When Grayce Langheine came across an ad on Facebook for the app , she was intrigued. The 34-year-old amateur runner was looking to get healthier and run a faster marathon, but she wasn鈥檛 interested in an expensive coach and didn鈥檛 trust the short-term weight-loss claims of other fitness apps. Noom offered a solution: personalized training with the help of artificial intelligence.

Developed by health care startup WorkSmart Labs and launched in 2011, Noom works like most fitness apps, recording diet, weight, and exercise. But it also utilizes AI algorithms鈥攕elf-learning programs鈥攖o make personalized recommendations of articles, recipes, and quizzes to keep users motivated. Noom showed Langheine how things like her macronutrient intake and energy level influence performance and recovery. 鈥淣ow I can begin to see how each item affects me,鈥� she says. This gives her a broader view of what鈥檚 most effective for her training. She鈥檚 found it particularly helpful for assessing her recovery after tough workouts. The app also offers paid coaching sessions, pairing users with a human to develop techniques for achieving their goals or correcting bad habits.

In the past few years, apps touting AI features have proliferated. Companies use the term artificial intelligence liberally to describe almost any interactive technology, says Shiwali Mohan, an AI researcher at , Xerox鈥檚 Silicon Valley R&D firm, yet the products rarely deliver. In April, however, Noom became the first online platform to be fully recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an effective program for reducing the risk of diabetes鈥攁 turning point for AI in the health and fitness sphere. The CDC鈥檚 decision does more than legitimize automated health care for consumers. Starting next year, it may allow patients to be reimbursed by Medicare, which could encourage doctors to recommend it and developers to create more AI solutions. Entrepreneurs are already taking the cue: there are currently 55 online programs with pending CDC approval to treat prediabetes. As for Noom, the seal of approval will help the company expand globally and raise financing.

鈥淚n the early days, the Turing test was the definition of AI,鈥� says Dan Siewiorek, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University鈥檚 Human-Computer Interaction Institute. 鈥淚f your system could fool a human, then it was considered artificial intelligence.鈥� Today the label is used loosely, and often incorrectly, to market everything from chatbots鈥攕imple programs that employ prewritten scripts and machine-learning algorithms鈥攖o IBM鈥檚 , which is so effective at sifting through data that one insurance company reportedly has plans to use it in place of some human claims adjusters. The key difference between these applications is the ability to evolve.

鈥淎n AI algorithm鈥檚 behavior is dynamic,鈥� says Mohan. 鈥淚t can learn from its experiences and adapt its behavior as it becomes better at understanding how its environment functions.鈥�

At this point, even the most sophisticated AI lacks the complexity and nuance of the human brain. But it can replace a motivational workout partner. Take , a personal-training app launched by New York City鈥揵ased LifeBeam, for example. Using earphones equipped with sensors, the app records your heart-rate threshold and cadence, then makes recommendations for things like optimal step rate and training zones with more than 60,000 recorded responses. Vi also gleans context about the rest of your day (such as weather, step count, and sleep quality) from other apps to better tailor its advice; for example, if it鈥檚 100 degrees outside, Vi may suggest cutting your run from five miles to three. It can also congratulate you for reaching a milestone (鈥淚 saw you did 11,000 steps today and you鈥檙e going for a run? Way to go!鈥�) or make you feel just a little guilty if you haven鈥檛 logged in lately (鈥淢an, I haven鈥檛 seen you for 12 days, where have you been?鈥�).

For Noom, AI plays a support role, fueling user motivation and reinforcing positive behavior, while training and diet customization鈥攁nd a sense of accountability鈥攁re left to Noom鈥檚 human coaches. Mohan agrees that having a thinking, feeling person in the coaching loop can be useful for these functions, since AI still has a ways to go. 鈥淎 good human coach will develop a relationship with their trainee,鈥� she says, 鈥渦nderstanding their specific needs and continuously adapting the training program.鈥� AI can鈥檛 fully mimic those elements yet, but it鈥檚 improving gradually. 鈥淲e have only begun to scratch the surface,鈥� Mohan says.

