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2019 CANYON NEURON CF REVIEW | A Longterm Test Of Canyon's New Carbon Trail Bike
Feb 12, 2019
Wil's been putting the miles into a 2019 Canyon Neuron CF 9.0 SL, and is now ready to deliver the verdict on this slick carbon fibre trail bike.
Unveiled just before the end of 2018, the Neuron CF has arrived to take the mantle as Canyon’s brand new carbon fibre trail bike.
Plugging the gap between the Lux (Canyon’s 100mm travel XC racer) and the Spectral (the 150mm travel AM bike), the Neuron brings 130mm of bounce front and rear. Depending on frame size, it’s built around either 29in wheels (M/L/XL) or 27.5in wheels (XS/S).
Canyon offers both full-alloy (AL) and full-carbon (CF) versions of the Neuron. Both are new for 2019, though the alloy frame is more of a refresh, and carries over the existing frame shape and suspension platform from the pre-2019 model. Of note is that the 2019 Neuron AL shares almost identical geometry to the Neuron CF, and we’re told that the suspension leverage rate is very similar too.
It’s the smooth, plastic-fantastic frame that we’ve got on test here though, and this particular model – the CF 9.0 SL – sits right in the middle of the five-bike range, which starts off with the CF 8.0 and peaks with the 9.0 LTD. There are also two women’s models that utilise the same frame, but are spec’d with a lighter suspension tune, narrower bars, a shorter 50mm stem, and a women’s saddle.
Got any questions? Drop 'em into the comments section below and we'll get some answers for you!
Wanna read the full review? You can do that right here: https://singletrackworld.com/2019/02/review-canyons-2019-neuron-cf-9-0-sl-a-step-up-from-the-old-model-but-it-isnt-for-everyone/
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[Music]
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everyone it's will hear from single
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track magazine and single track WorldCom
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and welcome to this ride review of
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canyons new carbon-fiber trail bike to
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begin with we're gonna have a bit of a
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chat about what this bike is where it
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sits in the canyon lineup and what makes
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it special and then we're gonna go into
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some detail about how it actually rides
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on the trail finally I'm gonna tell you
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what I liked and what I didn't like
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about this bike and whether this is
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something that should be on your
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shopping list for your next trail bike
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now the bike next to me here is the 2019
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Canyon neuron CF it is canyons carbon
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fiber trail bike and it sits between the
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luxe 100 millimeter travel cross-country
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race machine and the 150 millimeter
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travel spectral all mountain bike the
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neuron CF sits somewhere in the middle
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with 130 millimeters of squish and
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either end and it's either built with 29
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inch wheels for the medium and larger
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frame sizes or 27.5 inch wheels for the
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extra small and small frame sizes and
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the neuron CF joins the existing neuron
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al in the canyon full suspension line up
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the neuron al of course has a full
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aluminium frame the neuron CF which
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stands for carbon fiber has a full
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carbon fiber frame set claimed weight on
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this frame is around 2.9 kilos with the
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shock for a medium neuron CF frame now
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that is quite a bit heavier than the
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luxe SL X frame which is claimed to
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weigh around two point one kilos just
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looking at it though you can tell the
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priority here has been to build a robust
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frame that's designed to last it's got a
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plump tapered head tube a large
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hexagonal shape down tube and big boxy
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chainstays as well now aside from the
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carbon fiber frame the biggest
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difference between the neuron CF over
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the neuron al is the different
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suspension design this is called the
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triple phase suspension platform and you
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will have seen it on other Canyon models
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including the lux and the spectral
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compared to the neuron al Kenyon has
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flipped that rear shock to sit
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underneath and parallel with the top
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tube not only does it allow for a
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healthy amount of standard
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clearance it also provides room to fit a
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water bottle cage inside the mainframe
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there's some really nice details on this
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frame including that composite shock
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yoke which drives the rear shock but
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also has external wings that wrap around
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the seats they pivot to give it a really
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clean integrated look you've got seal
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cartridge bearings at all pivot points
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and canyons also added these neat little
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bearing covers which aside from giving
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it a really clean look also provides an
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extra barrier against water and mud from
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getting towards the bearings some other
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really neat but practical features on
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this frame it comes with a threaded
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bottom bracket shell and that actually
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differentiates the neuron CF from the
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luxe and spectral which both use press
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fit bottom brackets
