First rides

SWINGING A LEG OVER WHAT'S HOT THIS MONTH

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CANYON SPECTRAL 125 CF 9

£5,649 / 29in / canyon.com

Is the Spectral 125 more than a watered-down version of its bigger-travel stablemate?

What makes a trail bike a trail bike? Is it the weight, geometry or amount of travel? Or is it simply the terrain you choose to ride it on? After all, trail riding can be anything from a fast, flat, singletrack loop around your local woods, to shredding high alpine trails that would be difficult to navigate on foot. A trail bike means different things to different people, especially in different countries. And with such a broad spectrum of riding to cover, it seems daft that we pigeonhole trail bikes as having to have 150mm travel, weigh under 15kg and sport X, Y and Z geometry.

Yet, designing a trail bike to cover the widest possible variety of terrain is a very good idea, even if it’s clear that trail bikes exist on a spectrum – some indistinguishable from enduro rigs, others inspired by cross-country racing. So where does the new Canyon Spectral 125 CF 9 fit on this sliding scale?

In terms of travel it is definitely at the shorter end of the spectrum. It uses the latest Fox Float X shock, just like the 150mm version, but Canyon hasn’t simply fitted a shorter-stroke shock to the standard bike to reduce the travel by 25mm. Instead, it opened a new carbon mould and designed the bike around the suspension, where the seat stay assembly is noticeably longer than on the 150mm bike. And when we compare the rear suspension characteristics directly, the Spectral 125 is more progressive and has more anti-squat for improved support and pedalling efficiency.