Canyon Strive CF Race 9.0 - Review

At €4,299, the Strive CF Race 9.0 is the mid-priced carbon model, but aluminum versions that sport more traditional top tube lengths (shorter than the carbon Race range) and the Shapeshifter design start at €2,499. A carbon Strive CF Race frameset (incl. Cane Creek DBinline shock, Shapeshifter, Reverb Stealth seat post, and headset) is also able available for €2,899. You've probably noticed I'm using a whole lot of €s and no $s. That's because Canyon doesn't ship to North America at this point in time, so anyone reading this from the continent with good burgers and fries is going to have to do some scheming if they want a Strive of their own.





Frame Details

The first thing to know is that Canyon's Strive range is split into two distinct categories, although both look very similar from a distance. The less expensive, four bike Strive AL lineup are all assembled around, you guessed it, aluminum frames. The more important bit of information is that they also feature shorter top tube and reach lengths that are more in line with traditional thinking. For example, a large sized Strive AL has a 626mm top tube, a 442 reach, and a 1187mm wheelbase. The Strive CF Race range are all built around carbon frames and longer 'Pro' geometry, with a large having a 648mm top tube, a 468mm reach, and a 1207mm wheelbase. The difference between the two comes from a longer front end, and Canyon's goal with the longer bike is to provide more stability for someone who might race or likes to let it hang out, while the shorter aluminum models should be a touch more playful.


I think it's fair to say that only an ISIS terrorist with a thing for goats (probably more common than we suspect) would think that the Strive isn't a looker. This is a bike with extremely clean lines, something made all the more impressive when you consider that it has an extra cable sprouting out of it for the Shapeshifter system. That's down to the internally routed housing, with all of the lines running inside the frame until the shift and rear brake housing exits from underneath the bottom bracket, and the Shapeshifter cable pops out at the base of the seat tube.

It's carbon fiber nearly everywhere you look, and Canyon says that a frame with the Shapeshifter setup weighs in at 2,400 grams. A full carbon fiber rear end helps, but Canyon has gone with an aluminum rocker arm, likely because the weight savings would be extremely marginal and the added cost would be anything but. There's frame protection found under the down tube and on the chain stay, and a small bonded in place metal section works to keep the chain from making lunch of the chain stay. There's a set of ISCG 05 chain guide tabs should you want to mount up something more serious than the e.thirteen XCX guide that comes stock, and a direct mount front derailleur can be bolted in place if you're looking for more gearing range.



The Strive's Suspension Explained

Stand back ten feet and the Strive's suspension layout looks a lot like a four-bar design that makes a single-pivot bike look cluttered and complicated, which is exactly what it manages to do. There doesn't appear to be anything groundbreaking going on at first glance, which is nice given that some companies would have gone out of their way to have all eyes within a kilometer glued to their clever Shapeshifter system that's tucked up into the rocker link. What's Shapeshifter? It allows the rider to change the bike's geometry and travel between two settings while on the move.

It uses a supplementary air actuator, hidden mostly out of view behind the rocker arm, that actually changes the location of the upper shock mount in order to alter the leverage. The upper mount moves by just 15mm, which doesn't sound like much, but it takes the Strive CF from 160mm to 130mm of travel, as well as raising the bottom bracket by 19mm and steepening the angles by 1.5 degrees. The Shapeshifter system is controlled via a handlebar mounted remote, with a standard shift cable and housing being run internally through the frame and up to the small air actuator, and a small indicator on the rocker link reminds you what mode you're in. Canyon says that Shapeshifter adds a total of 200 grams to the bike, and that their team has been using the system throughout the 2014 EWS season. The design allows nearly any shock to be used due to the Shapeshifter system being entirely separate from it, meaning that you're not locked into using a proprietary damper. Keep in mind that the actuator unit does not function as a shock in any way, even if it looks like a tiny version of one - its only job is to move the suspension between the two travel settings.

