Buying a Canyon

[redrabbit29]

I'm looking to upgrade my older road bike to a Canyon Endurance, with a budget of around £5k-6k.

I'm quite broad shouldered, not your typical road cyclist in that I have a lot more muscle and weight due to gym work over many years.

Do people usually find somewhere to try them? The Canyon site says they're in the UK in November but that's a long time away. There was a shop in Surrey (not far from me) but they've stopped stocking them for demo purposes having moved to Specialized.

How do others ensure the bike is suitable?

I am particularly keen on the fit. My current bike has always felt slightly long, especially as I am less bendy than some. I'm 5ft 7 to 5ft 8, and would be more inclined to go smaller than bigger (apparently that's better as you can lengthen way easier than shortern)

Thanks

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Might be worth moving this to Pedal Powered!

I bought a Canyon Ultimate in 2019 and went with small as recommended by their website. I am 5’9”. It fits perfectly.

The wait between order and deliver was about 5 weeks.

[Meridianmet]

Take a little bit of your budget, and get a proper bike fit beforehand.

[oddball1313]

whereabouts in the country are you, i’ve got a medium endurace in the fleet

[numtumfutunch]

I bought one a decade ago before they were fashionable

The fit was fine but I had some glitches with gear indexing and quality control

Canyon at the time - with a bloke in Essex who fielded UK quibbles - were not inspiring however the price was amazing and so I sucked it up

Their UK prices are currently OK but not amazing

My last new bike was a Trek...........

Cheers

[Random84]

numtumfutunch said:

I bought one a decade ago before they were fashionable

The fit was fine but I had some glitches with gear indexing and quality control

Canyon at the time - with a bloke in Essex who fielded UK quibbles - were not inspiring however the price was amazing and so I sucked it up

Their UK prices are currently OK but not amazing

My last new bike was a Trek...........

Cheers

I had exactly the same experience!

I had an Aeroad for 2 or 3 months and returned it as the paint on the top tube started to rub off (I also had issues with gear indexing when delivered).

Canyon arranged collection of the first bike and I ordered another but the frame finish was even worse on the second bike, again they arranged collection and issued a full refund.

I ended up getting a Trek Madone.

The customer service team were based down south and were incredibly frustrating to deal with, they didn't seem to be concerned by any issues when I raised them and tried to brush off the issues before trying to find a resolution. The Aeroad was an expensive bike and the paint finish was the final straw, the silver detailing was literally rubbing off the frame but I was initially told this a "unique raw carbon finish"!

My experience with Canyon was around 6 or 7 years ago, I'm sure things have changed and they've improved since then.

[frisbee]

The bar system on the higher spec Endurances has built in adjustment for width, however you can't buy a new set to change the length (or select a length when purchasing the bike).

I carefully measured my old bikes and a small Canyon gave the slightly reduced reach I wanted. If it hadn't, because of the non-adjustable stem length, it would have been a non-goer.

[SoliD]

Had 2 Inflite CX bikes and was sceptical at the small sizing but it fit like a glove and have just got another, but then frame is pretty much the same. New handlebars have the width adjustment which is odd at first, but hopefully will be of benefit.

[outnumbered]

redrabbit29 said:

I'm looking to upgrade my older road bike to a Canyon Endurance, with a budget of around £5k-6k.

I'm quite broad shouldered, not your typical road cyclist in that I have a lot more muscle and weight due to gym work over many years.

Do people usually find somewhere to try them? The Canyon site says they're in the UK in November but that's a long time away. There was a shop in Surrey (not far from me) but they've stopped stocking them for demo purposes having moved to Specialized.

How do others ensure the bike is suitable?

I am particularly keen on the fit. My current bike has always felt slightly long, especially as I am less bendy than some. I'm 5ft 7 to 5ft 8, and would be more inclined to go smaller than bigger (apparently that's better as you can lengthen way easier than shortern)

Thanks

Given the limited adjustability of off-the-shelf bikes these days, I suggest you might be better off going to somewhere that can measure you up and supply something that actually matches what you want. For example, going for a smaller frame will get you a shorter headtube so you might end up with too much bar drop, and these days you don't even have the option of flipping the stem to compensate.

[Giantt]

Maybe old fashioned but I wouldn't be spending that much on a mail order bike tbh

[Random84]

I was nervous when ordering but the online calculator is really accurate and the bike felt very natural.

They had a 30 day return period when I placed my order and took bikes back if people weren't happy.

The bike I rode for 2 or 3 months appeared on there online store within a could of weeks of me returning it, they didn't mention the paint defect but the crank arm had obviously been ground along the floor at some point during the journey back to Canyon HQ!

[Dracoro]

redrabbit29 said:

There was a shop in Surrey (not far from me) but they've stopped stocking them for demo purposes having moved to Specialized.

