howdy folks it's Wil here
from Flow Mountain Bike and welcome to this video review
of the Canyon Spectral:ON now the Spectral:ON is Canyon's do most of the
things e-mountain bike it slots in between the Neuron:On which is the 130mm travel trail bike
and the Torque:On which is the 175mm travel park bike the Spectral:ON splits the difference in
terms of both wheel size and suspension travel this bike has 150mm travel front and rear
and it's built with a mullet wheel set up so we have a 29 inch front wheel and a 27.5 inch rear
wheel that allows Canyon to build the Spectral:ON with a very short rear end the rear centre
length on this bike is just 435mm new for this year's bike is the move to the
Shimano EP8 motor and we also have a larger 630Wh battery inside the down tube it's
all built around a carbon mainframe with an alloy rear and it's certainly a sleek looking bike
with plenty of neat integration there's an internal steering limiter which prevents the fork
crown from smashing into the down tube there's an internal wedge for clamping the seat post and down
at the rear axle we have the really neat tool-free Quixle thru-axle there's also a generous
skid plate to protect the motor and help integrate it nice and cleanly into this frame and also nice
to see is the fact that the Spectral:ON will fit a water bottle inside the mainframe for 2021 there
are six models in the Canyon Spectral:ON lineup all of those models are built around the same
frame motor and battery the entry point into the range is the Spectral:ON CF 6 and that has
a list price of $8,599 AUD at the other end of the range is the top end Spectral:ON
CF 9 which has a price of $13,549 AUD the bike we have here is one step down from that
this is the Spectral:ON CF 8 and the sticker price on this is $10,899 AUD for
your money you're getting Performance Series Fox suspension with a 36 fork and a Float DPX2
shock we've got a Shimano XT 1×12 drivetrain four piston brakes with 203mm rotors and a Maxxis
Minion tyre combo with a 2.5in DHF on the front and a 2.6in DHRII on the rear confirmed weight
for our test bike here is 22.4 kilos and that's weighed without pedals and with the tyres set up
tubeless now with Canyon bikes being sold direct to consumer our test bike was air freighted
straight out of Germany it's worth noting here that you do have to pay an extra shipping cost of
$199 AUD Canyon will also charge you 30 bucks for the cardboard bike box that means
the total price of this bike here is actually $11,128 AUD including shipping and the bike box also worth
pointing out is that in Australia the battery on this bike is actually sent separately via road
freight the idea is that the bike and the battery arrive at the same time and all you need to do
is install the protective plate onto the battery before clipping it into the down tube and charging
it up otherwise the bike is pretty straightforward to build you will need to install the front wheel
the handlebar the seat post and the saddle and you'll also need to plug in the Di2 wire for the
display unit the only bummer is that this bike isn't supplied with tubeless valves or sealant so
you'll have to BYO which seems a bit ridiculous on a bike costing 11 grand at 175cm tall
I've been riding a medium size in the Spectral:ON and the bike has fitted me well even with the
150mm dropper post there's a little bit of room to spare there which is more than i can say for
some previous Canyons I've tested in the past it's worth noting that if you do go up to
the large frame size however the seat tube gets longer by a whopping 40mm even
though the reach only increases by 20mm now this is an important note for riders
who are between 175 to 180cm tall who might be tossing up between the medium or
large size it's definitely worth looking at Canyon's recommended minimum and maximum saddle
heights for each frame size in the geometry chart that being said i've not had any issues with fit
on this bike and indeed the 445mm reach measurement is right in the ballpark it does feel
quite a bit longer than that though and there are two reasons for this the first is the slack seat
tube angle which Canyon lists at 74.5 degrees however once it slammed the saddle all the
way forward on the rails it actually measured up closer to 76 degrees though it's still not
quite as steep as some of the more contemporary designs on the market the other reason is
the one piece carbon fibre handlebar and stem now according to Canyon the one-piece design
is lighter and stronger than a traditional bar and stem and it certainly looks slick with the
internal wiring and that integrated display the bars are 780mm wide and canyon says the
virtual stem length is 50mm it actually feels longer on the trail and indeed the grips
do sit further forward than the steerer tube almost as if the bars have been rolled forward and
that means the effective stem length is probably closer to 60mm giving a longer reach overall now
I actually quite like this because it brought my chest forward and encourage me to properly weight
the front wheel suspension setup on this bike is also relatively straightforward I ran the Fox 36
with the recommended pressure and rebound settings and out of the box it is very comfortable with
excellent small bump sensitivity that said the GRIP version of the 36 can be a little bit divey
so i did end up adding a third volume spacer inside the air spring just to give it a little
bit more mid-stroke support and keep it riding higher in its travel I set up the shock with 30%
sag though I did need to run rebound damping on the faster side just a couple of clicks off the
