- You need to be able to hydrate yourself
and so the Canyon Lux has two water bottles mounts,
is that what they're called, water?
(electronic music)
- Whoa!
- Hey, everyone, my name is Sarah Moore
and we're here in Squamish, BC,
where I've gone back to my cross country racing roots
to chase Mike Levy up some heinous climbs
for the cross country field test.
With me here is a Team Replica edition of the Canyon Lux,
a very similar bike to the one that Matsu Van der Poel
was supposed to be racing at the Tokyo Olympics this year.
With 29 inch wheels, 100 millimeters front and rear,
the Canyon Lux was designed
with cross country racing in mind.
This bike actually came out in June of 2018,
which by our standards usually makes it old news.
but because it has some World Cup
and World Championship winning pedigree,
and we hadn't spent very much time on it,
we decided it would be a good baseline
to include in this field test.
And we were also curious
about how much geometry has changed.
Let's get into the frame details.
Unsurprisingly, like most cross country bikes out there,
the Canyon Lux is one by only
and in place of a front derailleur
it has a four and a half gram chain guide.
The rear wheel uses Canyon's Quixle Thru axle,
which makes it easy to remove the wheel
without using any tools.
There's internal cable routing throughout on this bike
and it uses what Canyon calls their Impact Protection Unit,
which is a bump stop that keeps the handlebars
from spinning all the way around.
So basically, no mid race bar spins on this bike.
Now let's talk numbers.
With a 70 degree head tube angle
the Canyon Lux is the steepest bike in this category.
That's partnered with a 74 and a half degree
effective seat tube angle,
which is more in line with what the other bikes have.
I'm 5'7 and I'm riding a size medium of the Lux.
That comes with a 435 millimeter reach
partnered with a 70 degree head tube angle,
435 millimeter chain stays,
and you get a 1,126 millimeter wheelbase.
The model that we're testing is available in four sizes,
in small, through extra large.
Let's get into suspension details.
The Canyon Lux uses a flex pivot suspension design,
which means that the seat stays flex
instead of using bearings.
The revise kinematics are said to improve your ability
because you can now run less air pressure in the shock.
And there's also weight savings
due to fewer parts being on that linkage.
The frame weighs 2,000 grams,
making it the heaviest that I'm testing here.
In a size medium the complete bike that I'm testing
weighs in at 22 and a half pounds.
That's set up with control tires, no pedals,
and keep in mind that this is the only bike in this category
that I'm riding that has a dropper post.
Of course, there's a bar mounted lockout,
and our test bite comes with a Fox 32 step cast fork
and a Float DPS EVOL rear shock.
As with all of the cross country bikes we're testing here,
there's no budget version of this Canyon Lux.
It's a race oriented model, all carbon, everywhere.
That being said, Canyon is a direct to consumer brand
and we're not seeing any $10,000 models here.
For testing here in Squamish
we've got to Canyon Lux CF SLX 9.0 Team Edition.
It retails for $6,999 and for that price
you'll get a Shimano XTR drivetrain, Shimano XTR brakes,
DT Swiss XRC 1200 carbon wheel,
and a carbon fiber KS dropper post.
So that's the Lux in a nutshell,
let's get into how it rides on the trails.
(upbeat music)
Well, we put it on those Schwalbe control tires
like we did on all the different bikes.
And then I was looking for
the recommended suspension settings
from the manufacturer on their website,
it's a direct to consumer brand,
I was expecting there to be, you know,
a handy little suspension calculator and there wasn't one.
So I reached out to Canyon directly and then set it at 25%,
which is what they recommended.
(upbeat music)
- So, this bike has been around for a few seasons now,
but it's also been extremely successful under Van der Poel
and Pauline Ferrand-- - Ferrand-Prévot.
- Ferrand, for the world champion.
So we know this thing goes up hills extremely fast,
but first let's talk technical climbing.
Sarah, what's the story?
- [Sarah] Well, you know, climbing is definitely
this bike's strong point.
It has a steep head tube angle, has a short wheel base,
and you can just wind through trees.
Like the handling on this bike is amazing.
- [Mike] Now it sounds nimble,
I know we don't want to use those cliches, but I mean.
- It's hard not to, yeah.
