Canyon Strive AL 7.0 (2014)

value enduro

Pros

- Canyon direct pricing hard to beat
- Great components

Cons

- Test ride before buying is difficult unless your friends have one!

Review

Canyon is becoming known as the European brand with the mostest. Mostest bits for your buck anyway. The brand has been sponsoring teams in the pro peloton for a while but for the new World Enduro series Canyon has Fabien Barel onboard and winning big! Not bad for bikes you can't see in your local bike shop.

The frame is another Canyon beauty, with sweeping top and down tubes and plenty of alloy beef. It definitely looks the goods. Frame weight is over 14kg with isn't bad for an aluminium all-mountain bike and hard to argue if measured against cost. The shock rocker link is a bit more complicated than I personally prefer, but does result in 160mm travel and a low center of gravity. Enough for decent all-mountain riding and enduro.

On paper the Strive 7.0 looks brilliant. For a very modest amount you get a 160mm travel all-mountain/enduro bike with some great components. This is a mix of Shimano XT/SLX and Raceface drivetrain parts - not top end, but very tough and reliable. Sun Ringle make solid wheels too; there are better hoops for sure but this is a mid range bike remember.

In other areas the Strive shines as well with the necessary Reverb seatpost and Fox suspension including a 34 Talas with adjustable travel; a handy addition to a bike that potentially will be ridden up as well as down.

Once again everything looks great on paper from Canyon. The biggest con is the lack of the ability to get in a good test ride before handing over the moolah. If you are willing to take the risk you could potentially have bought the ride of your life....but on the other hand....