Ah, the bike hire place in the wine estate just outside Dorking? I tested some a couple 18m ago before buying an Ultimate. I tested the Endurace as well but much preferred the Ultimate. Anyway, I digress, if you’re near Dorking then you can’t be too far from Chessington where Canyon UK are based - I think they do demo days there from time to time so prob worth contacting them.

They have a section on their site to see which size fits, the key is more inside leg that your height. I (as 6’4) was all set to look at XL, however site said L (even if I put my height at 7ft!). Which was good that I did as the L fits me perfect. I was fortunate to take the Ulimate and Endurace on a 10mile loop including Box Hill to get a good feel for them (hence going the Ultimate rather than Endurace route). Note I am 50 and not a racer but found the Ulimate not aggressively positioned at all.

Customer service has been great, had some question which online chat was great. Also, when bike delivered there were a couple of minor marks (tiny one on saddle and one on handlebar - both the sort of thing that will happen within weeks of use anyway - I am a little nerdy about this as most wouldn;t notice these marks ). Anyway, contacted them and they said can return, or here’s £65 to spend in their online store, so got some bits and bob there so v happy. Put my Canyon sticker (came with bike) on top of handlebar (looks OEM placement for these stickers) and it nicely covers up the tiny mark

I’ve done >2000miles on it in past year with no real issues, very happy with it.

Earlier this year, got a Canyon Grizl for off/on road (and winter) cycling and just as happy with that (pro done 500+ miles on it already), great bike.

Edited by Dracoro on Wednesday 14th August 20:57

[justin220]

I've got a large Canyon Endurace and would say it's probably a touch bigger than my other 'large' bikes. Oddly it fits me quite well although Canyon suggested I was between a M and an L. I'm just over 6 foot.

Fantastic bike though, the AXS set up works brilliantly and very smooth to ride.

[redrabbit29]

Went to the Trek shop today and had a great chat with the person there. Had a look at the Madone (which is now combined with the Emonda to apparently give both speed and comfort - taking that with a pinch of salt)

Had a discussion about the differences between SRAM and Shimano in terms of electronic gearing and which was better. He said it was all personal preference and a lot came down to how to charge the battery.

They look very nice in terms of appearances. I did want a single-piece handlebar and you can upgrade to this, or spend a lot more and just get it included. That's probably out of my range though.

I have a fairly big budget but still want to be reasonable considering I'm at best, an average rider, although with big ambitions.

[Dracoro]

I want with SRAM mainly for 3 reasons.

1. For shifting/build/quality both SRAM and Shimano are good and pretty much equal (assume you compare Rival-105, Force-Ultegra, Red-DurAce of course)

2. Simplicity, left shifter one button for down a gear, right to go up. Both to change front chaining (you can customise in app so it automatically changes, however I prefer to control when it does it).
Can't get much simpler to use than that! Never liked the two button Shimano thing, esp when cold wearing thick gloves etc.

3. Batteries - if one runs out (i.e. rear), just swap with front and you can get home OK. (or even have spare in pocket etc. if really worried about it). With Shimano, if battery runs out (or unlikely event it otherwise fails) then you've got no redundancy......

[BunkMoreland]

Dracoro said:

Anyway, I digress, if you’re near Dorking then you can’t be too far from Chessington where Canyon UK are based - I think they do demo days there from time to time so prob worth contacting them.

I went to a "demo day" in 2018. They were totally inundated. And the "staff" were clearly just temps with no knowledge of the product. I literally stood next to a SpeedMax for 5 mins (doing the obvious "close inspection" ) whilst the sales girl was chatting to another punter. She was all of 6ft away. He left, and she just ignored me and wandered off.

I'm considering a Aeroad for my next bike, but at the moment the colours on the Shimano bikes are a bit "meh"

Giantt said:

Maybe old fashioned but I wouldn't be spending that much on a mail order bike tbh

Hambini has found out that Trek are going mail order sooner rather than later. Cube already do

Can see a point where Spesh do. Might find "smaller" more boutique brands like Pinarello wont but expect the bigger ones to cut out the middle man (and keep prices the same!)


Theres a Canyon day at Goodwood in September where you can do test rides. But FK ME! £49 for entry!

Edited by BunkMoreland on Thursday 15th August 21:56

[redrabbit29]

I'm slightly put off by Canyon as I hear so many poor reports of build quality, issues with the bike etc, and the difficulty in actually viewing them isn't helpful. I appreciate the post about them sometimes doing demo days.

I'm also slightly deflated having read countless articles, forum posts, YouTube comments, etc. from people about certain products.

For example:

Video or post shows the latest amazing bike in my range which really appeals. There are then 100 posts saying how terrible it is, and mistakes made by the reviewer, and better bikes.

Repeat the above endlessly.

.......

Part of me is thinking that most of the bikes in a certain range are virtually the same (quality wise) and it comes more down to what colour and look you want. Obviously fit too but that's quite personal and often can be adjusted by a fitter for any bike.