2018 Canyon Spectral – First Ride
Sat 3rd Feb, 2018 @ 3:30 pm
We got our hands on the radically new and box fresh Canyon Spectral, a 27.5″ wheeled trail bike with an Enduro attitude. The first thing we did? Headed into the Cumbrian mountains to attack anything and everything in sight to find its limits.
If it Ain’t Broke…
The previous incarnation of the Canyon Spectral was a huge staff favourite when we tested it, it was so good in fact that one of us went and bought one and never looked back. So what’s with the new shift in design from a rocker link to a straight-through linkage system, and how does that effect the ride characteristics of the previously playful and dependable trail weapon? For some, the bigger question is, what happened to the sweet lines of the old Spectral?
“The new Spectral was developed by riders, for riders, to have the most fun riding.”
Canyon have dropped the 29er version of the Spectral, instead opting to dial in the playfulness of the bike whilst pushing it up a level in their bike categorisation system from 3 to 4 – “for use on very harsh, obstacle-scattered terrain with steep gradients and consequently higher speeds”.
For 2018 Canyon have brought the Spectral in line with their DH bike by incorporating an adapted version of the shock linkage developed on the Sender. On paper this should offer riders better kinematics, allowing the bike to offer small bump compliance before ramping up the shock’s compression for the big hits.
The Spec
The CF 9.0 SL is one rung down from the top spec CF 9.0 LTD, so as such you’ll find a host of excellent kit on board. The wide and stiff DT Swiss XMC 1200 Spline wheelset looks great and should offer fast pick up and excellent power transfer, and with the option to run 2.6″ tyres there should be plenty of traction on offer.
The Fox Factory suspension package might be a little daunting if you’re used to a plug-and-play set up, but will offer infinite tuning options for riders looking for that perfect platform. SRAM Guide RSCs, 12 speed X01 shifter, and X1 carbon cranks sort out stop and go duties.
The sharp new frame benefits from internal cable routing and a super low standover height thanks to that new shock mount, and there’s even a removable blanking plate above the BB for mounting a front derailleur! Remember those?
We’re looking forward to putting this all to the test over a sustained period…
Old Dogs, New Tricks?
Our first ride out on the new Spectral gave us the chance to firstly compare it against the much loved previous model and to find out if it still had the same grin-inducing levels of pop, corner-hugging traction and excellent climbing prowess. Secondly, we wanted to see what the new pretender was going to offer on top of that!
Happily Canyon have kept the geometry in the same postcode for the new bike and the super short chainstays remain to offer a bike that turns in and skips through tight gaps at will. What’s really pleasing about the new Spectral (like its bigger sibling, the Strive) is its assured manner, even over trails you might expect it to falter on. It takes a lot of effort to push this thing over the edge, literally and figuratively!
Riding an XL the bike didn’t feel overly long (for a rider a little over 6′ 2″) which again placed it in the ‘flickable’ camp, without being so short that straight line stability was lost. The dynamic between front and rear was spot on on our initial ride out; the two halves of the bike working in tandem to make the handling obvious and precise, even over rougher, steeper stuff.
So it’s so far so good for this trail ripper – a real weapon of a bike and a potential sleeper cell when up against bigger Enduro bikes. As good up as it is down, we’re still trying to find its limits…
Look out for the full review of the 2018 Canyon Spectral CF 9.0 SL in Issue 53.
