MTB

What’s New: Canyon Launch Women’s MTB Range

Built for women who are "Made for More"

The wait is finally over as Canyon unveils the fruits of their tireless labour, and we couldn’t be more stoked! For 2018, we’re spoilt for choice with two new women’s specific mountain bikes – oh baby.

It was only a year ago when Canyon launched their women’s road bike range; the Endurace and the Ultimate. They’ve since taken the market by storm by implementing results from their extensive research to develop a women’s bespoke geometry to comfortably accommodate a vast majority of the female market.

A closer look at Canyon’s new range of bike for children

When it comes to mountain biking, the jury is still very much out on whether having a women’s specific bike is all that important. Unlike road cycling where your body is fairly static for long periods of time, mountain biking is a lot more dynamic where your body weight is constantly shifting. However, according to Canyon, tweaking MTB geometry for women is exactly what is necessary for a more confident ride which is exhibited in their two latest models; Grand Canyon WMN and the Spectral WMN.

Grand Canyon WMN Trail

Introducing the Grand Canyon WMN Trail hardtail mountain bike. Adding to the existing Grand Canyon range of hardtail 29ers, the new women’s Grand Canyon Trail has been tweaked and adjusted to better fit a woman’s body and style of riding.

This is your all-around bike for setting the trails alight, power-pedalling through town and for topping up on your me-time meter which is why Canyon’s new women’s slogan is; “Made for More”. This aptly chosen campaign is to demonstrate that not only the bike can do a lot more than its unassuming first impression, but YOU are made for much more than you believe too.

Canyon’s Grand Canyon WMN AL SLX 9.0 Trail

To unlock all you can be, the Grand Canyon WMN Trail bike has undergone some changes such as a lower standover height, a slacker head angle of 68-degrees for a more trail orientated geometry, a lower bottom bracket height for an improve centre of gravity and a carefully chosen selection of components has shaved off 500g of weight from the overall Grand Canyon range.

“We want to show women that they are made for much more than just fulfilling daily routine” – Katrin Neumann, Canyon Women’s Brand Manager

What’s more is that this is the first hardtail from Canyon to offer boost hub spacing in the rear, which is quickly becoming an industry standard. A new integrated quick release thru-axle in the back makes popping off the wheel easy as pie, without the need for tools.

The Grand Canyon WMN Trail bike is at the top end of the range, with the Grand Canyon WMN sitting beneath. The difference between the Trail set-up and the regular set-up mainly lies in the head angle and componentry. There are three models available in the new Grand Canyon WMN range to suit budgets and requirements:

Grand Canyon WMN AL SLX 9.0 Trail – €1,999 / Approx. £1,750
– Fork: RockShox Reba RL; 110mm travel and a light tune for women
– Drivetrain: SRAM GX Eagle 1x
– Brakes: SRAM Level
– Wheels: DT Swiss 1700M Spline
– Saddle: SDG Allure Women’s
– Sizes: X.Small, Small, Medium

Grand Canyon AL SLX 9.0 – €1,799 / Approx. £1590
– Fork: RockShox Reba RL; 110mm travel and a light tune for women
– Drivetrain: Shimano XT 2x
– Brakes: Shimano XT
– Wheels: Mavic XA Light
– Saddle: Iridium WMN
– Sizes: 2X.Small, X.Small, Small, Medium

Grand Canyon AL SLX 8.0 – €1,399 / Approx. £1240
– Fork: RockShox Reba RL; 110mm travel and a light tune for women
– Drivetrain: Shimano SLX 2x
– Brakes: Shimano BR-M500
– Wheels: Mavic XA
– Saddle: Iridium WMN
– Sizes: 2X.Small, X.Small, Small, Medium

Canyon Spectral WMN

Having owned a Canyon Spectral myself and enjoyed many miles of trail abuse on it, I was pretty excited to see how Canyon could improve on an already incredible trail bike.

Using over 70,000 data entries collected on women, Canyon has tweaked their Spectral geometry for the women’s specific model. Like the Grand Canyon WMN, the Spectral WMN also benefits from a lower bottom bracket height and standover height (4cm shorter than the unisex Spectral model). The top-tube length has been reduced to keep the front wheel more weighted and the chainstays, too, have been shortened to improve control over the rear of the bike.

The Spectral also benefits from the newly developed integrated quick release axle for the rear wheel. Also in the rear of the bike, we have improved sealed cartridge bearings with x-ring rubber seals on the outside of every pivot to further protect the internals to double their lifespan.

Learn much more about the development of Canyon bikes for women

Canyon has opted for a single-pivot mounted rear suspension with 140mm travel on the Fox Float DPS shock. Using Anti-Squat technology, you’re able to stand-up pedal without losing a great deal of travel through the rear end. This provides greater traction and braking performance of the rear end at the start of your travel, coupled with improved linkage positions and sealed pivot bearings, there’s been a great deal of attention focused in bike handling and control.

Cable housing on the downtube makes it easier for maintenance without compromising on its sleek finish

We all know that internal cable routing looks sleek, but for anyone who carries out bike maintenance, it’s a total nightmare. Canyon’s developed a pretty ingenious way to overcome these issues; a removable bottom downtube protective casing. This plastic cover has been molded to fit the downtube, held in place by a couple of screws, to not only house your cables for that sleek finish, but also doubles up as a strong frame protector too. This protective housing is totally removable and replaceable with spares available from Canyon.

Impact Protection Unit (IPU) at the front of the bike

Another new piece of tech to feature on the new Spectral WMN bike is the Impact Protection Unit (IPU) which sits around the headset of the bike. This features two locking screws at the base which restricts the turning circle of the handlebars, but not in such a way that hinders riding, more so that if you crash, your bars won’t swing around and smash into your beautiful frame.

The new women’s mountain bikes from Canyon also feature some cool accessories to make your adventure day out a little more convenient. Side-access bottle cages fit the frame neatly and for extra long days out, come in twin form so you can stash up to 800ml of fluids. Another neat option is the Canyon frame bag which sits perfectly under the top-tube to store your essentials in.

The Canyon Spectral WMN is available in a number of builds; two aluminium options and three carbon options…

Spectral WMN CF SLX – €4,999 / Approx. £4,400
– Fork: Fox 34 Factory with 150mm travel
– Drivetrain: SRAM X01 Eagle
– Brakes: SRAM Guide
– Wheels:DT Swiss XMC1200 Spline
– Saddle: SDG Allure
– Sizes:X.Small, Small, Medium

Spectral WMN CF – €2,999 to €3,699 / Approx. £2,650 to £3,270
– Fork: RockShox Pike RC
– Drivetrain: SRAM GX / X01 Eagle
– Brakes: SRAM Guide R / RS
– Wheels:DT Swiss M1700 Spline / DT Swiss XM1501 Spline
– Saddle: SDG Allure
– Sizes:X.Small, Small, Medium

Spectral WMN AL – €2,199 to €2,599 / Approx. £1,950 to £2,300
– Fork: RockShox Pike RC / Fox 34 Factory
– Drivetrain: SRAM GX / Shimano SLX
– Brakes: SRAM Guide R / Shimano Deore
– Wheels: DT Swiss M1700 Spline / DT Swiss M1900 Spline
– Saddle: SDG Allure / Iridium WMN
– Sizes: 2X.Small, X.Small, Small, Medium