Canyon Endurace CF SL

[lechatnoir]

Living on a Canyon

 

On, not in…

 

Firstly, you need nothing from a bicycle other than that it has wheels, seat, steering, brakes that stop and a means to make it go forward. Gears are optional, but if a bike has them, they probably need to work reliably. Oh, and it should look nice too.

 

So, my previous bike had all that and then some. But why did Lord Vader appeal so much? And why did it need to be added to my garage? Well, that’s where needs go out the window and wants replace them. In this case, my wants drove me to www.canyon.com. I’d rather they hadn’t, but SO glad they did.

 

Fast forward to a bikehub thread on procuring a Canyon bike. FYI, Canyon are mail-order only (who in their right mind buys a SECOND mail-order bike???) and the kicker is that South Africa is not on the ‘ship to’ list of countries. So I mailed them in Germany and got in touch with a nice chap called Luigi (???!!!). The process was simple - confirm your exact spec (then do it several more times via email), they send you a link that you enter credit card or PayPal details, then when they’re ready to ship, they bill you, send your bike and all’s well with the world.

 

Except, my requirements meant one more ‘need’ had to be met - I have a herniated disc at C5/6 meaning extreme tuck positions on a road bike aren’t that comfy. A more replaced endurance bike is just the ticket. Enter the Endurace aka Lord Vader. Canyon kindly offer a sizing tool on their website into which you enter all your exact measurements, it then spits out a simple S, M, L… In my case it was M… would have been easier to just go with my height than mangle my nether-regions with a setsquare. No matter, a medium it would be. Good job I confirmed though… the previous bike I had was a large and had stretched me out a bit much (see neck issues above).

 

Canyon have their supply chain down to a fine art (they’re German) and comparative quotes on shipping a bike (the ones I found at least) turned out to be far higher than quoted by Canyon. That included the box which is currently taking up a LOT of space in the garage, and is possibly making a nice home for all manner of rodents and snakes, though not possibly at the same time.

 

It arrive by UPS and they let me have my bike once I paid the duties. Don’t ask what it was… I’m not sure myself, I just handed over my card and shut my eyes.

 

The entire deal was brokered by Mrs Santa who had decided I’d been good for almost 12 months and was adamant that Lord Vader was to remain boxed until Christmas Day. This was painful. Disobedience is more painful, and the reward was a glorious bike assembly on Christmas Day. I tell you, it was a worth the wait.

 

A 4mm Allen wrench and the supplied torque wrench and I was soon doing Tour du Driveway on pristine Contis getting my first experience of Ultegra 8000 shifting (it’s bloody marvelous). The seatpost is proprietary to Canyon and takes a bit of fiddling, but is easy enough once you know how it works. The tyres were at an appropriate pressure, the shifting was perfect. Awesomesauce!!!

 

So far, I’m sitting around 800km on Lord Vader aka the Dark Lord of Punishment (that’s punishment meant solely for me) and it’s been great. A few rainy spells has wreaked a fair amount of havoc on the shifting, bit a few twiddles of adjusters and all’s right with the world once more. Or should I say Empire?

 

So… what were my expectations when I started out on this and what was better than expected and what was worse?

 

Well, let’s start with the bad… The bar tape… is atrocious… I’m convinced that Canyon has no concept of fair weather cycling because the bar tape is like a wet bar of soap. Ok, not that bad. But when it gets wet, your hands stick to it like the proverbial to a blanket. I guess it’s better that way than the other way around. I presume the designed it for Europe….

 

The Fizik Aliante R5 saddle is just too foreign for my bits and there was a small rebellion. I’ve since swapped it out for a Spez Power option, but that’s just personal.

 

Toe overlap… Shorter wheelbase means that on slow, turny bits like Tour du Driveway, my toes rub on the front wheel. I could move my cleats forward and it’ll be gone. Hopefully I bother to do this before it becomes an issue.

 

And now the good… Lord Vader beckons to me from the darkened garage, using Force-like powers to get on and ride. Barefoot, at night, wind, rain or shine… It matters not… the urge is just too great. So are the rewards.

 

Shifting is super-crisp. The fit and finish on the bike is stellar. The seatpost, as quirky as it is, flipping works amazingly. There are umpteen seatposts out there to add cush to your tush, and this one does not disappoint. The wheelset is nice and light (for OEM) and the freewheel is louder than the Hope 4’s on my MTB. The 28Cs that go around are not to be underestimated in their comforting capacity… It’s like riding a Gomma Gomma couch. The new surface on Chappies adds just enough buzz to make me know I’m moving. Just LOOKING at 23C’s makes my eyes water and makes my voice go a little higher.

 

Handling, with the shorter wheelbase (and shorter stem than I had previously) is razor sharp. I can’t imagine wanting more. I previously had mechanical discs, and swore by them. The new Ultegra hydros are next-level though - single-finger braking while on the hoods is enough for most needs, while two fingers is for emergencies only.

 

Just leaning against a wall, the bike looks like it’s going warp speed. Then I get on, and things change, but we’re working on that.

 

So, was it worth it? I’d say yes. All-in (duties and everything), even at pre-Cyril exchange rates, Lord Vader was less than a 105-spec model from my current saddle-manufacturer, thought that DOES have a fiddly spring thing in the headtube. Lord Vader ticks the boxes for me. He appears to me in my dreams. What more can one want from a bike.

 

And now I see they're shipping direct. #FML

[Thomo]

I was contemplating aborting my search for a disc frame ... this may well resurrect that project.

Stunning bike.!

May you have many happy miles with Vader and the forces of the dark side.