First Ride: 2022 Canyon Spectral:ON CFR

Even though the Spectral:ON saw updates last year, and the silhouette of the new bike is familiar to the bike line and brand image, the new CFR and CF versions of the bike see a whole host of other changes and improvements, aside from the electric parts, that aim to make this bike a true all-rounder that can tackle anything from mellow single trails to full-on party bike park laps. That’s quite a wide scope of riding to design for, and to make their job even harder, they wanted to affix words like playful and nimble to a bike that weighs north of 20kg (44 lb).

I’ve spent the best part of six weeks poking around the new Spectral:ON in its CFR guise and, more importantly, riding the hind legs off it to see just how much better a bike with a big 900Wh battery can be, and if those claims of playful are in fact true.

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Features & Details

The new Spectral:ON CFR and CF are a 155mm rear travel package mated to a 150mm travel fork. There’s a 29” wheel up front and a 27.5” wheel out back. The MX configuration is perhaps the most common layout for an eMTB to allow for the packaging of the motor, bridge, clearances and wheel at a decent chainstay length.

The frames are now a full carbon fiber composite affair. That move to carbon for the chainstay and seatstay is a first for Canyon in its eMTB world, and allowed them to shed a bunch of weight while also bolstering the bike’s structure to up the stiffness and strength of the frame. The old version of the bike was only tested to an ASTM Category 3 level, while the new bike is tested to a 4E level, the E denoting extended cycles for Canyon’s EMTBs and is the highest level that they are tested to.

The composite rear end boasts huge tire clearance for the stock 2.6” wide tires. Come down to a 2.4” tire and you can almost fit your whole hand in between the tire and frame. With Canyon’s focus also on upping the stiffness, it does make for a very wide rear end, with the seatstay tubes being pretty big and bulky to match the simply massive front triangle. From side on it’s not such an imposing sight, akin to some current MTBs. But from above the frame, especially the down tube, are super wide.

The CFR and the CF models use slightly different materials and layup schedule to accomplish the price targets, but share the same stiffness, durability and core frame features. A size M CFR frame weighs in at 2,880g with the CF model weighing 3,180g.


Despite being labelled as an all-rounder, Canyon knew that bikes in general are being ridden a lot harder than in days past. And that when you really go for it on an eMTB, it’s often an exponential return in the severity of the abuse that the bike takes in comparison to a lighter weight MTB.

The whole bike and its design centres around the bigger battery. At a whopping 900Wh, it alleviates much of the range anxiety from a ride but also brought about a host of challenges for the development of the bike.

Canyon looked to develop their own battery to give them more tools for designing the battery package and its placement in the frame. Something that they experimented with on their titanium lugged, carbon tubed prototype. With the 900Wh battery accounting for around 20% of the overall bike weight, its placement in the bike, both horizontally and vertically, can have an astounding effect on the way the bike rides and reacts to the ground and rider inputs.

Canyon used 2170 cells arranged widthways across the frame to give them their best balance of packaging and placement, along with rotating the Shimano EP8 motor back by 30°. It also allowed them to use the 900Wh battery on even the M size bikes. Unfortunately, due to its sheer length, the 900Wh battery can’t fit on the small size. But fear not, as the same electrical technology that went into the bigger battery is also present in the 720Wh battery option.


That bigger capacity without the tank-like ride characteristics was a guiding light for Canyon. Comparing to their 2021 XTR equipped Spectral:ON, the new bike weighs in 610g lighter for the same XTR equipped spec while having a 15% bigger battery capacity. Stuffing the 900Wh battery in ups that capacity to 42% compared to the 2021 model for only 350g more on the whole bike weight.

The frame's pivots also see an increase in capacity, with bigger bearings and axles helping boost the bike's stiffness overall as well as boosting the connection stiffness between the frame parts. The pivots also use replaceable threaded parts to avoid too many in-mould aluminium parts that could become damaged and render the whole frame part useless. Torque values are helpfully printed on the hardware parts and the bolts are all easily accessible with just simple Allen keys.

