I hadn't bought a new bike in 6 years before replacing my mountain bike in February this year, now I decided to replace my everyday bike, which I bought in June 2010.

The Canyon Roadlite 6 wasn't my preferred Roadlite choice but the 5 and 7 were sold out in my size. The sale price for the Roadlite was good and with a few accessories, the total came in at just under €1100.

My previous bike was a recommendation from an Austrian colleague, and it proved to be a very good buy over the years, I clocked up 19,400KM on Strava and probably a lot more with short rides. But parts for it are hard to source now, and while I liked the gear range of a triple crank, there were always issues with it due to a design flaw.


So how exactly has it changed:

	Giant Defy 3.0 2010	Canyon Roadlite 6 2024
Cost	€708 (€903 adjusted for inflation)	€1093
Wheels	Giant OEM, QR axle	Alex Rims CRD30 / Shimano TX505, QR axle
Tyres	23mm Vittoria Zaffiro (25mm possible)	30mm Schwalbe G-One Speed (32mm possible)
Fork	Giant Composite	Canyon FK0049 Disc (Carbon Fibre)
Groupset	Shimano Sora (3400 series)	Shimano Deore/SLX
Shifters	Sora (non STI)	Shimano Deore M6100 12s
Brakes	Tektro Giant specific Dual Pivot	Shimano MT201 / UR300 (rotor Shimano RT10)​
Cassette	Shimano Sora 3400 (12-25 9sp)	Shimano SLX M7100 (10-51 12sp)
Cranks	FSA Omega MegaExo, 30/39/50	SAMOX TAM37 46T
Handlebars	Giant Connect	Canyon Iridium Flatbar 600mm (Ergon GA3 grips)
Sadle	Giant OEM	Canyon Sport Saddle EP1249
Weight	10.04KG	10.62KG

My main thoughts on the new bike are:

Wider wheels make for a much better ride, far more versatile for different rides as well.

Much prefer having no front derailleur and a large range of gears on the rear cassette.

Not mad about the colour, but I didn't have a choice as other Roadlites were sold out.

Would have preferred a tru-axle over a quick release, but again no option for that.

As always with Canyon the front brakes are on the left handle. Fortunately with the brakes supplied it's easy to switch them over.

Maintenance
So far the only adjustment I've needed was the low gear not staying in the biggest cog of the cassette. Adjusting the high and low screws can be difficult with Shimano because the screw was previously a Japanese standard and not a Phillips head like most people think. The screw is now a standard hex key (2mm), so the only issue you might have is when the screw begins to rust after a few years.

↑ You can just about make out that the High (H) is on the right, above the Low (L).

Something I regularly forget is which screw looks after the big cog in the cassette and which looks after the small cog. Adjust the Low (L) screw for the largest cog and the High (H) if the chain shifts too far over on the small cog.

Probably the most common issue is the chain not sticking in the largest cog, so adjust the Low screw counter-clockwise.