It's definitely like a nimble feeling bike.
That being said, I never truly gelled with the geometry,
it just doesn't feel quite as modern,
like it feels like you're a little bit more stretched out.
- [Mike] It's definitely not as modern.
- 80 Millimeter stem, 70 degree head tube angle.
So yeah, it just didn't feel quite as comfortable
as I would have liked.
- It sounds like it felt very traditional cross country.
- Exactly, yeah, I couldn't put it better.
Like, you know, it came out two years ago.
That was kind of the standard then,
now things have changed a little bit.
We're seeing 67 and a half degree head tube angles
on stuff like the Specialized Epic.
- Yeah, so I also want to talk about traction as well too.
There was some tricky spots in our climbs
and there was one spot that I saw you dab a few times.
I won't say how many times. - In a row!
Oh my gosh. So humiliating.
- [Mike] Yeah, it happens to the best of us.
- [Sarah] Yeah, so part of that is I think that Canyon,
you know, doesn't do a lot
with 100 millimeters of rear travel, you know.
- It feels quite firm. - It does.
So Trek is doing a lot with 60 millimeters
is what people said, and, you know,
I don't think Canyon is doing that much
with a 100 millimeters,
it doesn't really use the entire suspension
so it feels like you don't have a ton of traction
when you're climbing and so partly
that suspension on the climb
and then partly the other part of it
is that you keep hitting that lockout lever by accident
when you're trying to put the dropper post up.
- So shout out to Canyon for putting a dropper post
on the this bike to begin with, that's great.
It was the only cross country race bike of Sarah's
that came with the dropper post, so that's always nice.
I bet you appreciated that.
- Yeah, I was looking forward to that for sure.
- Tell me about the lever though,
it uses an old school thumb lever
that didn't really work with the suspension lock out.
- Basically you're doing is
when you put the seat up to climb,
you can accidentally hit the lockout lever
and then you're trying to climb with your bike locked out,
which is fine if you're on a fire road,
but as soon as it gets technical
the bike already doesn't have
that good of traction on the climbs
and now suddenly you're locked out.
So it was a bit frustrating I would say for sure.
- In the end Sarah ended up
rotating that thumb lever up a little bit.
Ergonomically it's not ideal.
- It's difficult 'cause then
you have to kind of lift your hand up each time
and then you're not in a very powerful position
so if there's something that hits your handlebars
you're more likely to fall over.
- Exactly, yeah.
- When you're on a fire road climb, it feels great,
you know, it just feels really efficient, it feels poppy.
It feels like it's very taking your energy, that, you know,
you're putting out a lot of energy
and a lot of Watts on these bikes
so you really want them to be efficient
and this bike feels like it's taking all that power
and helping you move up the hill.
(upbeat music)
I was really glad that this was the one
of my four cross country bikes that had a dropper post
because, you know, the first time
I pointed the bike downhill, you definitely noticed
that you kind of want to go over the front wheel, you know.
- [Mike] Well, you don't want to.
- [Sarah] You definitely don't want to.
- [Mike] But you might not have a choice.
- [Sarah] You don't have a choice
to go over the front wheel.
And so, yeah, I was glad that it had dropper post
so you just want to kind of get further back.
- We're gonna talk about timing in a minute,
but since we're talking about descending and dropper posts,
how did this bike fare given that it was
the only one of your cross country race bikes
that has a dropper post?
I mean, it should set the fastest time, right?
- Yeah, I was definitely expecting like,
I was expecting this bike to win the downhill
on the time lapse.
I thought it was, you know, kind of cheating.
I would have to do it with, you know,
both the seat up and, and see down for my time lapse
and I just ended up doing it with the seat down
because it didn't win.
Even with the dropper post
this bike was not the fastest on the downhill.
And that's just cause it's, you know, a little bit trickier,
you have to come into things a little bit slower,
you're a little bit higher up.
It's just not, you know, the bike that you wanna
send it on the downhills, for sure.
- Yeah, for sure.
In a way it almost looked like the bike
was kind of doing what it wanted
instead of what you wanted it to do.
- Yeah, it's definitely not the most predictable
or something that you want to take on high-speed descent.