All the cables are routed internally in the frame, through moulded in channels, and annoyingly through the top headset bearing in a trend that I’m now taking an official stance against. Canyon worked with internal headset mafia boss Acros to put some of their own touches on the internally routed design. The cables are at least sealed in the top cap with different plugs for the different cable routing options, which should make the honestly terrible Acros headset last a little longer before it creaks like an old barn door. Also included in the headset is a steering stop to avoid any fork to down tube collisions. But just in case, there’s a stick-on rubber protector on the downtube.

The stem, spacers and top cap all align in an “integrated” design, but do warrant the use of the lower 5mm spacer to avoid the stem crushing the cables. Further up on the LTD model, Canyon has their own bar / stem combo, which is one of the cleaner looking ones out there with the bolted-on display. Lower spec models use a more traditional separate bar and stem construction that uses the same headset and spacer parts.


Other nice little features on the frame include Canyon’s own 3-bolt bottle cage that uses two bolts at the bottom end to lower the bottle position and weight while keeping it really securely mounted. The Quixle is a fantastic touch inside the rear axle that’s easy to use, quiet and has ample leverage to tighten the axle without hitting the frame at every turn.

There’s a top chain guide and ample chainstay and seatstay protection in the form of soft rubber moulded protectors. There’s protection over the chainstay to mainframe pivot too with a little rubber flap helping defend the main pivot from what is certainly an entry into the crown for biggest loam shelf competition.

The 203mm post mount rear brake is a great touch, with easy room to go up to a 220mm rotor if desired.




Motor & Battery

The Spectral:ON CFR and CFs use Shimano’s EP8 motor system mated to their own batteries that are manufactured by Trendpower. The batteries are Shimano approved and are part of the Shimano Steps Service Program, warrantied by Shimano for 1-year and available to buy as a replacement. The bike is not compatible with any other batteries or range extenders and must use the included Canyon charger to charge the batteries, but you can buy a replacement charger through Canyon if needed.

The battery features a built-in charge indicator that allows you to see the progress or capacity of the battery when it’s off the bike. The bike’s on / off switch is a mechanical switch that goes through the downtube to press on the battery, removing the need for some additional wires.

On the topic of wires, the whole system only has three wires in the harness - one from the battery to the motor, one from the display to the motor and one from the speed sensor to the motor. This should help in the bike’s maintenance compared to other bikes with a spider’s web cables inside the frame.


The connection between the battery and motor uses a Rosenberger magnetic self-locating plug that is meant to allow easy access for battery removal or charging with the battery in the bike.

Battery removal is done via a hole down at the motor, which avoids a gaping big cut out in the downtube. It’s smart, as it keeps the backbone of the bike more intact and also helps to avoid the ingress of water and dirt into the frame and around the motor and battery. Taking the battery out is best done with the bike in a stand (if you’re strong) or with the bike upside down or on its side, although with the 900Wh battery’s length it needs a little lift to get it out.

Access to the battery is via the fiber reinforced skid plate that is held on with an easy-to-use rubber strap and keys into the frame with two small pegs and slots over the battery retention bolts.

The battery is held in the frame via two large steel screws. With the 900Wh battery weighing 4.75kg, and the 720Wh battery weighing 3.84kg (Shimano’s 630Wh battery weighs 3.7kg for comparison), it needs to be damn secure. Removal is easy though, and the piece de resistance of frame details are the two little magnets in the skid plate for holding onto the bolts while you take the battery out. You’re only meant to use the Canyon supplied bolts to hold the battery in, so now there’s no excuse if you lose them.


Canyon went with Shimano’s EP8 system for its reliability, smoothness of power delivery, usability and service options and network. It also looked to standardise the range and elevation estimations. Back in 2018, Bosch and ZIV (Germany’s bicycle industry association), with cooperation from Shimano, Accell group and several other bike brands, developed a standard test for range (R200) and elevation gain (R300).

