- The key is to ask the filmers after every shot
to see the shot, they love that. (chuckles)
(bright upbeat music)
Hey everybody, I'm Mike Levy,
and welcome back to another value Field Trip review.
This time around we're talking
about Canyon's very white Stoic 3.
Now you can pick one of these up for $1,100 American
and Canyon describes it as a phenomenal trail bike
with no added squishy bits.
Now, thankfully they have added one squishy bit
in the shape of an SR SUNTOUR, XCR fork up front,
with 140-millimeters of travel.
Now, before we get to the spec
we're gonna talk about some frame details.
Now, as you'd expect, the frame is relatively simple
but Canyon did include internal and external routing.
The rear brake line is external
and everything else goes inside the frame.
Now, one thing that I wanna mention though,
is that the rear brake housing guide,
the first one, the closest one to the head tube
is actually pretty far back.
And that creates a large loop of cable
at the front of the bike.
Aside from that, the frame looks pretty sharp.
There's plenty of room for a 2.6 inch wide rear tire.
And the low slung frame certainly looks aggressive.
Let's talk about the components that are hung off the Stoic
and one thing's for sure,
it cannot be easy to spec an $1,100 trail ready, hardtail.
Now, as you'd guess there are a couple of things
that you might wanna upgrade to,
once you know that this is the bike
that you're gonna keep around for a while.
The first thing, well it's a dropper post.
To save some money the Stoic 3 doesn't come
with the dropper post.
And you can find something out there
anywhere between $100 or $200,
so maybe factor that into the price of the bike.
The other thing,
it uses a Shimano Deore 10-speed drivetrain.
Now there's nothing wrong with having 10 cogs
instead of 11 or 12,
but the cassette that they've specked on here is a 11 to 42.
Now that's a much smaller range
than a lot of other bikes offer.
One thing you won't have to change for a while though,
is the tires.
This bike comes specked with great tires.
It has a Schwalbe Hans Dampf in the back,
and that's an all round reasonably fast rolling tire
and a burly Magic Mary up front,
both in soft and grippy addicts compound.
And those are mounted to Alex rims
that use a 30-millimeter wide internal width.
We're gonna talk about those wheels later on the review,
but that's a pretty good setup.
Let's talk numbers first, and that means geometry.
Upfront, the Stoic 3 gets a 65-degree head angle,
and this is the same frame for all the Stoic models
and they all have the same geometry.
There are slacker head angles on hardtails
and they are steeper
but remember Canyon's description of the bike,
it's meant to do all sorts of things.
So it has a roughly do everything kind of head angle.
Is that an official way to describe that head angle?
Roughly do everything (chuckles)
We'll go with that.
All of the bikes got a 75-degree seat angle
and the 29er versions have a 428-millimeter rear end.
And if you pick a size that comes with 27.5 inch wheels,
well, those trick all the way down
to 418-millimeters, pretty stubby.
Reach numbers start as low as 380-millimeters,
but at the other end of the spectrum
it stretches all the way out to 505-millimeters.
This is a medium-sized test bike,
and that sits at 455-millimeters.
So a lot of bikes are hard to come by right now.
And if you go to Canyon's website,
now remember this is a mail order bike,
you're only gonna find two Stoics.
The first one being the Stoic 3, it's $1,100 American
and it weighs 32 pounds and two ounces.
All right, that's enough talk about geometry
and all the parts that this thing comes with.
Let's talk about how it rides.
(bright upbeat music)
- There you have it, those are the details
for the Canyon Stoic.
How do you set this thing up?
- Well, it's a hardtail, so it's pretty simple
but there are a couple of things to mention.
The first one being, that Suntour fork,
it doesn't have a recommended air chart
on the back of the fork leg.
So a little bit of trial and error there.
See what I said, air, trial and air.
- Oh, got it, smart, smart!
- So playing around with the shock pump
I definitely got it set up to where it needed to be
but it is definitely a process.
The other thing to mention it comes with great tires
and rims, those 30-millimeter wide Alex rims
and those Schwalbe tires, Magic Mary upfront,
set them up tubeless, hit the trails and you're ready to go.
(bright upbeat music)
- First things first,
you gotta get this bike to the top of the climb.
What was it like?
- Well, it's a hardtail.
So I mean, it feels pretty dang efficient.
I'm not gonna lie,
I wish the drivetrain had a much wider range.