fastest setting otherwise the back end would feel a little bit too boggy once dialed in though the
suspension on this bike is absolutely fantastic the active 4 bar suspension design keeps things
nice and neutral with minimal feedback through the pedals there is less anti-squat here compared to
the regular Spectral models and Canyon also hasn't tuned the rear shock quite as aggressively with a
smaller volume spacer inside the rear shock that gives it a more linear and active feel which
is noticeable when you're seated and pedaling through choppy terrain but also deeper into the
travel say when the rear wheel is copping repeat impacts at speed the floaty suspension feel is
complemented nicely by the supple Maxxis tyres Canyon spec a lightweight EXO casing on
the front and an EXO+ casing on the rear set at 21 and 25 psi respectively they provide
a nicely damped feel on the trail and plenty of reliable traction on the dry and loose rocky
conditions that we mostly tested this bike on for an e-bike these are quite lightweight tyres
though they both weigh in under a kilo each and indeed i managed to pinch flat the rear tyre on
several occasions to be fair i really should have fitted a tyre insert into the rear wheel though
for riders who are particularly hard on their gear you might want to consider upgrading the tyres to
something with tougher casings right off the bat throughout testing we've been super impressed with
this bike's handling and the way that it rides lighter than it is for less experienced riders
it's quite intuitive and easy to ride with a really nimble and sporty feel on the trail the
mullet setup and those short chain stays allow you to really steer off the rear wheel and the
low hanging bottom bracket keeps your center of gravity nice and low to the ground the front end
steering is quite light too and you don't need to push that hard on the inside grip for the whole
bike to lean over and initiate a turn it's very flickable and for more experienced riders
it really encourages quite a hard and sharp cornering style it also loves getting both wheels
off the ground and while the suspension is active there's still enough support there for your
feet and hands to push off of along with the stout chassis and that tight back end this bike
loves jumping and playing with the terrain those same attributes can make it feel a little bit
pingy on steeper and rougher enduro style trails and it's not as planted at really high
speeds compared to slacker and burlier bikes like the Specialized Levo and the Merida e160 not
helping things on steeper descending trails my arse would occasionally contact the tail of the saddle
which had me second guessing whether i'd actually compress the dropper post all the way that e-bike
specific saddle is great on the climbs though it provides you with a load of support and helps
to lock your sit bones in to give you a really comfortable and supportive climbing position
overall climbing performance is good thanks to that perky EP8 motor though when things get really
steep and technical that short rear end makes it harder to get your weight over the front of the
bike with the front wheel tending to lift and wander compared to bikes that have longer back
ends it's a different experience on smoother purpose-built climbing trails though where the
Spectral:ON makes short work of tight switchbacks and the relatively lightweight tyres keep it
rolling along with plenty of enthusiasm as for the overall package we've been really impressed
with the Spectral:ON CF 8 test bike thanks to its excellent suspension powerful brakes and positive
shifting I did clip the rear derailleur a few times but it's managed to shrug off those impacts
without drama and I did get to experience the brilliance of the SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger
which is designed to actually rotate backwards in the dropout to help get the derailleur out of the
way in the event of an impact while I did manage to pinch flat the rear tyre on several occasions
the dt swiss wheels haven't flinched at all these are an e-MTB specific wheel
set so they're quite heavy at 2,203 grams but with heavier duty rims spokes hub shells
and hub internals they've proved to be super tough all throughout testing and that my friends
brings us to the verdict of the Canyon Spectral:ON this is a great looking e-mountain bike with a
high level of integration around the Shimano motor and battery it isn't the slackest or burliest
bike around and indeed if you prefer riding really steep and really rough terrain chances are
you'll be better served by the longer travel Torque:ON in comparison the Spectral:ON is less of a
ploough-mobile and more of a speedy technical trail bike it offers incredible agility and loads of
pep through twisty flow trails with that short back end and low bottom bracket allow you to rip
through corners with speed and precision indeed this is the most agile e-mountain bike we've ever
tested it's loads of fun and really engaging to ride and it rarely failed to put a massive grin on
our faces whenever we rode it now if you'd like to learn more about our experience of testing the
Canyon Spectral:ON the full review is now live over at flowmountainbike.com hit the link in the
video description below and that will take you through to the full review of this bike here if
you've got any questions for us about the Spectral:ON drop those into the comments below give us a
thumbs up and if you haven't already subscribed to our YouTube channel do that right now because
we have plenty more videos coming your way soon otherwise that's it from me guys i hope you
enjoyed this video and we'll see you next time