For the Spectral:ON CFR, with a total system weight of 100kg (22.2kg bike and 77.8kg rider), it covered 97.2km and climbed 2132m of elevation with the 900Wh battery. With the 720Wh battery it covered 77.7km and 1681m of elevation. Other constants for the test include 70W rider power and 200% of support from the motor (140W).

Charge times for the 900Wh battery are either 5h – 5.6h or 7.2h – 7.8h with the 6A and 4A chargers respectively. For the 720Wh battery charge times are either 4h – 4.7h or 5.8h – 6.3h.




Geometry & Sizing

The goal of the new Spectral:ON was to create not only an all-rounder of a bike, but also a balanced one. While it is longer, lower and slacker than the previous bike, Canyon didn’t want to jump to an extreme and sacrifice one end of the wide range of riding that they wanted the bike to cover. Yes, each change is a nip and a tuck, but in combination all these changes add up to something much bigger in the ride feel.

It’s available in four sizes from S to XL ranging from 435mm reach up to 510mm with even 25mm gaps between sizes. Up front is a 65.5° head angle that tries to strike a balance between agile and stable. Canyon do say that slacker can also be fun, but for this bike’s intentions, travel and focus on balance it made much more sense to not be at DH bike levels of slack.

Chainstays are 5mm longer, at 440mm, to try and offer more balance and traction while climbing really steep pitches of trail. They are unfortunately the same length for all frame sizes.

In the middle, the seat angle actually saw quite a big change, with the new bike being two degrees steeper and also 20mm shorter. While the steepness is very welcome, especially on a bike that can climb damn near vertical walls, the seat tube lengths are still comparatively very long. The M size, at 440mm, is closer to a lot of other brands L size frames. Something to consider along with dropper post length if your inseam is shorter. S size bikes come with a 125mm / 130mm drop post, depending on manufacturer, M has a 150mm and L and XL come with 170mm / 175mm drop posts.

Head tube lengths are generous, which do help to have riders bar heights more in a comfortable and aggressive range for descending, especially in steep terrain. But in combination with the headset and specced riser bars, can be something to look out for if your terrain is flatter or you prefer a lower bar setup on your bike.

The bottom bracket sits at 35.5mm lower than the front axle. The Spectral:ON CFR and CF are MX only bikes, with no adjustments or options for a full 29” setup. The bike comes specced with a 150mm fork, but it is possible and approved to run a 160mm fork if you fancy a bit more party up front, although it will alter the geometry.



Suspension

The Spectral:ON has 155mm rear travel from the 65mm stroke shock. Canyon does point out that the bike was designed to run with an air shock. Not so much due to the spring curve but mainly to do with the shock stiffness as a part of the frame. The Spectral:ON’s layout is a four-bar system that has the shock positioned horizontally under the top tube.

While this layout does separate the clearances around the shock and linkages from the ever-difficult packaging clearances of the motor, battery and electrics, it benefits greatly from driving the shock from behind the seat tube, and so needs a shock extender. This ups the magnitude of forces trying to bend the shock shaft in the body, and due to these Canyon does not advise the use of a coil shock with its smaller shaft. This might also point at keeping an eye on your shock servicing intervals to ensure that bushings, seals and stanchions remain in tip top condition from the increased loading that they see from the extender.


The bike’s response to acceleration is again something that Canyon looked to balance with the amount of chain interaction. With a conventional drivetrain configuration, the anti-squat and chain pull of the bike are more closely linked, and so to reduce the amount of chain interaction with the suspension’s movement they dropped the pedal kickback figures slightly, which also sees slightly lower anti-squat percentages. But the values are still up there to also provide vital support under the increased accelerations that an eMTB sees.

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Options, Price & Availability
The new Spectral:ON is available in two CFR models and three CF models:

Spectral:ON CFR LTD - Shimano EP8 motor. RockShox Lyrik Ultimate and Super Deluxe Ultra Flight Attendant. SRAM XX1 AXS drivetrain. SRAM Code RSC brakes. DT Swiss HXC 1501 wheels. Maxxis Assegai EXO / DHR II EXO+ tyres. RockShox Reverb AXS dropper. Canyon CP0012 bar / stem combo. 21.94kg (720Wh battery), 22.85kg (900Wh).