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there's the integrated protection unit
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up at the headset and that's designed to
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prevent over rotation of the handlebar
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so that the shifter and brake levers
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don't scratch your lovely carbon-fiber
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top tube you do get a pretty large range
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of movement with the IPU certainly
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enough that it's never an issue on the
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trail and if you do have a really hard
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crash the two bolts that mount the bump
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stop to the top tube they're actually
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hollow and designed to break away in the
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event of a really hard crash we've also
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got a really neat system for managing
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the cables on this bike Canyon routes
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the cables externally on the neuron CF
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frame but very cleverly they're tucked
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away underneath this down tube tunnel
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and this is three plastic bolt on plates
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which are designed to capture and
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protect the cables it gives it a really
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clean integrated look like you get with
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internal cable routing but if you do
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need to work on the cable see if you
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need to replace a gear cable or a brake
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hose you just undo those plastic plates
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and it gives you access to the cables
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underneath as well as giving it a clean
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look those plates give it a little bit
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of extra protection to the carbon fiber
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down tube also neat but practical is the
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quick celexa lan this frame rather than
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requiring a tool to undo this there is a
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hidden lever inside the end of the axle
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and you just pull that out and you can
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wind or unwind the axle as needed very
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very clean and works very very well
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without having a big ugly lever sticking
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out the back of the bike now there's one
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other hidden feature on this frame that
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you might not know about and that's the
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fact that you can bolt on a front
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derailleur now I mention this because
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the two by compatibility does appear to
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have limited tire clearance and chain
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ring clearance for a one buy set up
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32 is the biggest chain ring you can run
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on this bike as for the rear tire Canyon
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States an official maximum width of just
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2.4 inches now I did try a few different
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tires in the back of this frame and the
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biggest I was able to fit was a two
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point six inch maxis recon it didn't
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have a load of clearance though and it's
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not something I'd recommend particularly
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if you ride in muddy conditions given
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how popular these high-volume
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2.5 to two point six inch tires are
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getting it does seem like a bit of a
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missed opportunity on canyons behalf now
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the specific model that I've been
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testing here is the neuron CF 9.0 SL and
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it sits right in the middle of a five
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bike lineup despite it being two steps
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down from the top of the range model the
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9.0 SL is still SPECT really nicely
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there's a fox performance level
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suspension package on this bike with the
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excellent 34 float on the front and a
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float DPS shock on the back we've got
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Reynolds TR 309 wheels these are carbon
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fiber wheels which is very impressive
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for a bike at this price point
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they're running seal bearing hubs
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straight pull spokes and a full pull
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free hub mechanism in the back which
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delivers 36 points of engagement the
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rims themselves are 30 millimeters wide
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internally they've got quite a boxy
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profile and they're set up to bliss out
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of the box with tape and valves included
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they're supporting a pair of Maxis
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forecaster tires now these measure a
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2.35 inches wide and they're quite a
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high-volume fast rolling tire and
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because they're on the thinner side it
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does mean you need a bit more pressure
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in them to stop them from kind of
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squirming about on the trail I end up
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running them at about 23 psi in the
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front 26 psi on the back though through
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testing I did end up changing the front
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tire to a bigger two point six inch
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specialised purgatory so was finding the
