching design features. The front end is the most distinctive, as Canyon has adopted a wide-legged double crown fork design that draws visual comparisons to Hope’s HB.T track bike.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos FromCyclingnews<\/p>\n

The fork ‘legs’ extend up past the bike’s headtube to create a radical-looking front end that we assume is designed to control airflow around the rider and their legs.<\/p>\n

The bike’s engineer, Lukas Schuchnigg, the same man responsible for Canyon’s Speedmax CFR track machine, spoke exclusively to Cyclingnews to explain more about the decision to go with that radical front-end design, as well as how much faster this new Speedmax is compared to the existing one.<\/p>\n

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\"Ivan\n<\/p>\n

The bike was used in the women’s and men’s time trial events yesterday; we also saw Iv\u00e1n Romeo (Spain) ride a version of the bike to 15th place in the men’s event, 2:13 behind flying winner Remco Evenepoel.<\/a> (Image credit: \u00a0NurPhoto\u00a0\/\u00a0Contributor)<\/p>\n

Canyon launched a new Speedmax CFR triathlon bike earlier in the year, but this bike is a new standalone UCI-compliant TT version that has been designed with pro riders in mind. Canyon told me its development timeline runs to around two and a half years.<\/p>\n

Image 1 of 2<\/p>\n

\"Zoe<\/p>\n

This side-on shot of Backstedt’s bike provides a useful look at the details. Swipe across to compare.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tim de Waele\u00a0\/\u00a0Staff)<\/p>\n

\"Olivia<\/p>\n

Here’s Canada’s Olivia Baril on the current Speedmax model.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tim de Waele \/ Staff)<\/p>\n

\"Zoe<\/p>\n

\"Olivia<\/p>\n

Different Speedmax models were used during the world’s time trial events, which makes comparisons even easier.<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

From the above pictures, it’s easy to see that the new bike has a totally new fork profile as well as a blind dropout. Canyon explained that two new patents had been registered that pertain to the new fork leg design; UCI ruling changes also allowed them to navigate existing Hope track frame patents for similar fork leg profiles.<\/p>\n

The fork legs, which also feature an integrated timing chip mount, are clear for all to see and represent the biggest difference. But there’s also a deeper headtube, as well as a narrower toptube.<\/p>\n

An aero bottle goes with the frame and looks similar to the design of the Colnago TT1 with its squared-off, integrated design.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

The chainstays and dropout shape on the new bike are also different, and the upper seatpost also shows a small change. A lot has been altered on this new model.<\/p>\n

The new bikes feature ‘CFR’ logos on the top tube, Canyon’s top-flight bike category, and a ‘Prototype’ UCI seat tube frame sticker can also be seen.<\/p>\n

The aero water bottle is marked ‘Aerofuel TT’ whilst Canyon currently offers a magnetic ‘Fuel’ aero bottle; this one is a brand-new component.<\/p>\n

Developing a new Speedmax<\/p>\n

Image 1 of 3<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The fork legs flow straight up into the time trial extension risers<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Canyon)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Note the integrated timing chip mount at the bottom of the fork leg.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Canyon)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

In Canyon’s words, this is on the edge of what’s doable for a UCI TT bike right now.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Canyon)<\/p>\n

On the development of the new bike, Canyon explained that there wasn’t much room for progression when it came to the new Speedmax. It explained that the bike was essentially maxed out and very similar performance<\/a>-wise to its competitors.<\/p>\n

The answer for Canyon and Schuchnigg was what they call the double crown front forks to direct airflow around a rider’s legs, for improved aerodynamic performance.<\/p>\n

The brand started seeing gains by widening the fork legs, but changing UCI rules put a limit on just how much they could do. The bike, across many dimensions, butts right up against several UCI rules now.<\/p>\n

“We increased the fork legs, made them higher, made them wider, and we found out that by putting the fork legs and the spacer set up in the same line, there was a lot to improve there.<\/p>\n

“This was almost two years ago from now, and then by the beginning of this year, a new UCI rule was implemented. There was a limit on the inner width of the fork legs. Before that, actually, our concept was to go even wider because we saw a wider setup actually was faster.” Schuchnigg explained.<\/p>\n

Part of the aero gains come from the wide fork legs, which deflect air around the outside of a rider’s legs. The leg profiles change at the rear trailing edge; they are a lot wider at the top section, and this helps control that airflow around the legs.<\/p>\n

Image 1 of 2<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The aero bottle pushes into place here.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Canyon)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The aero cage has been designed around the frame tubes.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Canyon)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

How much faster is it?<\/p>\n

Canyon claim at worst this Speedmax is five watts better than the previous bike, rising to around eight watts depending on the rider. It sounds like the wide fork leg design will benefit every rider and won’t make certain body shapes slower.<\/p>\n

The brand told me it’s optimised for 50km\/h, and that they tested with a full-body mannequin as well as with real riders. Marlen Reusser is said to have logged some highly impressive 12-hour shifts in the wind tunnel during development.<\/p>\n

The aero bottle is also new; it’s a push-fit unit and must only mount to one frame tube to fall within the UCI rules. It’s designed to be used with the bike at all times, and the frame is faster with it.<\/p>\n

Stability has also been a key consideration, and the new Canyon tri bars are said to play a part in this. The new extensions will be offered in two lengths, and Schuchnigg told me riders are choosing shorter extensions now to unlock more aero, tucked-in positions.<\/p>\n

The more integrated handlebar arrangement apparantly provides a handling boost and promotes front-end stability, according to the pros.<\/p>\n

The bike is slated to officially launch in Spring 2027, so we can expect to see it being ridden in even more pro races from early next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marlen Reusser and Zoe Backstedt raced to 1st and 2nd place in the Women\u2019s Elite Individual Time Trial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-779696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}