2023 Canyon

Strive CFR Underdog

The Underdog is a feature-laden, pure-bred enduro race machine. It excels when ridden fast, but isn’t quite as well-rounded as some of the best

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This speedy descender receives a Bosch Performance Line motor for a scintillating ride, uphill or down

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Featuring Canyon’s proprietary Shapeshifter technology, the Strive CFR is an enduro racer that was designed to ruffle feathers both up and downhill.

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Is this full-on "enduro" bike with fancy on-the-fly travel and geo gizmo's worth the weight and complexity?

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It’s already the EWS’s fastest bike under Jack Moir, but that hasn’t stopped Canyon pushing the boundaries with the brand new Strive CFR with the goal of becoming one of the best enduro bikes for 2022. We tested the new model at the home of enduro; Finale Ligure. Need to know Last year’s EWS winning bike gets longer and slacker Thoroughbred race bike built to go fast Shapeshifter offers two distinct modes – Pedal and Shred Adjustable cups let you tune the bike to your perfect reach Two models available from £4,849 It’s been fascinating to watch the development of the Canyon Strive over the past nine years. With its most sensitive details hidden from sight, this bespoke enduro race bike was there from the very start, achieving wins under one of its key development riders, Fabien Barel. And last year it really proved its credentials at the very highest echelons of the sport when Jack Moir rode his Strive to the overall series victory. Job done, one might think. But while the Strive achieved all of its goals as a race bike, one look at Moir’s bike is all it takes to see where improvements could be made. The Aussie champ runs a longer travel fork (180mm Vs 170mm on the stock bike) along with a spacer under the head tube, mostly with the aim of slackening the 65º head angle. The team also ran longer stroke shocks to free up a smidge of extra travel at the rear, while saddles were slammed as far forward as possible to compensate for the seat angle (which they’d just made even slacker). There are plenty of other details and mods, so if you want to find out more, I’d recommend Jack’s own bike check video on his YouTube channel, but boiled down to its essence, the old bike’s head angle was too steep, the seat angle was too slack, and it really needed some extra travel to help on the EWS’s increasingly savage tracks. At this point I should mention that Canyon’s recent expansion of both the Spectral and Torque platforms to include 29in versions has also allowed the Strive to really focus on the function of racing. Being the only long travel 29er in the range when it was launched three years ago definitely restricted how far Canyon could push the geometry. With those shackles gone, Canyon has really pushed the boat out. Geometry and sizing Let’s not beat around the bush; the new Strive is massive. The smallest frame gets a 455mm reach while the largest (XL) tops out at 530mm, but by incorporating adjustable headset cups and keeping seat tubes low, there’s a healthy overlap between sizes and riders can choose their frame by handling preference rather than being limited by pure saddle height. Particularly those around 180cm in height. The Strive’s new size range does require some recalibration though – if you normally ride a large in other mainstream brands, you’ll probably need to drop down a …Continue reading »

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Been riding this bike for a while now and just wish it was more maneuverable. Has a very long reach and wheelbase for a medium sized bike.

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