Since
their entry into the UK market a few years ago, Canyon have made a name for
themselves as purveyors of well-made bikes that exhibit often extraordinary
value. The secret (or catch, depending on your point of view) is that the brand
don’t have dealers – they ship bikes directly to your door.
That means you have to do some basic assembly before
you can head out for a ride, but it’s well within the ability of anyone who’s
loaded a bike into the back of a small car, and Canyon include a simple torque
wrench and decent instructions.
If anything goes wrong, they’ll pick the bike up to
sort it out. Whether that’s more convenient than going to a shop depends on
your availability for couriers and ability to store the rather large cardboard
box just in case.
The frame
The Nerve has been in the Canyon range for a while,
but the 2014 bike has been redesigned around 650b wheels. It’s an extremely
smart-looking frame (although the humpback top tube is a bit Marmite), with a
hardwearing anodised finish.
The seat tube is a particularly interesting piece,
with a doublecranked shape that puts the rocker pivot in the right place, gives
plenty of rear wheel clearance as the bike goes through its 120mm (4.7in) of
travel and provides space for the direct-mount front derailleur to rotate –
because the mech is bolted to the front of the seatstay rather than the seat
tube, it tracks around the chainrings as the suspension compresses. The seat
tube shape does limit how far the seatpost will drop, but there’s a hole in the
seat tube for a ‘stealth’ dropper post cable, which would be the way forward if
you’re a regular seat dropper.
The gear cables are hidden away inside the frame,
leaving only the rear brake hose on view. The cables run inside the substantial
hexagon-section down tube, emerging near the press-fit bottom bracket shell
before heading towards their respective mechs. There are more shapes in the
back end, with rectangular chainstays and triangular seatstays designed to give
ample tyre clearance and stiffness. The seatstays drive a Performance Series
Fox Float CTD shock via a minimalist forged rocker link, complete with neatly
shielded bearings. At the other end, the shock mounts to the frame near the
bottom bracket.
The kit
There’s no doubt that the Canyon is the value champion
of this line-up. Even allowing for the 2800$ headline price becoming slightly inflated by delivery
charges, Fox suspension at both ends, a full Shimano Deore XT transmission and
DT Swiss wheels is a pretty stonking spec for the money. Most impressively, the
whole bike hits the scales at a tiny bit over 27lb – 3lb lighter than the next
lightest bike here. That’s a worthwhile difference.
Avid Elixir 5 brakes aren’t our favourites, but they
do the job. Out back there’s a Shadow+ clutch rear mech for all your
anti-clatter needs. We’d prefer a RockShox Maxle or similar QR through-axle to
the bolt-through X12 at the rear, but having to get an Allen key out to remove
the wheel isn’t really that big a deal. The DT Swiss M 1700 wheels that the
axles hold in place are a tidy choice – they’re light and reasonably stiff.
The ride
While it’s bang up to date in terms of construction
and components, the Nerve offers up quite a traditional ride that’s definitely
more suited to cross-country riding than allmountain. With its relatively steep
geometry, low weight and fairly narrow (by 2014 standards) handlebar, it’s a nimble
and lively bit of kit, but if you’re looking to tackle super-steep tech or descend
extremely quickly you might want something a bit more laidback. It’s good to
have choices though (and Canyon offer a more aggro alternative in the form of
the longer-travel, slacker, RockShox Reverb equipped Spectral) and a lot of
people will feel right at home on the Nerve.
It helps a lot that the suspension works well over all
sizes of bump – although the Performance Series Fox fork can spike a bit on
sharp hits – and that the chassis stiffness is high enough to give you enough confidence
that you’ll keep going the way you intend. The back end is well controlled
under power, and we didn’t have any problem riding around in the CTD shock’s
open Descend setting most of the time.
The slightly-bigger 650b wheels are effective too –
the difference from 26in wheels isn’t anything like as marked as jumping to
29in, but when you’re buying a whole new bike (rather than a frame to fit your
old bits to) there isn’t any massively compelling reason to avoid the “new”
wheel size.
With its impressive spec, the Canyon is massive value
for money. It’s a good option for big rides
SO GOOD
Spectacular value for money Sorted frame design and construction
Great attention to detail Impressively low weight
NO GOOD
Conservative geometry won’t suit everyone Some
assembly required Rear through-axle requires getting a tool out
Performance Series - The middle tier of Fox’s suspension hierarchy,
lacking the gold Kashima stanchion coating and FIT fork internals of the
high-end Factory Series models.
WEIGHT 12.3kg (27.1lb)
FRAME Aluminium, 120mm (4.7in) travel
SIZES XS, S, M*, L
FORK Fox 32 Float CTD 27.5 Performance, 120mm (4.7in) travel
SHOCK Fox Float CTD BV Performance
HEADSET Cane Creek 40
WHEELS
Hubs: DT Swiss M 1700 Spline
27.5
Rims: DT Swiss M 1700 Spline
27.5
Spokes: Stainless
Wheel weight: 1.71kg F, 2.20kg
R
TYRES Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evo, 27.5x2.25in
CRANKSET/
BOTTOM BRACKET Shimano Deore XT, 22/30/40t / Shimano BB71
DERAILLEURS Shimano Deore XT F, Shimano Deore XT Shadow+ R
SHIFTERS Shimano Deore XT
CASSETTE/CHAIN Shimano HG81, 11-36t, 10-speed /Shimano HG
BRAKES Avid Elixir 5, 180/180mm
BAR/STEM/GRIPS Canyon Iridium 3–0 / Canyon Iridium 3–0 /Ergon GA1
SADDLE/SEATPOST Selle Italia X1 / Canyon Iridium 3-0
PRICE: 2875$ (inc.
shipping)
