Canyon has launched MyCanyon – a programme that lets you tweak parts of its Aeroad CFR as a way to “build the ride of your dreams” – offering a taste of customisation without diving fully or even near the bespoke territory.
For a direct-to-consumer brand like Canyon, offering customisation makes a lot of sense. After all, most of the time Canyon buyers don’t have the chance to see or ride one of the bikes in real life before ordering, let alone easily adjust component choices to dial in the perfect fit. MyCanyon aims to fill that gap, but whether it does enough remains a big question.
For now, MyCanyon is available for just one bike model, the Aeroad CFR. At a starting price of US$9,999, it’s clear Canyon is targeting the high-end market, though it did say it’ll explore options to expand the programme to other models – including gravel and mountain bikes – later. Until then, MyCanyon is limited to those already prepared to spend big on a dedicated aero road bike.
MyCanyon isn’t immediately available worldwide, either. The initial launch today is for the US, with the Asia-Pacific rollout slated for April and Europe following after the summer. Canyon attributes the staggered launch to the complexity of the hand-painted designs and the need to manage production capacity effectively.
What MyCanyon offers
As alluded to earlier, this isn’t an all-encompassing custom programme for the Aeroad CFR. The programme allows you to choose from a selection of very cool colourways designed by artists, swap between two (yes, just two) sets of wheels and tyres, pick from a few more saddle options, and adjust the stem length a bit. But if you were hoping to change the gearing or crank length, no dice.
So in short, it’s an opportunity to get a custom-painted Aeroad with the right size stem, three Selle Italia saddle options and technically, choice of wheels and tyres. Beyond the initial and already existing build options (Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 or SRAM Red AXS), there is no further drivetrain customisation on offer.
It’s also worth mentioning that the customisation of the components isn’t available for the standard “stock colour” Aeroad CFR Di2 or Red models, meaning that if you want to customise, you will need to choose a new colour too – and that comes at an additional cost.
MyCanyon is a fully new concept of customisation to Canyon, but it’s not a complete stranger to offering more fit options for its customers. Handlebar width adjustment between 37 and 42cm has already been part of the Aeroad’s PACE Bar cockpit – and it’s this cockpit that really makes the Aeroad the prime starting point for Canyon’s foray into custom.
But while adjusting width is good, most riders also want to tailor the stem length. Our own Ronan Mc Laughlin went to see the new Aeroad when it launched in July 2024, and questioned Canyon about different stem lengths for the one-piece setup. At the time, the brand said there were no other options beyond the spec sheet; the PACE Bar’s T-section (so basically, stem and tops) have been offered on the aftermarket in a range of sizes for €200 since the new Aeroad launched. So technically, the option to customise the stem length has been there, it’s just come at an added cost, plus the faff of making the change.
But now, with MyCanyon, you can choose up to 10 mm shorter or 20 mm longer stem options at the time of purchase. The stem lengths offered range from 70 to 140 mm, meaning that even the smallest XXS frame size can go shorter or longer.
The interesting part of the PACE Bar isn’t just the width adjustment but also its drops, which can be taken off and swapped. There are two drop options for the PACE: Classic and Aero. But MyCanyon customisation doesn’t allow one to change from the Classic, which is the standard option – so if you want the narrower and flared Aero drops, you’ll still have to spend an extra €230 on them separately.
Finally, on the cockpit front, there is now an option to upgrade from standard Canyon bar tape to Lizard Skins with matching decals.
The wheelset options are the same as they used to be for the Aeroad CFR models: Zipp 454 NSW wheels with 28 mm Pirelli P-Zero RS or DT Swiss ARC 1100 with 28 mm Continental Aero 111 (front) and GP5000 (rear) tyres – the MyCustom wrinkle is you can now choose the Zipps on your Dura-Ace build and vice versa.
There is a total of 13 design options to choose from, and the extra cost for the cheapest is US$500.sad
Where MyCanyon does push the envelope to something new altogether is in the aesthetics. There are 13 different frame design options across three new collections (Fabrio, Mano, and Opus); all these are hand-painted, and some are done in collaboration with artists like Felipe Pantone and Elena Salmistraro. These come at a surcharge of US$500 for Fabrio, US$700 for Mano, and US$1,500 for Opus collection.
For all of the MyCanyon bikes, Canyon estimates delivery times between six and 12 weeks.
Why do we need customisation?
Customising a bike at the time of purchase is a topic that has been touched on here at Escape Collective many a time – and no, not because we’ve been disappointed with the frame colours. Customisation isn’t just about aesthetics – even if many of us want a bike that features something that sets it apart from the hundreds of others painted in the same factory. More importantly, it’s about bike fit, comfort, and as a result – performance.
