INTRODUCING
Countless hours on the trails make this the ultimate test of performance as well as reliability
PB'S CANYON SPECTRAL: ON CFR
£9,349 • 29/27.5in • canyon.com
THE RIDER
Position Freelance Writer/Tester
Mostly Rides The High Weald and Surrey Hills
Height 5ft 10in
Weight 79kg
THE BIKE
Full carbon frameset, 160mmtravel fork and 155mm rear travel
Shimano EP801 motor with Auto-Shift and upgraded 900Wh battery
Mullet wheels and a chunky 2.6in tyre
One-piece Canyon carbon bar and stem, full Reynolds carbon wheelset
I’ve always been a big fan of electric drivetrains. When Mavic first launched its wireless road system 20-odd years ago, I instantly wondered when it would be available for mountain bikes. Mavic eventually shelved the technology (prematurely in my mind) but when Shimano then launched its first electric road components, I cobbled together a ghetto system for my mountain bike that worked well. That’s all in the distant past though, and today Shimano and SRAM both offer excellent wired and wireless electronic mountain bike systems respectively.
Shimano has recently taken it a step further with the development of e-bike tech – its latest EP801 motor offering a new Auto Shift function that does exactly what it says on the tin. Yes, that's right, the bike changes gear all by itself. I was fortunate to ride the new EP801 motor with Auto Shift on the official launch and that brief taste left me hundry for more.
One of the first bikes available with this technology is the Canyon Spectral:ON CFR. So when the opportunity came along to have this bike on longterm test, I jumped at it. Not least because the Spectral:ON CF 9 just won mbr’s E-Bike of the Year award. The key difference here, though, is that the latest version gets a
160mm-travel Fox 36 fork fitted rather than a 150mm. This slightly alters the geometry, pushing up the bottom bracket a hair and slackening the head angle a touch while adding a bit of length to the front centre.
The taller fork also means the bars are higher, and that was something mentioned in the E-Bike of the Year test. So I definitely want to get them a tad lower to put a bit more weight over the front. The CFR gets Canyon’s one-piece carbon handlebar/stem combo and, while it looks incredibly sleek, I suspect that they are also very stiff and a little harsh. So I’ll probably swap the bar and stem to add a bit of comfort and increase the degrees of adjustability.
I feel the same way about carbon wheels in general, but the Reynolds composite hoops here are a little bit different to most. Not only do you get a 29in wheel up front for better rollover and a 27.5in rear wheel to increase strength, the front rim is actua
