- Canyon is well known for producing
a huge and varied range of bikes,
and in the last year we've seen a lot of revisions
to the range including a total redesign on the Torque
which is the bike park thrasher,
and then over here of course is the Lux 29er XC race bike,
and even the all-mountain Spectral
has seen some rolling updates,
but it has left a little bit of a hole in the range.
We've been waiting for a revision on the Strive,
which is why Canyon invited me out here
to their factory in Koblenz to check it out.
This is the brand new Strive.
(fluid music)
Classic spelling mistake.
It's GMBN, boys.
You spelled it wrong.
(fluid music)
I mean, this is Canyon after all.
As far as you can see, there are bikes
in every single direction,
but I'm not interested in these bikes today.
It's only about the new Strive,
so let's go into this little tech lab and check this out.
Now, at a glance, you might think
it looks fairly similar to the previous model.
Look a little closer though, and you'll see
that there are some significant changes.
First up, you're gonna notice
is rolling on bigger 29-inch wheels.
It's intended for racing,
and 29-inch wheels tend to work out best for that.
Also, out back is a revised suspension platform
offering more support,
and more importantly is the new updated version
of the Shapeshifter system,
which really is key to the versatility of this bike.
We're going to get into that in a minute.
For now, let's compare the older geometry
in the older system compared to this brand new 2019 model.
Okay, so let's get into the nitty gritty.
Now, of course this particular one is a top-end model,
but we'll get to that in a second.
So there's obviously, knowing Canyon,
there's a lot of different models
and arranged with a lot of different components out there,
but if we compare this directly
to the 2018 model and the previous model
which of course was 27 and 1/2 inch wheels, that is
when you're gonna start seeeing some of those differences.
So, of course, this for the bigger wheels
is actually running 150 millimeters to travel out back,
and when you operate the Shapeshifter system,
it turns it into a 135 mil travel back end,
and that of course naturally steepens up the angles.
Now, the angles are actually very similar
to the previous bike.
So it was running a 66 degree head angle previously
and it still is, and it turns to 67 and 1/2
when you operate the Shapeshifter system.
Now, the bikes I've got in front of me here
are both size XLs of course, so this is the older 2018 model
with a 27 and 1/2 inch wheels, and this brand new model.
Now, look how long the head tube is,
or how tall the head tube is on the 27 and 1/2 inch model.
It kind of has to be that way to keep your geometry correct,
and keep everything in relation.
Now, that's 155 millimeters,
so it's quite a tall head tube, but look how good it looks
on a 29-inch wheel modern version,
so that's down to 130 mils,
so it's far lower up front,
and it looks, admire certainly, it looks a lot neater.
The whole frame looks a lot more in proportion.
Now, the Canyon's designers have worked incredibly hard
to neaten everything up.
There's not just an overview of a bike.
This thing has been redesigned from the ground up.
Even the actual rocker linkage here itself is far cleaner,
and look at those lines.
They just follow from the top tube
all the way down to the seat stays of the bike.
It's a very clean looking bike,
especially if you consider this is a 29er,
and this is a size XL.
I think it looks absolutely fantastic.
Now, there's two different models of carbon fiber
available in the 2019 model of the Strive.
There's the CF which is available throughout the range,
and there's also the CFR which is slightly lighter,
slightly more high-performance build,
and that's only available on the top two models.
Those top two models also have an additional
10 millimeters up front, so our stocket runs 160, 150.
On those top two models,
they're running a whopping 170 fork on there.
Now, the older 27 and 1/2 inch model
featured five sizes in the range, and they varied
from extra small all the way through to extra large,
but the new 2019 model only has the four sizes,
small, medium, large, and extra large.
Now, as explained, previous models were available
in carbon and alloy, whereas there's no more alluminium
as far as the Strive is concerned.
There's only the carbon and the carbon race models.
Of course, there's 300 grams difference between them.
There's 2,700 grams for the carbon,
and 2,400 grams for the carbon race.
Seat angle remains the same as 73.5 degrees and 75 degrees
depending on which mode you're on
with the Shapeshifter system,
and chainstay length out back is nice and short
at 435 millimeters, which equates quite well
to the 423 that it had on the previous size.
The Shapeshifter system, of course, is the real key
to the versatility of this bike,
so this is where the Shapeshifter system is housed.
The Shapeshifter unit itself is something
that's designed by Canyon and manufactured by Fox,
so it's very much a collaboration between the two brands,
and the way it works effectively is it allows
that top shock mount position to move
and by doing so, it alters the travel the bike has,
it alters the suspension characteristics on the rear end
of the bike, and of course it changes the geometry as well.
In the standard position, which is the open position,
that means it's in downhill mode,
it offers 150 millimeters of travel.
You've got there 66 degree head angle up top there,
and when you flick it in to the climbing mode, it extends.
Basically, it moves that upper shock mount position
just like this.
It raises the bottom bracket.
It shortens the travel.
It firms the suspension.
It feels fantastic,
and one of the coolest things about this
is it uses a stock shock.
It's not like other systems on the market
that rely on a specially-produced shock.
You could fit any shock in here
with the correct eye-to-eye measurement.
You could even fit a coil shock in there if you wanted to.