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traction on the forecaster particularly
6:16
on the front tire to be a little lacking
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on rough rocky terrain I've got a set of
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SRAM guide our brakes here which are
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performed pretty well throughout the
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test though early on they did need a
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very thoroughly to remove some air
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bubbles that were causing excessive
6:29
lever throat since bleeding there been a
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lot more solid though as the pads have
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worn down that lever throat is
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increasing and the levers are getting
6:37
closer in towards the grips as they're
6:39
engaged they also lack a little bit of
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that deep stroke power that you get from
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the guy
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rs and RFC breaks because you don't have
6:46
a linkage in there driving the piston
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with the stock organic brake pads though
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they've been pretty quiet and pretty
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unassuming throughout the test very few
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complaints about the phox transfer
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dropper post though the seat tube on
6:57
this frame is too long at four hundred
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and forty-five millimeters for a medium
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it's quite a bit longer than what you'll
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see on a trek fuel e.x a giant trans 29
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or a specialised Stumpjumper st that
7:10
last frame actually has a four hundred
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and ten millimeter SI tube which is
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quite a bit shorter than this one the
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problem i've encountered is that even
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with the color of the dropper post
7:20
slammed down into the frame as far as
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it'll go
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the current saddle height is just a
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fraction too tall for my optimum
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pedaling position now if you've got
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longer legs that's not going to be a
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problem but because of this long seat
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tube it does minimize the flexibility
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with being able to upsize on the neuron
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CF frame up at the front of the cockpit
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we have canyons own handlebar and stem
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this is a seven hundred and sixty
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millimeter wide Brian here which by
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today's standards is on the narrow side
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and likewise the sixty millimeter stem
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is a little bit long the length actually
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works pretty well on this bike though I
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did have to flip the stem upside down to
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bring the grips down a little bit lower
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and I did end up removing all of the
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spacers to slam the stem down and get
8:01
the cockpit a little bit lower at the
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front likewise the geometry on this bike
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is fairly non radical it's neither super
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slack nor super long we've got a sixty
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seven point five degree head angle on
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the front a seventy four point five
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degree affective seat angle and the
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reach on the medium frame that I'm
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riding here is four hundred and thirty
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three millimeters once you get it out
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onto the trail though it all adds up to
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a bike that's comfortable easy to ride
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and with very few surprises in the
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handling Canyon has tuned the kinematics
8:29
on the triple phase suspension platform
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to provide pedal efficiency without
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having to resort to loads of compression
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damping on the rear shock as a result
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the float DPS shock has quite a light
8:39
compression and rebound tune and it's
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designed to be run anywhere between
8:43
twenty seven to thirty percent sag I
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ended up somewhere in the middle with a
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hundred and ninety psi in this rear
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shock to support my 70 kilo riding
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weight and that gave me around 28% sag
8:53
because of the lightly tuned shock I had
8:55
to run quite a lot of rebound
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to stop the bike PO going around so I
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ended up three clicks off full slow for
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the rebound dial I set up the fork a
9:02
little bit on the firmer side to balance
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with the rear suspension design so I put
9:06
75 psi in the air spring set the rebound
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five clicks off full slow and I ran the
9:12
low-speed compression a little bit
9:14
firmer than halfway about three to four
9:16
clicks with that firm suspension design
9:18
and that nice stiff carbon-fiber frame
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the neuron CF has a really sporty ride
9:23
quality it's not super aggressive but
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it's quite fun to ride and it's easy to
9:27
maneuver as well
9:28
it's got loads of natural pedal
9:30
efficiency built into it so you can run
9:32
that rear shock fully open without need
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to toggle it into the trail or firm
9:36
positions admittedly on looser more
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technical climbs the rear tire can spin
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out a bit more and the firm suspension
9:42
design means you do get bounced around a
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little more as well so you do have to
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pick a smoother line on your way up but
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overall it's quite efficient and you're
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going to arrive at the top with plenty
