my review of Canyon Strive 9.0

Rv Canyon Strive ES 9.0 after 5 rides.
I have ridden Rocky Mountains (Edge and ETSX 70) for the last 10 years and was ready for a change. I have recently been frustrated trying to buy a pivot kit for my ETSX 70 so decided this time I would buy a bike friendlier to UK suppliers. Whilst reviewing “all mountain” bikes I was looking at Specialised Enduro, Orange 5 etc and nothing was jumping out at me. On a recent bike trip a techy friend told me about Canyon describing their high spec bikes for low prices. On returning home I started my research of Canyon. Although not located in the UK I should always be able to email the factory direct with any queries for replacement parts in 10 years time.
There website is clear and easy to use, generally each bike type has four differing spec options usually ranging £500-£1000 either side the middle price. They are typically German in the precision description i.e. this is the bike this is the price, click here to order. There is no options to add your favourite brand components e.g wheels or brakes, they state that to keep prices low they bulk buy all the components in the autumn. As even their lower priced bikes are still very good spec I personally do not think their range suffers from this policy. Their second distinctive policy is they are only mail order, probably to me the biggest drawback of buying a Canyon for the first time. In response to that Canyon argue that by cutting out distributers and shops they can sell to the public high spec bikes at low prices. I soon became obsessed by searching out all reviews and videos of Canyons. To be honest I struggled to find a bad one, there was a few moans about the long delivery times on some bikes. Although everyone said the bike arrived when they said it would (mine did). Although not knowing anyone with a Canyon I decided to take a leap of faith and click order. Last down to buying a mail order product is sizing and this appeared to be a snag with the previous Canyon reviewers. Canyon has a tool to work out sizes where you enter all vital statistics and they state the size you should order. It appears most 5’10 to 6fters are being sized for a small frame. I think most people ignored this and went for a size larger (I did). One guy ordered a small as recommended and returned it for no quibble replacement medium.
So after a few weeks of self justification I clicked order. Note they have a good list of accessories that if you order with the bike they are heavily reduced I brought SHIMANO XT PD-M785 for £40. They also have a crash frame special where if you damage the frame in a crash to beyond repair or un-rideable they will sell you a replacement at cost price.
Canyon Strive ES 9.0, Fox Float Performance RP2 Boost Valve XXV 160mm, Fox 36 Factory TALAS FIT RLC 160mm, Cane Creek Serie 40 head set, SRAM X0 shifters and derailleur, Avid Elixir7 200mm brakes, Crankbrothers Iodine 3 bling bling hubs and rims, Shimano Deore XT 11-36 10-speed cassette, Schwalbe Fat Albert 2,4″ Evolution Line tubeless tyres, Truvativ Hammerschmidt AM 24 cranks and bottom bracket, Crankbrothers Iodine 2 720 riser, Crankbrothers Cobalt 2 stem, Canyon Bracelets Lock On grips, SDG Fly RL CroMo Rail saddle, RockShox Reverb seat. Plus lots of hidden gems all for £2670 including VAT paid in Germany. European Union products you pay the VAT in their country not in the UK. On paper it’s a lot of bike so it was now a anxious three weeks waiting for it to be built and UPS to do their job. Once dispatched it was easy to track my new baby across Europe, several stops in Germany then direct to Preston before being left with a neighbour whilst I was at work.

Initially setting up bike was pretty simple. I added Stans fluid to the tubeless tyres, fitted Shimano XT PD-M785 pedals which as I ordered them with the bike cost £40, added a mud guard and extra pressure to the shocks and I was ready to go.
Pulling out the bike out of the car I hopped on with some apprehension was it worth the wait and hype? Yes it was well so far long term is yet to be determined. I have now been on 5 rides, 3 were cross country fell bridle ways and lake land passes 2 were trail centres (Grizedale and Whinlatter). The bike has worked perfectly as you would expect on any new bike. It climbs well only limited by my lack of fitness and extra weight ;-), there is no lifting of the front wheel on steep technical climbs although lifts effortlessly if you need to avoid that awkward bolder on a climb. I am still getting used to the hammerschmit attached to my bike but I can really appreciate how it works and its benefits on a rapidly changing terrain especially in a good trail centre. Its either in one gear or the other it can’t be in between. It clicks effortlessly up or down, down being the direct drive 24 chain ring up is Overdrive, the ratio is approximately 1:1.6, with a ten speed cassette you have all the gears you need. Maybe due to my lack of fitness I may swap the 24 chain ring for a 22 when I next need to replace it just to help on those extra steep technical climbs. On the other hand even on road downhill’s it rarely spins out.
Read up on all the components and as we all know there are positives and negatives as to be expected. So here I won’t review all of these needless to say they all work very well straight out of the box. In conclusion I would recommend anyone to buy from canyon who wants a well designed thoroughly professional bike that does what it claims. A super stiff frame that climbs, downhill’s and winds through trails with ease, all you need is the fitness and skill.
Pros: Good value for money, well built attention to detail, good after market options with long term direct factory access, lots of bling, don’t have to deal with shops and their bull and so many extras added e.g chain guide, chain stay, etching on frame, sag meter, torx wrench, shock pump and good value accessories available when buying a new bike
Cons: not able to try out the bike before buying, not able to add your own spec and dependent on the bike sometime delays while they are b

i have a strive ,its currently back with them for repair , watch the rear shock retaining pin , slipped out and shock was only held on one side on a drop then kabang !!!! 😥

I may swap the 24 chain ring for a 22

I really wouldn’t if the cassette is an 11-36 22-36 ratio is almost unusable.

Forget an advert I struggle with long sentences for a bike that ugly 🙂

Nobby, went to look at the bolt on mine I can see how that could drop out if you didn’t spot it was slack. I will keep an eye on it, on reflection was there any tail tail signs?

I bought a Canyon Strive recently but the front mech snapped off on my second ride. Canyon has opined this is not a warranty issue so I wondered if anyone else has suffered the same as it looks like a potential design issue to me as the bespoke mounting is very flimsy?

Hi Adrian how is the strive? I’m thinking of getting one of these to go along side my hard tail. I ride trail centres mainly and I see your from Lancashire so you probably ride the same places as I do what do you think of it?

My friend has a Canyon Nerve CF and the shock bolt on the right hand side of the rocker, has shaken itself free while on a ride and lost it. I would recommend that if you buy a canyon just check all the bolts before each of your first few rides.

That review is seriously hard to read!

I’m sure that you included some handy information but it hurts my eyes just looking at that block of text.

Enjoy your bike.