You know, you can whip it around pretty quickly,
but as soon as things get higher speed
it gets a little sketchy and I had the Canyon Lux
and the Trek Super Caliber on one hand,
which you're kind of a little bit more old school geometry,
not quite as modern, harsher geometry,
they feel more like a traditional cross country bike.
Like they feel like you expect a cross country bike to feel.
Like you get on them, it feels poppy,
it feels fast, it feels sporty.
And a little bit like they're gonna beat you up,
to be honest, like they're quite harsh.
They're kind of a little bit more aggressive, I guess.
(calm music)
- Let's move on to our timed laps.
And we're going to start on a positive note here
and talk about the efficiency test.
The Canyon dominated.
Two minutes, 32 seconds
over our half kilometer fire road climb.
The closest bike was six seconds away
and that was your RACI Red Specialized Epic.
What about the timed lap?
- Timed lap wasn't quite the same story.
So it actually had the slowest of my four bikes
on the entire loop.
So that was quite a technical climbing trail.
So it wasn't kind of that smooth gravel path
or, you know, an alfstack course,
something that's a little bit more buffed out.
- It's been tricky.
- And it was very wet, So it just wasn't,
I think the course that suited this bike the best.
On the descent it tied for second place
with the Cannondale Scalpel.
Although, you know, it's a tie,
so I'm going to say the tiebreaker is
that the Cannondale Scalpel
felt a whole lot more comfortable,
felt a lot more in control than I did,
even though this bike has that dropper post.
So I'm going to give it--
- I heard some interesting sounds from you.
- Yeah. (both shout)
(calm music)
- Okay, It's time to talk about components
and the Lux comes with, well,
the parts that you would expect to see
on a cross country race bike, including a dual lockout,
a 34 tooth chain ring, and some carbon wheels.
- Yeah, I actually had to do a double take
when I saw the price of the bike.
'Cause this bike is $2,500,
less expensive than any of the other bikes
that I'm riding here.
The Trek Super Caliber, $9,500, this bike $7,000.
So that's like a significant chunk of change.
- On the other hand that might be
because it's definitely a few seasons old,
It's not a brand new frame.
- Yeah, they haven't put the R and D into it recently.
Yeah, that might be a factor.
But tell me about
some of the components on this thing, Sarah,
what about that extra drive train?
- [Sarah] This was the only one
of the four bikes that I'm riding
that had Shimano XTR and I have to say,
I really liked that gear ratio.
- [Mike] Those shifts under power.
- [Sarah] And the shift, yeah.
It was, yeah, just really pleasant, really smooth
when you're working really hard,
which, you know, often you are in a cross country.
- Every now and then. - Every now and then.
And yeah, it just worked really smoothly,
everything that you could want
from a drive train, basically.
If you don't think about it, that's a good thing.
(upbeat music)
- It's time to talk pros and cons
and we're going to start with the positive, let's hear it.
- Yeah, so this bike is a super efficient climber.
It feels amazing
when you're on those long gravel road climbs.
It also has Shimano XTR, really liked that.
And of course, you know, we might not like
the dropper post combo, but I think it's progressive
of Canyon to be putting that on a cross country bike.
(calm music)
- That means we're talking about cons next,
what didn't you like?
- Well, that suspension was just really harsh feeling.
It didn't give you a lot of traction on the climbs
or the descendants.
And then that geometry just kind of holds you back
on the descents, it doesn't feel as modern as it could be.
- Yeah, it feels a little dated I imagine.
- Exactly, yeah.
And I look forward to the next generation of this bike.
(calm music)
This bike is basically great for somebody
who's doing a less technical cross country race,
something like a short track where it's a shorter loop,
but it's not as technical.
Or, you know, a lot of places where you're riding,
you know, you don't have those world cup courses
in your backyard.
- You're in over at Germany.
- Yeah, climbing up the fire road
and then going down a berm trail,
like that would be perfect.
So yeah, it's definitely the right bike for a lot of people.
- Okay, and that is it for the Canyon Lux.
Stay tuned for more reviews and round table discussions
from the cross country field test.
In the meantime, should we go crush some fire road climbs?
- Oh yeah.
- I mean, we have this Lux here, we might as well, right?
(calm music)