Canyon's Spectral falls right in prime trail bike territory. The 29in Spectral AL 7.9 has 130mm of travel at both ends, coupled with the big wheels - ideal for covering distance at a fast pace.
Our test loop for the Spectrals is a typical trail centre red route with winding singletrack climbs, jumps, twisty descents and some great, wet, rooty sections.
The trail takes no prisoners, winding straight into a reasonably steep climb, punctuated by cheeky roots that try and kick the Continental Mountain King tyres offline. Shifting across the RaceFace Evolve rings is good, but perhaps not quite as slick as the Shimano SLXs found on the 650b Spectral. The Continental tyres lack the Black Chili compound, and so are a little more prone to stepping out on the roots, but their 2.4in wide body, at relatively low pressures are offering plenty of grip for the most part, even in the sloppy parts of the climb. Their wide-spaced tread doesn't pick up much mud either.
Stable suspension
With Canyon's four-bar suspension giving a stable, efficient platform for climbing, we stay seated and spin up most of the climb, occasionally standing for 5-10m when the gradient steepens. With the Fox CTD Performance shock in Trail mode there's minimal bob, but the 29in Spectral doesn't feel overly sprightly.
Interspersed in the climb are a few small descents, and it's here that we're reminded how much we love dropper posts. Canyon has specced the ever-popular RockShox Reverb Stealth on both bikes, so we're quickly able to drop the saddle without ruining the flow of the ride.
With the first climb out the way we quickly drop into the first descent, four table top jumps are in front and we head straight in. For the first time we're braking into the face of the jumps on the 29er Spectral. The big wheels have carried us over the rough drop-in, and we've picked up more speed than we're used to.
Regain speed
Next up is a beautiful, tight, twisty trail that drops and pops down to some berms. Speed's picked up again, and we understeer into the first corner. The bigger wheels and the tapered, bolt-thru 130mm Fox 32 Performance cartridge fork, just about at its limit for stiffness, mean we need to keep our weight forward to make it round the corners first time.
With the next climb out the way we're back into descent mode. This one is wider, and straighter, but littered with roots. The Spectral is a bit of a sled here - it's fast, but we're hitting the roots head on and banging over them. It's not subtle, but it is effective. We don't have the wheels running tubeless, but we know the time will come when we have to change tubes. We don't have to wait long. With the roots covered, we hit a flat-out rocky section that's caught us out before. The familiar bang of rim on rock brings us to a halt as the tyres have punctured, despite having an upgraded Protection casing over the 650b's standard carcass. Fortunately it's not far back to the van and a track pump, so we saunter back ready to swap bikes.
Great spec and descends as fast as you like, but the frontwheel needs weighting for ultimate control
FRAME Canyon Spectral AL 29, 130mm
FORK Fox 32 Float CTD Performance, 130mm
SHOCK Fox Float CTD Performance
WHEELS DT Swiss M1700 Spline 2
TYRES Continental Mountain King II Protection, 29x2.4in (F), X-King Protection, 29x2.4in (R)
CRANKS Race Face Evolve, 36/22
GEARS Shimano SLX shifters, SLX mech (F), XT Shadow + mech (R)
BRAKES Shimano SLX, 180/160mm rotors
HANDLEBAR, STEM, SADDLE Iridium
SEATPOST RockShox Reverb Stealth
GRIPS Ergon GE1
SIZES S, M (tested), L, XL
WEIGHT 13.4kg (29.5lb)