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are a rare sight stateside, but perhaps not for long. The German bike maker, which outfits leading World Tour teams such as , , and , is opening up direct-to-consumer sales in the U.S. later this summer. Along with that, the brand is launching another exciting milestone: its first women鈥檚 specific road bikes鈥攖he and 鈥攚hich I recently spent a weekend test riding.
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With a goal to democratize performance, Canyon studied men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 physiology听to see if there really was anything different听needed in a women-specific听bike. It found that, compared to men, female riders are typically shorter and lighter (that one鈥檚 a duh), have shorter arms compared to torso length (by about two centimeters), narrower shoulders, and greater pelvic flexibility. Canyon also observed that current road bike frame sizes and geometries don鈥檛 necessarily suit smaller women听seeking a high performance ride. Instead, they force women to sit in a more upright, less aerodynamic, less aggressive听position. Canyon used this data, along with direct input from racers on the Canyon-SRAM pro women鈥檚 team, to develop a road bike with agile handling specifically with small women in mind.听
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The result are the Disc听and the WMN CF SL Disc.听Compared to its unisex models, the WMN鈥檚 bikes have a shorter reach, taller headtube, and (in some cases) smaller wheels with the idea being听that women of any size can ride in the same low, aero position that men are accustomed to. Both bikes are expertly crafted, with stunning attention to detail, and have nimble yet predictable handling.听

Before I get into the features, I want to mention the price: while exact pricing is TBD, we can听guesstimate听based on the European list prices that the Ultimate could start around $3,361, while the听Endurace听would start at $2,240.听That's a tremendous bargain鈥攁s is the sub-$7,000 price tag for the fully tricked out models I tested. Additionally, there鈥檚 an听aluminum version of the听Endurace听(not tested) that starts at $1,680. Canyon鈥檚 WMN bikes will be available for U.S. buyers in August.听听

The Ultimate is Canyon鈥檚 more aggressive race rig, while the听Endurace听is built for all day comfort. Don鈥檛 mistake 鈥渃omfort鈥� for 鈥渃asual,鈥� though. My position on an XS听Endurace听WMN CF SL Disc 9.0 was only marginally more relaxed than on an XS Canyon Ultimate WMN CF SLX Disc 9.0, especially in the drops. The听Endurace鈥檚 comfort primarily comes from a slight kink near the base of the seat tube designed to absorb shock during long days in the saddle. (In a direct comparison against the Ultimate, it definitely smoothed out one particularly bumpy road.) It also has slightly larger tire clearance鈥攗p to 33-millimeter tires鈥攆or adventuring off-road.听
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Both carbon fiber rigs are exceedingly light. Due to a slimmer, angular toptube and downtube, the Ultimate鈥檚 frame, weighing in at 765 grams (or about 1.7 pounds) for the XS, is 6.5 percent听lighter than its unisex counterpart, while maintaining the same stiffness to weight ratio. The complete bike weighs 15.4 pounds. Between its narrower tube shapes and its ergonomic cockpit (a unified bar and stem combination optimized for women鈥檚 smaller hands), these WMN bikes are also more aerodynamic than Canyon鈥檚 unisex models.听
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These features harmonize once you start pedaling. At a county line dash, the Ultimate felt solid and responsive as I sprinted out of the saddle. And as I navigated a pitchy climb, there was no feeling of having to lug it uphill. On descents, Canyon鈥檚 bikes sliced through switchbacks with gusto. While it lends itself towards agile handling, that ergo cockpit put more weight on the bike鈥檚 front end than I was accustomed to. However, by day two I was ripping through turns with a huge grin on my face, the听Reynolds Assault wheels听of my听Endurace听WMN carving a tight line, tires firmly gripping the pavement underneath. When a squirrel made a kamikaze dash across the road, its powerful hydraulic disc brakes quickly dashed my hopes of a downhill PR, but more importantly, kept the road free of skin鈥攐r fur. Electronic SRAM Red eTap shifters ensured I snapped back into a comfortable climbing gear once the road turned uphill听again.听

Canyon鈥檚 WMN bikes are easily some of the best women's specific whips I鈥檝e ridden. The Endurace, while similar in function to a Specialized Roubaix, feels sportier and more modern. And the Ultimate certainly rivals other top-of-the-line race bikes, such as the Liv Envie Advanced Pro or a Specialized Amira Expert, in terms of handling, responsiveness, and aerodynamics.听

Canyon centered its women鈥檚 sizing around an XS, so its frame sizes range from 3XS at the small end to medium at the largest. The smallest two sizes鈥攖he 2XS and 3XS鈥攁re unique in today鈥檚 landscape in that they鈥檙e built around 650B wheelsets, which have a 584-millimeter听diameter compared to the 622-millimeter听diameter of a 700C wheel. This means that women 5鈥�5听and under, such as Canyon-SRAM鈥檚 , can be lower and more aggressive on the bike. Canyon made a couple other customizations so that these smaller bikes look and feel the same as their larger counterparts, including smaller disc rotors, sub-compact 52/36 chainrings (instead of a compact on sizes XS+), and smaller-sized cockpits.听
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A smaller wheel size does come with a tradeoff though: limited wheel options. KT Swiss and SRAM plan to offer 650B wheels, Canyon representatives said, while is currently the only tire maker for this size on the road.听

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