Canyon launches the Ultimate Young Hero, a race bike for juniors
Canyon launches the Ultimate Young Hero, a race bike for juniors
With smaller statures and gearing limitations, aspiring junior racers don’t exactly have plentiful options when it comes to finding a decent road bike. Many bigger brands have since discontinued their junior road options, while other options focus mostly on hitting a low price point and the quality inevitably suffers as a result.
Now, Canyon has entered the kids’ road bike space, and the consumer-direct company is quite obviously using the stardom of Mathieu van der Poel to help sell its wares (see the video above). The new Canyon Ultimate Disc Young Hero even features artwork that closely mimics the bikes of Team Alpecin-Fenix.
Priced at €1,199 / US$NA / £1,199 / AU$1,899, the Ultimate Disc Young Hero is available in either 3XS or XS sizes. The smallest 3XS size rolls on 650B wheels and is intended for U11 (suggested 151-158 cm) racers, while the bigger XS size is likely best for U13s (suggested 158-164 cm) and rolls on 700C wheels.
Both sizes of bike feature frames re-purposed from Canyon’s adult Endurace aluminium range, with 1 1/4″ carbon fibre forks on the front of each. And despite offering a comparable spec to the adult Endurance AL 6, this junior version is a little cheaper, too.
The bikes feature a Shimano Tiagra 10-speed drivetrain with matching hydraulic disc brakes. The junior-approved gearing roll-out (5.66 m maximum) is provided by an 18-30T cassette and 46/34T crank, both from Miche. The bike rolls on Fulcrum Racing 900 DB alloy wheels with race-ready Continental GP5000 clinchers in a 28 mm width. And while Canyon hasn’t produced any new parts for this bike, fitment points such as crank length and handlebar width appear to be suitably small – at least for the smallest size.
All told the build looks solid and reliable, but as with any disc-equipped build of this price point, you shouldn’t expect it to be especially lightweight.
No doubt Mathieu van der Poel has a long list of aspiring fans, and it sure seems like a smart move from Canyon to play into that. And at least on paper, this new model appears to be a well-thought-out purchase for cycling-mad parents who want their offspring on something they themselves would be happy to ride.
You can find out more at canyon.com.
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