Spectral:ON CFR - Shimano EP8 motor. Fox 36 Factory fork and Float X shock. Shimano XTR drivetrain. Shimano XTR brakes. Reynolds TRE309 / 367 wheels. Maxxis Assegai EXO / DHR II EXO+ tyres. Fox Transfer Factory dropper. 21.84kg (720Wh battery), 22.75kg (900Wh). $10,500 USD

Spectral:ON CF9 - Shimano EP8 motor. Fox 36 Performance Elite fork and Float X Performance shock. SRAM GX AXS drivetrain. SRAM Code RS brakes. DT Swiss H1900 wheels. Maxxis Assegai EXO / DHR II EXO+ tyres. Canyon Iridium dropper. 22.84kg (720Wh battery), 23.85kg (900Wh).

Spectral:ON CF8 - Shimano EP8 motor. Fox 36 Rhythm Grip fork and DPS Performance shock. Shimano XT drivetrain. Shimano SLX brakes. DT Swiss H1900 wheels. Maxxis Assegai EXO / DHR II EXO+ tyres. Canyon Iridium dropper. 23.04kg (720Wh battery), 23.95kg (900Wh).

Spectral:ON CF7 - Shimano EP8 motor. RockShox Lyrik Select fork and Deluxe Select shock. Shimano XT drivetrain. Shimano Deore brakes. RaceFace AR30 / AR35 wheels. Maxxis Assegai EXO / DHR II EXO+ tyres. Canyon Iridium dropper. 23.04kg (720Wh battery), 23.95kg (900Wh). $5,999 USD

Outside of the US, availability will be May 2022 for the CFR and CF models. The CFR models are only available with the 900Wh battery to start with. Later on, it will be available to choose between the 900Wh and 720Wh batteries when purchasing the CFR and CF models.

The US market will see the CF models in late spring 2022 with the CFR models coming in fall 2022. The CFR and CF8 models will have only the 900Wh batteries (S with 720Wh) and the CF7 models with only the 720Wh battery.

American consumers will have the option to upgrade to the 900Wh battery while supplies of the bigger battery last.

Pricing in Europe is only available at the time of writing for the CFR LTD and CFR models. The CFR LTD in size S (720Wh battery) is €10,999 and for sizes M to XL (900Wh battery) is €11,299. The CFR model in size S is €8,999 and in sizes M to XL is €9,299.

Prices will vary depending on the country, so it's best to check directly on canyon.com to see the full pricing in your country.

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Ride Impressions

I first threw a leg over the Spectral:ON CFR at the winter edition of Bike Connection Agency event in Tuscany, Italy, a few weeks back. The trails down there are huge amounts of fun and wring out the maximum amount of trail from the relatively small elevation without being slow or boringly flat.

Bike setup was Canyon-like simple. While there was a World Cup rivalling number of mechanics and even the engineer and product managers behind the bike to help in guiding the setup, it was a familiar affair of feeling impressively comfortable on the bike with only the bare minimum of setup time in the car park.

I started with closer to 30% sag at the rear and followed Fox’s recommendations for pressure in the 36, which was a comfortable starting point. Bar height is noticeably more sensitive on an eMTB than on a regular bike. The gradients that can be climbed combined with the speed and regular kicks up the arse that an eMTB can give mean that it’s a finer balance between a comfortable but well weighted climbing position and a more stood and aggressive descending position.

At full spacers the bars were too high. Canyon uses long head tubes, which are great for steeper trails or taller riders, but the flatter trails of Tuscany require more confidence in the front wheel grip. Slamming the bars as much as possible helped, but the bars still remained quite high. Upping to closer to 25% shock sag helped to subtly load the front wheel more and remedy any uncertainty in front wheel grip while following the simply rapid Canyon engineer Patrick on the high-speed trails surrounding Massa Marittima.