As it is, it's an 11 to 42 cassette
and that used to be fine for us.
But, I guess we're slowly getting softer
with these wide range cassettes.
- Or that when we had two parts in the front,
and the specs is one part. (laughs)
- Also, exactly, it just needs a front derailleur everybody.
- Exactly. (laughs)
- But for a new rider,
yeah, I mean especially if you've got some big climbs
where you live, if you're a new rider
I could see you wanting a wider range.
So that might be something you wanna factor
into the price of the bike.
Another a hundred bucks for a cassette
with some larger cogs on it.
Now that said, the bike itself
is actually a pretty decent climber.
Canyon's geometry kind of walks down
the middle of the road with things.
It's not super steep and it's not super slack.
When you get on this thing
it doesn't feel like a cross country race hardtail.
There's no doubt about that,
but it definitely gets to move on
more than something like the Growler does.
And I think that really comes down
to the geometry of the bike.
It just sort of feels more like a regular mountain bike
and not something that's only geared towards descending.
- So maybe nothing mind blowing
but it gets you to the top of the climb, right?
- Yeah, exactly, and I think that's what this bike
is all about.
It's just about getting you out there to have fun.
On the rolling terrain, a dropper post would obviously help,
but I mean, this is like an $1,100 hardtail.
I mean, what do you want?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
You can't have all the things.
- Is it also heavy?
Is it, you know, it doesn't, yeah.
- Right, exactly.
The one thing I will mention though,
those tires, they are amazing on the way down
but they definitely don't help
the bike's course on the way up.
We're on the fire road climbs
the bike definitely felt like it was in molasses, you know?
Not the fastest rolling thing out there,
but again, I mean this thing, it's just meant
to get you out there and get up to the top of the mountain
and have fun and it definitely does that.
(bright upbeat music)
- You make it to the top of the climb,
what's the story there?
- Yeah, Canyon builds the Stoic as a progressive hardtail
but they also say that it's good
at a lot of different things.
From trail riding to going to the dirt jumps,
which I mean is a pretty wide spectrum of stuff.
And on the trail, the bike actually works really well
in a lot of settings.
So when the speeds aren't high, there's nothing wrong
with the geometry or that Suntour fork
that we're gonna talk about later on.
The fork actually worked pretty well.
When things get fast and rough
that's where the bike can't keep up
to something like the Growler.
It just feels a little bit more nervous.
But, if you're looking for something more traditional,
and if your trails are more like this, than this,
well in those settings, something like the Stoic
might be quicker than the Growler, even, you know,
especially if it's smooth.
- On the downs, I hear of the fork
to be a little bit harsh.
Like, are you saying that
is good suspension because it's an $1,100 bike,
or are you saying it's good suspension, period?
- I mean, kind of the first one.
Obviously, if you've ridden a higher end fork
if you've ridden something like that Fox Rhythm fork,
or the Zed 2, it's not that, it's not that
it's way less expensive than those things,
and that's fine.
It gets you out there, and for a lot of riders,
this isn't gonna hold them back.
The damper, I thought it was pretty controlled to be honest.
I will say there were times
when it felt a little more notchy than I would've liked.
It didn't feel like it was just stroking smoothly
through its travel, more like stepping through its travel,
which isn't ideal.
But overall, I mean, I don't think that fork
is gonna hold many people back to be honest.
- Even once you use an Allen Key to lower that saddle,
it still sounds like the bike's strong suit
is smoother flow your trail.
- Yeah, and that's not really a surprise, to be honest
it's a bike that just loves that kind of stuff.
It's really fun to carve through the trees.
We have a trail that we've been testing these bikes on
and it's been freshly rebuilt, so it's pretty smooth.
And it feels like you're on a speeder bike
through the trees.
It's quite fast.
And in that setting, I mean, I had a ton of fun on the bike.
Did I want rear suspension and better brakes
and wider gearing range
and a dropper post? - And a dropper post?
- You know, yeah, I do. (chuckles)
But I'm not getting any of those for $1,100.
So if I have $1,100,
I think I'm pretty stoked at this thing to be honest.
(bright upbeat music)
- Let's talk about the components now.
What are some of the highlights of this bike's built?
- I think the biggest high for me,
it's the wheel and tire combo.
Right out of the gate,
this thing comes with those Alex rims,
with the 30-millimeter internal width.
There's a ton of inexpensive bikes out there
they come with these like little Pinner tires
and that is not good.
