I’m a small rider at 5’3” and have found that I do best with small frame bikes that have 650c wheels (I don’t want to get into the 650 vs 700 argument, I’ve been riding since 2005, originally as a triathlete then got in endurance cycling after Ironman burnout, and have owned multiple bikes so I’m firm on what works best for me). There are no longer any viable high end road bike options (that I am aware of) available on the market with 650c, so a few years ago I built up an old 2009 Cervelo RS with SRAM Red and eTap. I’ve been itching to get a new road bike for a number of years now but couldn’t find any 650 options. I was excited to see that this year Canyon is offering size 2XS frames with 650b wheelsets on their women’s road bikes (yes I know that 650b and 650c are different). So I was ready to purchase their top end women’s Ulimate model without having ever seen it in person or test riding it, however I wasn’t a fan of the frame color so I asked them if they could swap the frame with another color (same frame that they offered in a lower end build) or if they could sell me the frame color I want so I can build it up on my own to the same specs as their top end model. Their response was:
“We currently only offer complete bikes as spec'd. At this time customization options are not available. We hope to have frame set only options available in the future. Thanks for reaching out and your interest in our brand.”
It seems like it should be simple for them to just swap the frames and sell me the $7000 bike. I’m not going to buy a bike in a color that I detest, so they are losing a potential customer because they won’t do a simple swap or just sell me the color frame I’m interested in. Can anyone offer any insight as to why, is there something I’m missing? Or is anyone aware of other road bikes with 650 wheels (that aren’t low end or kids bikes)? Thanks.
For reference this is the build I want: Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disc 9.0 Team CSR (https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road/ultimate/ultimate-wmn-cf-slx-disc-9-0-team-csr). With the Carbon Blue frame offered in this model: Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disk 8.0 DI2 (https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road/ultimate/ultimate-wmn-cf-slx-disc-8-0-di2).
Elisha
"Triathlon doesn't build character. It reveals it."
“We currently only offer complete bikes as spec'd. At this time customization options are not available. We hope to have frame set only options available in the future. Thanks for reaching out and your interest in our brand.”
It seems like it should be simple for them to just swap the frames and sell me the $7000 bike. I’m not going to buy a bike in a color that I detest, so they are losing a potential customer because they won’t do a simple swap or just sell me the color frame I’m interested in. Can anyone offer any insight as to why, is there something I’m missing? Or is anyone aware of other road bikes with 650 wheels (that aren’t low end or kids bikes)? Thanks.
For reference this is the build I want: Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disc 9.0 Team CSR (https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road/ultimate/ultimate-wmn-cf-slx-disc-9-0-team-csr). With the Carbon Blue frame offered in this model: Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disk 8.0 DI2 (https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road/ultimate/ultimate-wmn-cf-slx-disc-8-0-di2).
Elisha
"Triathlon doesn't build character. It reveals it."