The Canyon feels like a bike that’s got your back
It’s a huge improvement, keeping you better centred over the BB for spinning up gradual climbs and further forward over the front axle for weighting the wheel on steeper pitches. This also mitigates the increased reach – it has grown a massive 30mm on the size large – to produce a comfortable, upright seated position that stops it feeling like you’ve been swallowed up.
Just as it has done with the new Spectral, Canyon has completely democratised its wheel size offerings, with pure 29in wheel models, pedigree 27.5in models and mongrel mixed wheel options. Once again both of the mullet models use the front triangle from the 29er grafted onto the rear end from the 27.5in bike. The CF8 we’ve ridden here is joined by a Fabio Wibmer special with Ӧhlins suspension for £5,349, but we’re surprised that there aren’t more options as we can see the mullet bikes being very popular with the bike park crowd.
Canyon claims the new category 5-rated, Rampage-conquering, dual-crown-compatible Torque CF frame weighs 2.6kg without shock, that’s 200g lighter than the old frame apparently. Somehow it manages to look slimmer and lighter from a distance, but substantially beefier up close. The deep chainstays and broad clevis pivots really exude strength and stiffness, while replacing the separate shock yoke with extended seatstays helps prevent it from looking top heavy. Compared to the previous Torque we tested, the complete bike weight has gone up by 1.2kg, but considering upgrades on the new model include a coil spring, bigger Fox 38 fork, 29in front wheel and Double Down casing rear tyre – all of which are heavier – every extra gram comes with a performance advantage.
There’s also a new alloy frame that celebrates the material rather than disguises it, shying away from smooth welds and overly complex hydroforming in favour of raw finishes and costeffective production. It doesn’t get a flip chip, but Canyon has melded the head angle and BB height of the slack CF setting with the seat angle of the steep setting to create a custom hybrid fixed geometry. Obviously there’s a weight penalty (the alloy frame is around 400g
heavier than the CF frame), but with prices starting at £2,649 for the Torque 5 AL, it’s definitely more wallet-friendly.
Originally introduced on the current Sender DH bike and carried across to the Spectral and now the Torque, Canyon has made an effort to engineer a bike that lets you maximise time on the hill and minimise time in the workstand.
And if something does go wrong, you won’t have to scrap the frame. That’s thanks to details like double-sealed bearings, specially formulated grease, replaceable thread inserts and tube-intube internal routing. Equally, as many parts as possible have been shared across the Spectral and Torque ranges, which will help when sourcing spares.
For £4,399 this CF8 model gets a
Fox 38 Performance Elite fork. With four-way damping adjustment, it’s a couple of Kashima gold stanchions away from the top end Factory model. All the performance without the need to shout about it. This is paired with a DHX2 Performance Elite coil shock also boasting four-way damping adjustment. Canyon thoughtfully supplies three springs in the box, so you shouldn’t be left with a compromised spring rate if you’re lighter or heavier than average.
The Shimano XT drivetrain has sufficient range to let you twiddle up the average fire road with ease, the double downshift function is useful for cranking into a jump line, and the XT brakes pack a lot of power, particularly in the early part of the stroke, so just a small amount of lever travel brings a bucket-load of confidence-inspiring retardation.
Other component highlights are the excellent tyre combo – in this case a Maxxgrip Maxxis Assegai up front paired with a Double Down DHRII out back – and, surprisingly, the neat top-loading in-house G5 stem and adjustable travel G5 dropper post.
HOW IT RIDES
Getting set up on a bike with a coil shock can be a pain, but it’s fundamental to making the bike work as intended. Online calculators can help get a ballpark spring rate based on average height and weight per frame size, but Canyon goes one step further supplying two extra springs in the box – one 50lb lighter and one 50lb heavier.
At around 78kg in full kit, my sag on the large Torque with 400lb spring and minimum preload (measured using the bottom-out bumper like an o-ring) was 20mm, or 28.5% sag. On the firm side but within the right zone. Swapping to the 350lb spring increased that to 32%.
Jumping on it was immediately noticeable how much this bike has grown. It’s really long at the front (840mm), but while the back end is fairly short at 435mm, the back wheel didn’t feel tucked right up beneath me.
Plodding along flat singletrack connectors and up fireroad climbs (the Maxxgrip front tyre is soul crushing here) there’s a bit of nodding dog syndrome, despite the increased antisquat compared to the old model. But the seated position is nice and relaxed and the climb switch is right there if you want a more stable pedal response.
Get on the gas and the Torque clenches against your input. At 15.8kg it’s not a bike you want to do intervals on, but for getting up to speed sessioning a jump trail, it does the job. On my first ride on home trails, I suffered a few pedal strikes (not surprising given the sub-340mm BB in the low position) and a few instances where my back foot got slapped off the pedal. It seemed to point to the spring rate being too high, putting me in the high anti-squat zone above the 30% sag point.
But on the next ride, at Bikepark Wales, on a mix of chundery, squareedge infused trails, it didn’t seem to hang up on anything. In fact the Torque was impressively smooth on anything chunky, the coil soaking up the abuse with a beautifully fluid response.
Soft trail conditions and draggy tyres meant most jump trails were off the menu, but on the ones that were running, the Torque was unflinchingly solid but enjoyably exploitable. It was pretty easy to throw about given the overall weight, and the 27.5in rear wheel literally saved my ass on a few drops.
The new Canyon Torque feels like a bike that’s got your back if you want to push your limits, but also a bike that’s exciting enough to make a more mundane trail come alive.
Whether faced with nibbly bermed pipelines, gap-toothed rock gardens or supercross-size tables, as a bike park bike the new Canyon Torque hits all the right notes. It’s your job to put them together into a symphony.
Size ridden Rider height Head angle Seat angle Effective SA BB height Chainstay Front centre Wheelbase Down tube Top tube Reach