| The Canyon Experience - spectral AL 8.9 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 11 2014, 05:04 PM (893 Views) | |
| Chrimbo | Jun 11 2014, 05:04 PM Post #1 |
Collecting Speckles
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I decided to update my steed and after a lot of research with Specialised and Lapiere 29” firmly in the frame and a budget set, I decided to ignore it all a go for the Canyon Spectral AL8.9 29” …..... why? ...... well it looks good and you get a lot of kit for your money. However you can't just pop out to you local shop, you have to order on-line and assemble it yourself and for quite a lot of people this presents a problem but I do enjoy a bit of 'fettling'. Sizing is carried out using the Canyon PPS (Perfect Positioning System) which involves taking a number of body measurements and with assistance from SWMBO all measurements were taken and the bike, medium, was ordered. Again this can be a problem for some people as the magazines are full of stories of the Canyons being 'cramped' or 'not sized correctly' and advice like ' go up a size' which again I ignored, surely the manufacturer would know how to size their bikes? Once the order was placed I was given a delivery estimate and once the bike was ready and the money paid it arrived in a couple of days and a box, sorry 'Bike Guard', was sitting in my garage. Canyon have though things through as in the box was a torque wrench + bits, shock pump and a step-by-step guide to assemble the bike. So with an afternoon set aside the task of building the bike was started. I have to say it was a straightforward task, wheel in, seat-post fitted, handlebars on, right hand shifters fitted, peddles of choice on, touch of air in the shocks ...…... job done. The wheels come tubeless ready and with the tubeless valves (supplied) fitted, a splash of 'gunk' and 'Hey Presta' the bike was tubeless. The majority of the time was spent setting up the bike and getting the 'sag' right but nothing beyond the capabilities of someone with a smattering of intelligence, anyway I found the whole process helped me 'bond' with the bike in a way buying a bike from a shop doesn't. So how does it ride, well the sizing was spot-on, these magazine bike testers must have a strange body shape. The quality of the components shine through when you ride it and I was 'cleaning' climbs I have struggled on in the past, could be I'm getting fitter or it could be the bike. On the descents it is so 'planted' compared to my old bike, must be the suspension, and I was going 'scary-fast' but soon slowed it down on the brakes which are outstanding. In between the 'uppy & downy' bits its a nice ride and goes along at a reasonable pace, all in all a very nice bike. Only time will tell if the Canyon owning experience is a good one, especially if there are any problems but so far it's good ….....  
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| steveonstumpy | Jun 11 2014, 06:53 PM Post #2 |
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Fairly Muddied
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Very nice bike enjoy Frame looks EXACTLY like my 2008 Stumpjumper :lol: |
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| andyjh | Jun 11 2014, 09:26 PM Post #3 |
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Mud Lover
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Nice write up and thanks for putting the time in to feeding back about a Canyon bike. As you say, many are put off by the self assembly and stories online but they do represent such good value it's hard to ignore. I believe they are getting much better support in the UK now with an office and investment into demo bikes at some point soon so you can try the size. I do keep looking at their site just for a bit of window shopping and you never know, one day I might :lol: |
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| Ming the Merciless | Jun 12 2014, 03:38 PM Post #4 |
Overlord of all Known Sheds!
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Coley might be on later to say something about Canyon. |
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| Chrimbo | Jun 12 2014, 06:07 PM Post #5 |
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Collecting Speckles
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See what you mean about the frame - It looks as if MTB bike frames need a radical re-design ....... still 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' ....... |
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| Chrimbo | Jun 12 2014, 06:09 PM Post #6 |
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Collecting Speckles
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Thanks - not seen many other write-ups on buying Canyons so I thought I would share ...... |
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| Chrimbo | Jun 12 2014, 06:10 PM Post #7 |
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Collecting Speckles
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Should I be worried .....???? |
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| Coley | Jun 12 2014, 09:20 PM Post #8 |
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Fairly Muddied
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hi I have had the spectral al 6.0 650b for 3 months now and wow what a bike apart from my reverb packing up and the cracked chainstays which are now being replaced under warranty. Only bad thing about the whole process so far has been the lack of correspondence from canyon took 3 days to reply to my initial email then another to reply to say that can they have more pics then the next day told yes we will swap the chainstay under warranty but its going to be 4 weeks for the it to be ship due to the factory being busy. wasn't happy with that so I replied saying not acceptable if it was my fault I could understand but it is not as it looks like a fatigue fracture in the aluminium. I asked them to sort it out as I could buy another spectral and have it delivered quicker than the replacement. I am having ti sent to me and my lbs is doing the work which canyon will reimburse me for and I asked for some extra sweetner if you know what I mean. Also asked by using my lbs does it effect the warranty at all and guess what no reply that was Tuesday I sent that email. If you try to ring the service centre on the telephone number on their site like they tell you to it rings 4 times then you are told due to high levels of calls the phoneline is now closed this happens no matter what time of day it is. But other than that enjoy your bike they truly are awesome |
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| Chrimbo | Jun 13 2014, 12:15 PM Post #9 |
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Collecting Speckles
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Yeah, that the one bit that does concern me if anything goes wrong - still at least they are sorting it now after what must have been a frustrating time. I hope I don't have an issue with my chainstay ........... 
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| Coley | Jun 13 2014, 04:31 PM Post #10 |
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Fairly Muddied
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Faith has been restored after my rant to them about 4 weeks wait my new chainstays have been shipped amazing what you can do |
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| Bill the wheels | Jun 17 2014, 12:44 PM Post #11 |
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billywheels
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We see a lot of Canyon in the Alps each year,and also YT Ind,why not try it out in Le Gets with us on our annual trip this August,3 places spare and chalet is booked. |
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| Chrimbo | Jun 20 2014, 12:10 PM Post #12 |
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Collecting Speckles
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Very tempting but it clashes with the Chrimbo family holiday for which attendance is mandatory......... |
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