Canyon Spectral 29 CF 7
Canyon have built one of the best trail bikes out there. The frame is excellent, with geometry that’s right on the money for this category. That includes a reach that’s long enough (485mm, large) to give confidence on steep terrain, while still letting you weight the front wheel well in flat or loose corners, to gain as much grip as possible from the Maxxis rubber.
The 64.5-degree head angle adds stability at speed, and with a fairly low BB, the Spectral carves beautiful lines through corners. At 76.5 degrees, the seat angle is as steep as most mainstream brands go (although we wouldn’t mind it being even steeper), which helps on climbs. Combined with impressive uphill pedalling efficiency, we never felt our weight was too far over the rear axle.
While the suspension is sensitive in the early part of its stroke, smoothing the way whether you’re pedalling or braking, it’s nicely supportive in the mid stroke, too. The rear end stays propped up in high-load berms, allowing you to properly attack the exit, and you can load the bike aggressively in the transition of a jump to get a ton of pop off the lip. Go deeper into the travel and the Spectral’s suspension is a lesson in composure, with a wonderfully controlled ramp-up that ensures only the biggest hits make the shock kiss its bump-stops.
The finishing touches are smart, too, including easy-to-use cable routing, threaded pivot inserts (to save the carbon frame should you thread the bolts in skew-whiff) and a pop-out rear axle lever. So why isn’t it on our Trail Bike of the Year podium? The Spectral was in with a real chance, but we felt that the value we’ve become accustomed to from Canyon isn’t quite there. The carbon frame is great, and the GX Eagle drivetrain gives us nothing to complain about. However, some of the other parts are underwhelming for a bike costing this much, especially a direct-sale model.
For starters, the RockShox Pike fork is a more basic Select version with Charger RC damper, not the Select+ with Charger 2.1 that’s common on bikes at this price and would be smoother over repeated staccato hits. Likewise, while DT Swiss’s M 1900s are decent wheels, a slightly smarter pair wouldn’t go amiss. Perhaps we’re being harsh, but the calibre of bikes around at the moment means we have to be. The Bird comes close in terms of cost, but has a killer spec for the money, paired with similar performance on the trail.