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of energy for the descents now turning
9:53
the bike around and heading down
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similarly rocky technical descents the
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neuron CF does bounce and ping around a
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little bit
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the suspension design isn't the plushest
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around I've also been testing a Trek
10:03
fuelie X and giant trance 29 lately and
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compared to those two bikes the neuron
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CF isn't quite as planted and the rear
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suspension isn't quite as plush either I
10:13
did try reducing pressure in the rear
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shock and increasing the SAG which did
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give me a slightly smoother feel to the
10:19
suspension but it did mean I was much
10:21
more likely to bottom out the suspension
10:22
and also clip pedals on roots and rocks
10:25
on the trail I did try adding volume
10:26
spaces to increase progression and
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reduce the chance of that bottom out
10:30
from happening in the first place but
10:32
because the middle of this travel is
10:34
already quite firm and supportive adding
10:36
volume spaces made it really firm and
10:38
actually quite uncomfortable to ride in
10:41
the end I found the best setup was to
10:42
leave the stop volume spacer inside run
10:45
the compression wide open and just run a
10:47
little less sag with a little more
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pressure inside the rear shock setup
10:50
like that it isn't the plushest bike in
10:52
the world but the suspension is very
10:54
effective it doesn't blow through the
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middle of the travel like some
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suspension designs can do and that gives
10:59
you a really good responsive feel
11:01
through the pedals and it also gives you
11:03
plenty of feedback coming through from
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the trail on smoother trails this is
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really advantageous and the neuron CF
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gives you
11:09
loads of return on your peddling and
11:11
handling inputs I think in general this
11:13
is more of a wheels on the ground kind
11:15
of trail bike if you're a smoother rider
11:17
you will be able to get away with a lot
11:19
on the neuron CF but I would recommend
11:22
that jumpier and more aggressive riders
11:24
should steer towards the spectral in the
11:26
canyon range on faster and steeper
11:28
descents I did find the front end of the
11:30
neuron CF to be a little bit wrigley you
11:33
do need more concentration on the grips
11:35
to make sure that front wheel continues
11:36
to point where you need it to I do think
11:38
a slightly longer reach and therefore a
11:40
longer front Center would help give this
11:42
bike a bit more stability for those
11:44
descents of course I wasn't able to test
11:46
that but what I did do was I did change
11:48
the fork off set the standard for has
11:50
130 ml travel and a 51 millimeter offset
11:53
and I replaced it with the same travel
11:55
fork with a 44 millimeter offset now
11:58
that shorter offset increase the trail
12:00
measurement by putting the steering
12:02
access a little bit further forward than
12:03
the tire-contact patch and that did calm
12:06
down the steering at high speed I did
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find it was more stable with more
12:10
damping to the steering and a slightly
12:12
more stuck down feeling to the front
12:14
tire it gave a bit more confidence at
12:16
higher speeds and particularly when
12:18
descending down steeper trails now the
12:20
trade-off with the shorter fork offset
12:22
is it does make the bike a bit harder
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work to negotiate around tighter trails
12:26
particularly it's slower to medium
12:28
speeds so there was a trade-off there
12:29
but it was interesting to test
12:31
nonetheless also worth noting is that
12:33
this frame will actually accommodate a
12:35
slightly longer 140 millimeter travel
12:38
fork I think it would be cool to see
12:39
Kanyon offer the neuron CF in a sort of
12:42
pumped up Evo spec perhaps with a 140
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millimeter travel reduced offset fork
12:47
some chunkier tires and a bigger hand of
12:49
hour and shorter stem I think that'd be
12:51
really popular particularly in the UK
12:52
market right so three things on this
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bike that I think could be improved the
12:57
first I've already touched on it before
12:59
that seat tube is too long it needs to
13:01
be shorter not only for people with
13:03
short legs like me but also to provide
13:05
more flexibility for riders to change
13:07
frame size depending on the reach that
13:09
they want the second thing I think could
13:11
be improved about this bike would be a
13:12
slightly longer reach or the reduced
13:14
offset fork either of those two is going
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to help improve descending stability on
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this bike which really is beneficial for
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all riders across balls
13:22
levels and the last thing is the tires
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in particular this bike is crying out
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for a more aggressive front tire than
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the max forecaster right so three things
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that I loved about this bike the first
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of which is the efficient and stable
13:35
suspension design you really don't have
13:38
to touch the compression switch on that
13:39
rear shock you can leave it wide open
13:41
all the time and it will pedal really
13:43
well with really good responsiveness and
13:45
plenty of feedback through the middle of
13:47
the travel the second thing is this
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beautiful carbon fiber frame I think it
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looks absolutely fantastic it's very
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clean very nicely integrated at the same
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time very practical - which I like and
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lastly the value for money you get with
14:00
this spec package is really really good
14:02
in particular the Fox suspension package
14:04
and the Reynolds carbon fiber wheels are
14:06
real standouts on this bike so overall
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what did I think of the canyon you're on
14:11
CF well I think this is a really solid
14:13
trail bike it's comfortable it's easy to
14:16
ride and there are very few surprises
14:18
from its handling in general though it's
14:20
more sporty than naughty if you're after
14:22
a bike you can jump on a lot and ride
14:24
really aggressively the spectral is
14:26
still the choice in the canyon range for
14:29
an aggro trail bike if you value pedal
14:31
efficiency and climbing ability though
14:33
the neuron is a really good-looking well
14:35
priced trail bike that has a very broad
14:37
range of appeal now if you'd like to
14:39
read the full review of this 2019 Canyon
14:42
neuron CF 9.0 SL make sure you jump on
14:45
singletrack worldcom to read the
14:47
detailed review if you've got any
14:48
questions for me about this bike drop
14:50
them into the comments section below and
14:52
if you enjoyed this video give us a
14:53
thumbs up and as always sign up to our
14:55
YouTube channel and our Facebook page
14:57
for plenty more videos coming your way
14:59
until then we'll see you next time guys
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- room
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