The new Canyon Stoic is an alloy hardtail aimed at delivering durability and value with good trail bike performance: ‘maximum fun for minimum price’ says the marketing. While Canyon’s press release says it’s for all levels of rider who want the hardtail experience, the price point and perhaps the logo (which seems to be either a youth in a hoodie, or washing instructions for a cup cake, depending on which way you look at it) might suggest there’s a hope that this will be popular with the youth market.
Yoot? 
..or muffin?
The Canyon Stoic will be available in three models: the Stoic 2, 3 and 4. The Stoic 2 is the base model, at £849, the Stoic 3 gets a dropper post and other upgrades at £1299, and the Stoic 4 we’ve had on test tops out the range at £1799. All share the same alloy frame, but each model is a different colour (the 2 is white, the 3 grey) with the same simple graphics. Each model is available in a whopping six sizes, from 2XS to XL, making the range suitable from riders just 149cm tall. The mum in me looks from that Stoic 2 in size 2XS to my 10 year old and back and thinks ‘if you could just eat a little more broccoli, you might just fit that by your 11th birthday…’.
Sizes 2XS to S get 27.5in wheels and 150mm of travel, while the M to XL get 29in wheels and 140mm of travel. Canyon explains that this preserves the ride position across the sizes, and the extra suspension also helps the smaller wheels deliver a closer ride quality to the larger wheeled models.
It’s pitched as an aggressive trail bike, with Canyon saying it’s like the new Spectral 29 without the suspension. Like the Spectral, it’s tested to ‘Category 4’ standards, which means ‘the Stoic is up to EWS-levels of strength and durability, whereas our ‘Category 5’ gravity bikes are suitable for World Cup DH and Red Bull Rampage competition. So, yep, it’s strong’.
That doesn’t mean it’s overly heavy though – you’re not going to feel like you’re riding a tank. And while it’s designed to be an aggressive trail bike, it doesn’t have ‘out there’ geometry. It’s trail, not enduro, and Canyon wants it to feel natural to ride:
‘It would have been easy to configure a new bike around the slackest headtube or the longest reach and steepest seat tube. But it wouldn’t have made for the best-riding bike. Make no mistake, the Stoic is an entirely progressive trail bike with a 65-degree head angle that is still ever-so “enduro” and the kind of roomy cockpit that lends real stability when you are bombing down singletrack.
‘Hardtail geometry, however, needs to look a bit different on paper, in order to actually provide a truly dialed ride, out on the trail. For instance, we gave the Stoic a 75-degree seat tube angle. While that may not leap off the page as the steepest dimension of its kind in world history, 75 degrees is actually what you experience once you climb aboard progressive, full-suspension trail bikes that sport steeper 76-77-degree seat angles, but which also get slacker once your weight com- presses the rear shock. Similarly, the HT is slack enough to handle steep, and rough trails, yet strikes a balance to be steep enough to give you the faster steering characteristics that work best at the pump track and local jumps.
‘We strove for a similar balance on reach and overall wheelbase. As the front fork compresses, hardtails start to feel longer, and headtube angles get steeper. We wanted to offer enough length in the frame for high speed riding, without making it too long to have fun with. In short, the Stoic is progressive, but it’s progressive geometry specifically designed for a hardtail.’
The three builds step it up in component quality as you’d expect, although all three share the same wheels and tyres. When you do get round to some maintenance, there’s a threaded BB and simplified cable routing that’s designed to avoid too much finicky fishing around with internal routing. Turn the bike upside down and you’ll find a large exit port for your cables by the BB shell – much easier than aiming for tiny holes.
With its sturdy frame, keen pricing and wide size range, the Canyon Stoic looks like a bike you’ll be seeing on a many a trail near you – probably being put through tricks and a few cases under the guidance of an enthusiastic youngster. Check out our review of the Stoic 4 here to see what we thought.