Back home in the Alps, the higher bar setup is more appreciated and the bike has been holding its own against many a bigger travel bike on the local trails, something that results in some weird expressions as riders have their back doors blown off by an eMTB. It can go seriously fast when you want it to.

When you do really give it some stick, you do start to feel that there isn’t all the travel underneath you, but the quality of the travel is very good and does a grand job of balancing suppleness and support without getting its knickers in a twist from the 20 plus kilograms hurtling down the hill. In the steeper home trails of the Alps, it did benefit from more fork pressure to fight the dive under braking combined with the bigger impacts. But the base setup of the bike, front and back, is very balanced and allows movement in either a softer or firmer direction without big compromise.

Canyon stated that they wanted that full power eMTB experience with the bigger battery, but with less of the restrictions that the heavier battery would impose. And I have to give it to them, it’s one hell of a playful bike. It’s impressively easy to move around and place on the trail compared to a lot of full power eMTBs, and that’s with the 900Wh battery. Swap out to the 720Wh and it’s upped another notch with a bit less weight up near the front of the bike.

This is keeping the comparisons between eMTBs, as compared to a normal MTB it certainly has a more wheels on the ground character and is definitely a lot more effort to get the front wheel up for manuals, pulls and manoeuvres. But in the eMTB world, the Spectral:ON CFR rides like a lighter bike with a fair bit of sprite in its step.


It’s generally a comfortable place to spend a long ride, and with the bigger battery the rides that you can take on are whopping. The seated position is comfortable and well balanced for most of the climbs. Only when it gets truly steep and technical does it require a bit more body language and a more exaggerated position to balance the power of the motor to the available grip. But it’s impressive what the Spectral:ON can get itself up.

The EXO / EXO+ tire combo can be a bit on the limit when you ride really hard or in particularly jagged terrain, but the Assegai / DHR II pairing is a grippy and predictable one. And while there are ridiculous amounts of tire clearance, especially around the seatstay, it might actually be too much. The very voluminous seatstays make for a wide rear end that saw even my skinny legs rubbing all day long, something that I very rarely find. That width continues up front with the downtube, which will find every little piece thrown up from the front tire and hold onto it. I understand, and mostly appreciate, the reason behind the bike’s width, but it’s one of the widest bikes I’ve ever ridden.

Out back, the chain runs extremely close to the chainstay. In fact, in most of the hardest gears it will literally be on the chainstay. While it will move away when you’re riding and more in the bike’s travel, it does mean that the chain hits the chainstay about a thousand times a ride. Luckily the protection covers a wide area and is very well damped, but it could over time wear a little faster as the chain inevitably runs right over it on occasion while pedalling.

While the charge plug is a doddle to pop on and off, the big flaps on it that “integrate” it into the rest of the covers around the motor mean that it can very easily pop off mid ride, often then taking the skid plate with it. This frustratingly happened four times on one ride and once the charge plug is disconnected, the system is off. If you’re halfway up a really technical climb, this can get pretty annoying.


The cable routing from the motor to the charging plug needs to sit quite neatly under the skid plate, otherwise it pushes on the skid plate and can make it all pop off with only the faintest of touches or jarrings from the trail. After a bit of fiddling, I seem to have got it to all sit correctly, but this has taken some time and has been present on both test bikes.

That skid plate also needs a good bit of attention to keep clean. While the design of the covers is to look as if it’s all one big cover, the gaps allow in a lot of water and mud that collects in the skid plate like a garden pond. But, the speed and ease of battery removal and retention, and those little magnets for the bolts, is much better that a lot of other eMTBs.

So far the new Spectral:ON CFR has been an absolute blast on the trails. The 900Wh battery is simply fantastic for making that clear separation between an eMTB and MTB for the length and style of rides, but its added weight hasn’t been a downfall. The bike’s sprite is really up there when comparing to other full power eMTBs which have more of a tank-like demeanour. While it’s not been long at all since the previous Spectral:ON, the new CFR and CF models are definitely a jump forward.

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