HOLD ON! The Canyon Lux has been launched – check it out!!
It’s been clear that Canyon have been working on a new cross-country full-suspension bike. With the LUX first spotted ahead of the Cape Epic in 2012, it’s life cycle may have run too long. Those who paid attention during the Tankw Trek might have seen glimpses of the new bike under the Canyon Topeak Factory Racing Team, especially if you followed their stories on Instagram.
Photo: Michal Červený
We could spot a few things. Good standover height in the large sizes, room for two bottles inside the frame, slender seat stays, and a shock mounted under a very thin top tube.
A screen grab from the Red Bull coverage.
With Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Mathieu van Der Poel both racing the World Cup in Stellenbosch on the new, unreleased Canyon, a few things are more certain.
The frame has a large downtube, which should be no surprise, and it sits forward at the bottom bracket, which will allow for a second cage – you can see the mounts on the image of PFP’s bike above.
With a straight seat tube, the bike also supports running a dropper post – as Ferrand-Prevot has been doing last season and in 2018.
The cables and hoses run internal, which should be no surprise, and it looks like the lock out for the rear shock would go straight to the head of the unit from internal routing. But, the shock doesn’t sit into the frame like on the Cannondale Scalpel SI. Interestingly, PFP didn’t use a remote lock out.
We can also see above that the bottom bracket is press-fit, and the swingarm likely uses flexstays – there doesn’t appear to be room for a pivot there at all.
The rear shock is longer than the 165/38mm length often on XC bikes, and it uses a clevis shock. VDP has Fox suspension, PFP has RockShox, or so it appears. It is hard to know what Canyon will spec on their production bikes.
You can see that VDP’s Fox 32 SC is Boost, and it would be baffling if this new bike wasn’t. We can also expect a slacker head angle, and likely a steeper seat angle and longer reach.
All we’ve heard from a Canyon Factory rider is a confirmation they are on them and that “they are awesome.” I guess we’ll all have to wait for official details! But this is another bike that should bring 100mm of efficient travel to a lightweight and stiff XC chassis, with the ability to carry two bottles inside the main frame and run a dropper post. A true modern marathon/stage race and XC bike.
UPDATED! More photo’s of Kristian Hynek’s bike
We had some extra photos in, of shots taken of what looks to be Kristian Hynek’s bike (as there is a ‘K’ on the bidon). This shows the shock assembly and the link, with very neat pivots at the top of the seat stay. It’s hard to say why there are 3 sections of electrical tape on the non-driveside seat stay though. The lock-out cable is route from the front but has to do a big U-turn. We hope there is a custom model coming out to solve this.
Canyon are using a flat-mount disc brake mount, which then needs an adaptor for normal post-mounts. Note the longer bolt head on the forward bolt too – possibly to assist with access for the team mechanic.
Alban’s bike.
This shot shows that two full-size bidons fit in the frame, and this appears to be Alban Lakata’s bike, given the ‘A’ on the bidon. It also shows some notes on the tune of the shock. Canyon may well be optimising shock tunes for their team riders, or for production bikes. Perhaps the tape is left from holding some telemetry equipment?
Hynek is #fullyslammed on his bike, and like many of the Factory riders they do without the frame saving feature Canyon build into their frames – and even the bearing cover. The lifted top tube helps get the shock higher, creating room for the two full-size bidons.