Full-Blown German Invasion
Canyon Bikes has been making waves in the European market, but the bikes have not been available in North America. There had been rumors about Canyon crossing the Atlantic, however, and earlier this year they made it official, announcing that Canyon would finally be selling bikes in North America. North America is no stranger to consumer-direct brands, and Canyon will certainly strengthen that market with a broad range of mountain bikes, all of which can be delivered directly to your door at a sizable discount compared to purchasing from a shop. The only catch is, you miss out on the professional build and service plan that come with a bike from a shop.
With the announcement of Canyon moving to the USA, we were eager to get a couple of bikes in for testing to see if they could stack up to all the hype. The Lux is a dedicated cross-country marathon machine that we put to the test on our home trails in Southern California.
WHO IS IT MADE FOR?
Canyon is one of the most recognizable consumer-direct brands on the planet, focusing on delivering high-performance bikes. All you have to do is enter your credit card information and hit “Buy now.” The Lux is Canyon’s dedicated cross-country ripper aimed at everything from endurance races to World Cup courses. There are several versions of the Lux available, with the 9.9 Pro Race Team being the lightest build. The higher-end market is where consumer-direct brands like Canyon really thrive, though, offering up to 30-percent savings over other brands.
WHAT IS IT MADE FROM?
The Lux is Canyon’s flagship cross-country race bike with 100 millimeters of front and rear travel on a single-pivot design built around 29-inch wheels for all sizes. Canyon uses a full carbon fiber frame and a rear triangle with external cable routing for easier maintenance. The Lux uses 12×142-millimeter rear axle spacing with relatively short chainstays. For easy maintenance, all of the cables are routed externally along the inside of the downtube for a slightly cleaner look—with the exception of the rear derailleur housing running internally.
The Lux has a relatively old-school geometry with a 70-degree head angle and short, compact reach. Up front is a massive, overbuilt, tapered head tube and Canyon’s own headset stop to keep the bars from over-rotating in the event of a crash. Canyon uses
a BB86 bottom bracket shell and includes stealth routing for a dropper post in case the ride gets a little rowdy.
Retail price for this machine is $7000, which is about 30 percent less expensive than other brands with similar builds.
WHICH COMPONENTS STAND OUT?
Our test bike came with all the high-end goods from SRAM and RockShox. The XX1 Eagle drivetrain provided consistent and smooth shifting during testing, and the 34-tooth front chainring gave us plenty of top-end speed. The Rise 60 carbon wheels were light, stiff and had quick engagement when pedaling hard out of the saddle.
HOW DOES IT PERFORM?
Canyon is a consumer-direct brand, which means you order the bike online and it ships right to your doorstep. UPS dropped the Lux off in a very clean cardboard box with precise packaging to ensure the bike wouldn’t get damaged in transit. Pulling the Lux out, we found that it was mostly assembled. All we had to do was attach the handlebars, seatpost, headset stop and front wheel.
We threw the bike in the stand to check the gears and were amazed at how well adjusted they were—even the brake calipers were aligned properly. Canyon does include some extra parts to convert the wheels to tubeless and two different seatposts with various offsets to dial in the fit. Any mechanically savvy rider will be able to throw his or her bike together in under an hour.
Moving Out: The Lux comes stock with a 90-millimeter stem and 720-millimeter-wide flat bars. This combination may seem a bit old school, but it surprised our test riders with how comfortable it was and how well it complemented the geometry. We dropped the stack height all the way down to find the most aggressive position possible.
Suspension Setup: We have had plenty of experience with the RockShox RS-1 fork and Monarch XX shock. In the fork, we ran 20-percent sag with one Bottomless Token for a slightly progressive feel. The shock was a bit tricky to set up compared to other single-pivot bikes we have ridden in the past.
We started at 20-percent sag but found this too harsh off the top of the travel. After several rides, we increased the sag to 25 percent and found this to be the best balance for pedaling
efficiency and soaking up technical terrain.
Climbing: The Lux begs to be pushed hard on flats and especially on the climbs. Our test riders were blown away by the climbing prowess of the Lux, even with the suspension in the open mode. Out of the saddle, the frame and rear triangle felt stiff and responsive, propelling us to the top of the mountain. The Full Sprint remote locked out the suspension quickly and allowed us to cover rolling terrain or long, steep climbs. Our test bike came with a 34-tooth front chainring that gave us a low-enough gear paired with the 10-50 cassette to spin out long grinds.
Descending: With the trail pointing downward, the Lux is all business with a flair for going fast and maintaining speed. On technical terrain, the Canyon is a bit twitchy with a slightly steeper 70-degree head angle that requires the rider to pay close attention. On flowing, groomed trail, the Lux showed off its playful side, pushing our test riders to let go of the brakes in search of as much speed as possible.
TRICKS, TIPS OR UPGRADES?
We did run into some issues with the Lux out of the box. On our first ride, we developed some play in the suspension linkage that couldn’t be remedied. Canyon sent us a fresh bike to replace the original, but unfortunately the new frame had improperly drilled holes for the headset stop that didn’t allow the bolts to thread in all the way. We are confident Canyon has an excellent quality-control process, but riders will have to troubleshoot some of these things on their own.
BUYING ADVICE
The Lux is a bike that likes to be pushed hard and consistently hunts for personal records and KOMs. Aspiring cross-country
racers will be drawn to the drastically reduced price tag and pedaling efficiency of the Lux and will appreciate not having to head to the shop to buy one.