In today’s market, achieving that fit and comfort on a bike comes at an added cost. Components are more expensive and with integrated cable routing, one-piece cockpits, and ever-changing standards used for steerers and headsets, something as simple as changing the stem length has now become an ordeal that can require you to fully replace brake hoses and re-bleed. Not to mention the splurge on a whole new proprietary cockpit – knowing that the second-hand market will likely not give you your money back on the first one.
Then there’s crank length, gearing and saddle and seatpost choices. If you got these right at the time of purchase, the savings could be huge.
The most premium MyCanyon collection, the Opus, includes designs from Elena Salmistraro (left) and Felipe Pantone (right). These come with a US$1,500 surcharge.
Riders at the high end of the market, like those eyeing the Aeroad CFR – as Canyon admitted – are likely riders who have had a bike fit and are very particular about their component choices. They’re also the ones who can afford to spend more on achieving that fit and position that caters to their goals.
But the trend towards shorter cranks, for example, isn’t just for those geeking on their watt savings – nor does everyone need them. But correct-length cranks can improve cadence, reduce knee strain, and crucially, offer a better fit especially for smaller riders. But overall, optimising crank length can benefit all riders as much as the right-sized cockpit does.
So while MyCanyon is a cautious step into customisation, it's also another indicator of brands offering a primarily aesthetic service for only the high-end and high-earning customer base – not the larger masses, nor intended to address all fit considerations.
What about other custom options?
That begs the question, is anyone really doing customisation better than Canyon? While options are plentiful, very few offer more than MyCanyon.
Of the established custom programmes like Trek’s Project One, Orbea MyO, Factor’s Prisma Studio, Ari’s Custom Fit, Pinarello MyWay, and Ribble’s BikeBuilder, none offer the level of customisation you’d get by buying a frame (or a custom frame) and components separately to build something up from the ground up, but they’re a sort of next step up from a stock bike – at varying degrees.
Trek’s Project One is known to churn out some spectacular paint jobs, and at its core, it’s quite similar to MyCanyon. It’s reserved for only a few models in Trek’s range and even if it does offer more than 13 colourways and a number of designs to choose from, component customisation is limited to a seatpost, higher-quality bottom bracket choices, and a few wheel options. There is no option to customise the cockpit dimensions, let alone the crank length or gearing.
Factor’s Prisma Studio is a stark contrast to Project One with a range of colour designs but also the freedom to choose from various crank, handlebar and seatpost options.
Perhaps the most comprehensive is the Orbea MyO (which stands for My Orbea) program, which offers an almost overwhelmingly free reign in customising many of its bikes across price ranges, from frame, accent and even wheel decal colours, to options on component dimensions and finishing kit. The brand has said there are 1.4 million options available in the programme – all the way to deciding the size of your brake rotors.
Both MyO and Prisma Studio are examples of custom programmes that allow the customer to get that visually unique look to the bike, but at the same time tailor its fit, too.
In addition to these big names, many smaller brands offer a host of customisation too. British brand Ribble, for instance, has its 'BikeBuilder' platform, which gives allows changing the appearance and spec across almost all of its models – including the entry-level – from road to gravel to e-bikes. Ribble offers options across a range of price points, though it has pared down the options in recent years.
Smaller direct-to-consumer companies have some of the widest options. American brands Ari and Thesis, for example, both focus more on the fit aspect of customisation. Ari allows riders to input their fit details to tailor the components for each rider. This includes handlebar width, stem length, crank length and so on. Thesis lets buyers of its OB1 set those specs and even choose wheel size.
Some of the Fabrio and Mano collection colourways.
But there is also a lot of room for improvement when it comes to most of these existing programmes. Many of them are geared towards the premium bike models to start with, and come with hefty excess costs for the customers. MyCanyon for example, doesn’t allow you to customise the stem length unless you are also committed to spending at least US$500 on a design paint job. That is, in fact, more than you would spend if you simply bought a different PACE T-Bar.
The focus of many brands on offering visual customisation rather than extending it to the smallest component choices also highlights the big challenge they have to grapple with when offering the customer more freedom to choose. Holding stock of different cranksets, handlebars, stems, tyres, wheels and small parts, and building each bike to the customers' spec takes much more time and attention than the churning stock builds out of a well-greased assembly line.
Overall, it's positive to see Canyon do more than just insist on shipping the size (and sometimes colour) of the bike you ordered, but it also feels like it's barely reaching for the lowest fruit. Many potential Canyon customers have been screaming for some level of ordering customisation for years, and this news will likely not silence those cries.
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