It doesn't give you the support you need,
especially for a bike like this,
that might go to the dirt jumps,
might spend a lot of time smashing bumps at the pump track.
And again, the tires that it does come with
those are really really good Schwalbe Tires.
There's no need to change them until they wear out.
The other thing I moaned about the range a little bit
of that 10-speed dual drivetrain,
(sighs) maybe I just need to do more squats
and lunges or something.
The truth is though it actually shifts pretty well.
It's not Hyperglide Plus of course,
it's kind of clunky compared to that stuff,
but you hit the paddle, it goes right into the gear
and I never had any issues with it.
So I think that's another big positive.
- What about some of the things that you weren't quite
as much of a fan of?
- Well, two thing, one is that cassette.
So, it shifts fine.
I've gone over this a few times already
but I suspect that new riders,
especially those that like the pedal to the top of the hill
they're gonna wanna ride a wider range cassette.
If you're just buying this bike to have fun
at the pump track and the dirt jumps,
well then, I mean, who cares, really?
But wider range is gonna make life
a whole lot easier for you.
The other thing, the brakes, again, another value bike
with resin pads and the rotors that match those pads.
I get it, you know, those things cost money
and they gotta try to save money with this spec--
- It's $1,100.
- Can you imagine trying to spec an $1,100 bike
and then some asshole sitting in front of a camera
at Pinkbike, like just to be rating your choices.
- I tried so hard.
- But, the thing is the brakes suck
with those resin pads people?
Sure, they're quieter, I get it.
And they're less expensive, but that is another upgrade
that you're gonna wanna do,
a different set of brake pads, metallic pads
and some different rotors.
So it's $1,100.
It's the least expensive bike we have here, Sarah
but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good value.
We have to factor in some of those upgrades
and changes that I was talking about,
the most expensive one being a dropper post.
I mean, I think that's a must have for me personally.
You can find dropper posts online
between a $100 and $200, depending on what you decide.
So, let's call it 150 bucks for that.
The other thing, you're gonna want a different cassette
on the back, about another a $100 for a wide range cassette.
And that brings the bike up to $1,350,
give or take a bit depending on where you find those parts.
And honestly, once you make those changes
I don't really see much else that you need to change.
I think you'd be pretty happy with that bike.
And yeah, I would consider this thing
a reasonably good value for that.
(bright upbeat music)
- It's time to talk pros and cons.
Let's start with the good stuff.
- Yeah, we'll start with the positive first.
And the big one for me is if you get it on smoother
less demanding terrain, places where cornering skills
and pumping skills come into play.
Well, I think this little bike is an absolute blast.
In that kind of place, the lack of a dropper post,
the narrow range gearing and the questionable breaks,
they kind of fade away into the overall performance
of the bike, which is just about having fun.
Those things stand out less in the bike,
it's just a good time.
(bright upbeat music)
- What about some of the things that you're not a fan of
on this bike?
- Well, there's really only one thing here.
You know, this thing, it's not the bike for you,
if you're looking for a hardtail
and if most of your trails are steep and rough and rowdy,
you know, I get that it's an entry-level hardtail,
but geometry is free and geometry can make this bike
a whole lot more capable than it is.
But as it sits, this is not the bike for that rowdy terrain.
This is the bike for more level terrain,
for smoother terrain and for flow your trails.
(bright upbeat music)
- All right, we're almost at the end here,
time to wrap it up.
Who's this bike for?
- Yeah, so Canyon builds this thing
as being ready for everything from pump tracks
to chill rides, to hit to the dirt jumps,
in moderation of course.
And yeah, I would have to agree with that.
It's a blast at all of those things.
And I mean, Sarah, the bike costs less
than I spend at Tim Hortons in one month
and it's way healthier for me and way more fun.
Sure, there are things to upgrade
and you could do that when you're ready,
when you get there and if the terrain demands it.
But until then, for 1,100 bucks,
I mean, I have a hard time faulting this thing.
If you're looking for a bike to just ride,
to just go for mountain bike rides,
the Stoic 3 is a reasonable option.
All right, so that is it for the very white Canyon Stoic 3.
I think it's a hell of a good time,
and it's definitely a good deal.
Make sure to subscribe to the channel,
so you don't miss any more Value Bike Field Trip reviews,
'cause there are plenty more coming,
and we'll see you next time.
(bright upbeat music)