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Specifications Release Date 2015 Price $4870 Travel 160 Rear Shock RockShox Monarch Plus RC3 Fork RockShox Pike RCT3 Solo Air Headset Cane Creek 40 Cassette SRAM X01 Crankarms SRAM X01 Chainguide e.thirteen XCX Bottom Bracket SRAM Rear Derailleur SRAM X01 Chain SRAM Shifter Pods SRAM X01 Handlebar Renthal Fatbar Carbon Stem Renthal Apex Grips Ergon GE1 Brakes SRAM Guide RSC Wheelset SRAM Rail 50 Tires Maxxis Highroller II EXO / Minion DHR II MaxxPro Seat SDG Circuit Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth Compare to other All Mountain/Enduro/XC

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Climbing / Handling

With Canyon putting a big emphasis on enduro racing in the Strive's marketing banter, one could be easily forgiven for assuming that the black and blue machine is all about crushing the downs at the expense of the ups. But, for a bike that is so adept at descending, the Strive is actually a very, very capable climber. The geometry and travel-adjusting Shapeshifter system is a big reason for this (more on it below), with the bike scrabbling its way up more technical singletrack than any other bike we had in our test fleet during our month-long stay in Sedona. In fact, it was the only bike that I managed to get up and over one exceptionally steep and tricky line that, up until that point, I had never been able to clean through years of trying. Given that pushing a handlebar-mounted button drops the travel down to 130mm and steepens up the head angle by 1.5 degrees, it almost seems unfair to compare its technical climbing abilities to other static 160mm rigs, but you simply can't ignore how the Shapeshifter system manages to hide the bike's size when it comes to picking your way up steep bounder fields or tight singletrack. Just imagine if you could push a button and all of a sudden be appreciably better at math, cooking, or your job. That's what Shapeshifter is like, except more fun because it's mountain biking, not math, cooking, or your job.

The Strive also climbs acceptably well when left at 160mm, but it's more of a par for the course kinda bike when left at full travel - not overly impressive in any way, but an adequate ascender that will get you where you need to go. The same goes for pedalling efficiency in both travel settings, with the bike moving forward without any real sense of urgency. In fact, there were many times when I would have preferred a handlebar-mounted button that would considerably stiffen the Monarch shock's stroke rather than adjust travel and angles, and I found myself flipping the shock's compression lever to the middle setting anytime there was smooth, extended climbing ahead.


Pushing the cheater button, which is exactly what it is, doesn't turn the Strive into a cross-country bike (remember, the 160mm Pike can't be dropped down), but it certainly does make it easy to get the bike around the sharpest of switchbacks without too much effort. Fanny packs of traction out back doesn't exactly hurt, either. So, is it a class leader when it comes to climbing? It is impressive, no doubt about that. And yes, when the Strive is in short-travel and steep mode it out-climbs other 160mm bikes easily enough to make you think you're a lot better than you really are. A big part of me likes that and believes that's exactly what well designed equipment should do: allow you to perform even better than your best. Then again, I'm not a fan of buttons and different modes and all that fuss. I own a toaster that toasts my toast without letting me choose from twenty different shades of toasting, which kinda sums up my thinking: I like simple, and I want to get used to how a bike handles without swapping between different modes, however effective they may be.



Descending and Suspension

The fact that the Strive descends well shouldn't be any more of a surprise than a cross-county whippet being a rocket on the climbs, especially when you consider the bike's intentions, but just how good it actually is on the downs was still enough to see me pushing well past where I'd usually start pulling the brake levers. It's just plain easy to ride fast when in long-travel mode, and that will immediately have you re-thinking your lines in order to include some extra spicy options. That comes from the bike's handling that's more neutral than Switzerland - it never feels too lazy or too pointy - which means that the Strive is just as happy carrying too much speed into a chunky rock garden, creeping down the steepest and slowest of lines, or sliding around some flat corners at full trot. It's slack and long, so no surprises there, right? Of course not, but couldn't I say the same of the GT Sanction, Trek's Slash, or any other contemporary mid-travel monster? The Sanction rules the steeps and the Slash is an absolute animal at serious speeds, but both feel like a 450cc dirt bike that's stuck in neutral on flatter ground. The Canyon, however, matches both of those bikes when things get rowdy but avoids sucking out the fun factor on tame ground. The Strive is just less demanding and easier to live with day in and day out.


A lot of the bike's easygoing personality comes from how manageable the Strive feels when you're picking your way through tighter trails. It's still a big, slack bike, so I'm not going to tell you it's easy to slow dance on, but it's also not as difficult to get through stop and go sections as other bikes of similar travel and angles, even when left in its slack and long-travel mode. However, activate the Shapeshifter unit to drop the travel to 130mm, steepen the head angle and raise the bottom bracket, and the Strive slices and dices tight trails like it's a Slap Chop and the singletrack is an over-ripe tomato. In fact, I ended up spending quite a bit of time on the bike with it in the short-travel setting, even on some pretty fast and chunky terrain, and while the suspension balance front to back leaves a bit to be desired when doing so, it's still extremely capable. Save the Shapeshifter system for just climbing and you won't be using the bike to its full potential.

