Rapha Cycling Club X Canyon Bicycles

The Rapha Cycling Club (RCC) is delighted to collaborate with Canyon for this, the world’s best club bike. Only 50 have been made, with a hand-finished paint scheme that fades from Rapha and Canyon black, moving through to the RCC’s grey and flashes of pink.

Canyon’s Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 Aero is cycling’s equivalent of a supercar. Raced to the top step of Grand Tours, its powerful blend of low weight with supreme stiffness has helped cement the German brand as a purveyor of top-end performance. And like supercars, you don’t have to be a racer to ride one.

This isn’t a conveyor belt job – Rapha designer Patrick Mafham’s beautiful fade design required the carbon frames to be finished by a small studio 15km away from Canyon’s vast headquarters in Koblenz, Germany. (The studio’s recent works include Canyon’s collaboration with German techno stalwarts Kraftwerk, resulting in a set of 21 frames featuring the interlocking stripes of the duo’s stage uniforms.) Once the fade from black to grey is hand-finished, the frame’s neon highlights are added with UV-stable transfers.

“Most paint jobs on bikes treat each piece of tubing as separate entities, and don’t work with the frame as a whole,” says Patrick. The reason for this is technical: fine masking and colour gradients are difficult and time-consuming, not desirable qualities in a production line. Patrick aimed for something a little more special: “We wanted to look at the frame as a whole, and to imbue it with a sensation of speed.”

Each frame will have the new owner’s personal RCC number and chapter logo added, and included will be a one-off RCC x Canyon Pro Team Midweight Jersey. It is a fitting extra for a bike this special. The lightweight carbon fibre frame features Canyon’s Sport Pro Geometry to deliver maximum velocity when racing, while remaining perfectly comfortable for more relaxed café rides.

Under the hood(s), the SRAM Red eTap groupset offers intuitive shifting with a fully wireless setup, while the SRAM Red Aerolink brakes allow the rider to maintain complete control regardless of the terrain, from tricky descents to tight city centre crit courses. The bike is completed with the much-revered Zipp 404 NSW carbon wheelset.

The ultimate collaboration, between two brands striving to provide the best for cyclists around the world.

Frame: Canyon Ultimate CF SLX

Fork: Canyon One One Four SLX

Headset: Canyon | Acros

Rear derailleur: SRAM RED eTap, 11s

Front derailleur: SRAM RED eTap, 11s

Brake/shift levers: SRAM RED eTap, 11s

Brakes: SRAM RED eTap HRM Cassette: SRAM xg-1190, 11s 11-28

Wheelset: Zipp 404s NSW carbon clincher

Tires: Continental Grand Prix 4000 S II

Cranks: SRAM RED, 11s

Chainrings: 52 | 36

Chain: SRAM pc1190, 11s

Bottom bracket: SRAM gxp pressfit

Cockpit: Canyon H36 Aerocockpit CF

Handlebar tape: Canyon Ergospeed Gel

Saddle: Fizik Aliante r3

Seat post: Canyon s13 vcls cf (15 – 35 mm setback)

Pedals: none included

Weight: 6.35kg (size M)

Included in delivery:

Canyon torque wrench

Canyon frame protection

SRAM RED eTap charger

Canyon manual

Canyon organza bag

Canyon tool case

Carbon assembly paste

Reflector set