The point is this is the bit that does all the work.
The shock is just a shock absorber.
Now, you might be wondering what would happen,
for example, if you snap the cable that operates it.
Now, nice and simple, you won't be stuck in the uphill mode.
You'd actually be in the downhill mode
to a 66 degree head angle.
It's perfectly usable as an all-around bike.
You just won't have that slightly enhanced ride quality
that you want for climbing uphill,
so there's no bad thing there.
The unit is pressurized itself.
It has a Schrader valve to the left here,
and it runs between 50 and 200 pounds of pressure in there.
You can set it up to feel differently
in different situations, something I'm going
to get into out on the trail shortly,
but something is very cool which you see
is a little reference window here,
so when you're in the saddle, you can see exactly
which setting you're in if you choose to look down there,
so note you can see half of it right there.
As soon as I click the shifter, everything changes.
And when it comes to the remote control itself,
that is completely revised and much, much easier to use,
much more intuitive.
So this particular version has a RockShox reverb
dropper post remote on here as well,
and you simply got two buttons
to change between the two,
but if you wanna see what the other one looks like
which has a regular dropper post remote,
come and check this out.
So, over here, and I actually think that this
is a slightly cleaner design,
so you got your Shapeshifter font all around the side there.
You've got your two buttons to engage it
into climb mode or into descend mode,
and you've got your dropper post remotely over here,
so this is for cable-operated droppers.
This will actually work on both types of dropper posts
whether you've got the cable, or the top end,
or the bottom end, or whether it has a nipple or not,
so you can see it accepts the cable nipple in the end here,
but there's also a grub screw
so you can actually plant the end of the cable,
so it works on both systems,
so very much looking forward to having a go on one of these
on one of the posts on one of our own bikes.
So you got the cable root, it goes right down here,
down the seat tube, and up the down tube here,
very simple and very easy to work out what's going on
if you have a good look at it.
This is the actual Shapeshifter 2.0 unit.
Look closely here, and you'll see
what's effectively a small stanchion tube.
This is extended in the uphill position.
When you click the shifter and you sit on it,
it squashes down, and it dramatically changes
the upper mounting place of the shock,
and that is what's crucial
to how this bike performs and how it rides,
and I think it's a really, really neat system.
The trouble is, all this talking about the tech stuff
and the numbers didn't really tell me that much,
so I think it's about time I hit the trails
and actually see how this thing felt.
(rhythmic music)
Now, any decent mountain bike needs to have the ability
to be able to get you to the top of the hills quickly
and as efficiently as possible,
but a big, ol' bike like a 150 mil travel 29er,
well, that's never gonna be that much of a joy,
but using Shapeshifter means
you're effectively riding a 135 mil bike,
and, well, that's the name of the game, isn't it?
(rhythmic music)
So, in answer to the other question,
what is it actually like on the trails?
Well, I think you can tell the state of me, pretty muddy.
I had a wicked time riding it here
on the home Canyon trails in Koblenz.
Now, what do I need to say about the bike?
Well, it's quite dramatically different
from the previous bike.
Of course, you're gonna be able to find this out
in another video with Neil,
but I think the key things for me are the fact
that A) the geometry has changed quite a lot.
When I say the geometry, I mean to take into fact
it's a longer sizing now,
so that's much better for us taller folk,
and in fact, I think the medium is very slightly shorter
so it's actually improved for people like Neil or Blake
as well as far as shorter riders go.
Now, the angles, okay, so it might not be
the slackest bike out there,
but I think it's completely appropriate
for what it's designed for.
It feels really agile but not once
does it ever feel out of composure.
It's a really comfortable bike to ride,
and I've gotta say,
the Shapeshifter system works really well.
It's much more intuitive to use than the previous system.
I mean that in two senses of the word.
So, obviously, the shifter itself is completely different
to the previous shifter.
The shifter before was almost on top of the bars,
was a bit of a reach to get to it,
and also the system works the opposite way around,
so it's basically this default setting
is actually in the downhill setting.
It's much easier to engage it into that mode
because you just sit into the bike,
and it's very easy to get out the saddle,
hit the other button,
and you're straight into the climb setting,
and it makes such a difference when you're out
of the saddle, when you're in the saddle.
As soon as you point it up, the high BB position,
the way the suspension feels,
it's just a fantastic option to have on a bike like this.
I think actually the thing I like about it best
is the fact there's no funny shock.
What I mean by that is a lot of manufacturers
get around these sort of issues by specking
very specific shocks that they have built for them.
Shapeshifter enables you
to use a stock shock of your choice.
Obviously, this particular one's got RockShox
Super Deluxe with a piggy back on it.
It's a fantastic shock,
but even without lockout engaged,
it climbs really, really well,
but you also have the option,
thanks to the internal cable root in there,
to run a lockout on there,
and you could even run a coil shock.
So the fact is you can set this up exactly
as you want it to ride.
So you go, that is the brand new 2019 Canyon Strive.
Now, if you want to find out a little bit more
about the bike and how it rides in comparison
to the previous model, click down here
and check out Neil's video.
As always, don't forget to subscribe to GMBN Tech,
and if you love Canyon bikes, give us a huge thumbs up.