The Strive's suspension's most noticeable trait is that it's not noticeable, but I don't mean that in a ''it could be better'' sort of way, because I'm not sure how much better Canyon could do. The leverage ratio and Monarch shock combination make for an impressively active stroke, and saying that it's coil-like is entirely justifiable. The air spring does make for a good amount of ramp-up once deeper in the travel, though, which wouldn't be as pronounced with a coil shock, but it felt to be spot-on to keep a rider from clanging off the end of its stroke. One jump in particular, a legitimate triple with a worn out takeoff that kept me from ever getting the bike's rear wheel on the good side of the built-up landing, showed just how much Canyon wants to keep riders from bottoming out. Full travel but no smashing to be had.



Shapeshifter Performance

I already outlined my feelings about multiple-choice toasters and multiple-choice bikes above, but my preference for setting and forgetting doesn't diminish the fact that there's a lot to like about Canyon's extremely effective Shapeshifter system. It works as advertised, and swapping between 'rowdy mode' and 'tame mode', which takes all of a second or two while on the move, has a massive effect on the bike's personality. The remote also sits up against your left grip and looks a lot like the lever that KS uses to control their seat posts, which is a good thing because it's in just the right spot and the lever travel isn't excessive.


The actual method of moving between the two modes does require some parking lot practice before you're likely to have it nailed down: push the remote button and give the seat a solid bounce to get it in long-travel mode, or push the button and unweight the rear end to put it in short-travel mode. I found myself being a bit excessive at first with the latter, as you don't even need to get the rear tire up off the ground, but rather just unweight it enough to allow the air-charged piston to push the top of the shock out for more leverage. Neither motion felt natural for the first few rides, but I eventually had it down well enough to perform the job when in some pretty tight trail situations.

The great ergos of the remote and the system's effectiveness mean that you'll likely use it more than if it was a pain in the ass to active, but Canyon didn't perfect it on their first production run. There were a handful of times that saw the system either not fully transform or refuse to switch between modes entirely, regardless of how many times I tried or how much I'd fiddle with cable tension. Air pressure in the Shapeshifter actuator was correct, and I never could figure out what the hold up was, although I suspect it was related to the cable not moving freely at some point along its length. Also, while there is a barely audible ''thunk'' as the actuator tops out when you switch to short-travel mode, there's no indicator as to when you've moved to the long-travel setting, which was a bit annoying considering how it sometimes wouldn't perform that task. I'd like to see Canyon build-in a loud and distinct noise that would let you know you've fully engaged either travel setting in order to keep people from having to look down at the indicator window that's about the size of a grain of uncooked rice.



Technical Report

• Guide RSC Brakes: These are good, really good. The power is there, no doubt about it, but it's how that power is delivered that makes the new Guide stoppers so great. It comes down to modulation, with some powerful brakes giving up feel and control on low traction surfaces - sorry, that's not a great tradeoff in my books. The Guides avoid this by retaining the lever feel that their predecessors had but without any of the annoying quibbles that held those earlier brakes back from being awesome.

• Renthal Cockpit: The short stem, which is a no brainer on a bike with such a roomy front end, and 780mm wide Fatbar Carbon feel spot-on for how a bike like the Strive is meant to be ridden. It also doesn't hurt that I'm a fan of the handlebar's shape. Don't need so much leverage? Then just cut them down. Canyon gets it, why don't others?


• SRAM Rail 50 Wheels: Saying that you didn't really notice a bike's wheelset is almost a backhanded compliment, isn't it? The Rail 50s aren't as flashy as other options out there, but every set has been faultless on the trail, which surely counts for more than bling. No dings, dents, or truing required after loads of big Sedona miles - picture rocks who throw other rocks at you and laugh as you ride by - which is more than I can say about some other wheelsets who have been put through similar tests.

• Ergon GE1 Grips: These would get swapped out for something softer and more traditional if the Strive were in my garage. Maybe I just have sissy hands? Not so, with everyone who rode the big Canyon noting that the GE1's aren't for them.




Pinkbike's Take:

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Reviews and Tech Reviews Enduro Bikes Trail Bikes Canyon Canyon Strive