Canyon aftersales and durability.... experiences wanted.

[GrumpyGregry]

I'm thinking of buying a Canyon. The web abounds with breathless reviews along the lines of

"Just got my new Canyon ABC 123 and it's great. Wonderful spec. Fantastic value for money. Canyon are marvellous and the people in the UK service centre are oh so helpful. They even told me I need an L when the online tool says M. It came last week. It's gorgeous. I've only ridden it around the block/local park/canal towpath/trail so far but it is the best bike in the world ever."

with, if you dig a little deeper, a smattering of very dire tales of woe, poor warranty service, expensive and hard-to-find parts and very little information on the ownership experience from three- six- 12- or 24-months later.

Do you ride a canyon? Road bike or mtb? How long have you had it? Is it wearing well? What's gone wrong? Can you get it fixed/serviced in your local LBS? Can you/they get parts easily? Any gothcha's (like not being able to tighten a loose front mech without taking the chainset off!) Have you had to claim on warranty? Anything about the spec/finish bite you on the bum a few months in? Etc., etc..

 

[youngoldbloke]

Anyone? I'm interested too.

 

[BrumJim]

Alberto of this manor has one and uses it hard. Send him a PM - he's not often on here.

 

[fossyant]

If it's the road bikes, the only issue you may have is changing the stem as it's a 1 and a quarter although one or two manufacturers do them. The rest of the kit is standard. Yes expensive as you get better kit for your cash.

 

[Cubist]

A direct mount front mech on any bike will mean you have to remove the chainset to tighten it. Let's hear it for Hollowtech and loctite!

I've (sadly) just been out to see how long it takes to tighten both screw: 3 minutes 28 seconds including dropping the plastic preload thingy under the bench, from unshipping the chain to putting it back on afterwards. If that's what's putting you off you can untick that box!

 

[Cubist]

I've also had a look through STW for horror stories for you. One or two threads suggesting that Canyon are slow or reluctant to answer emails regarding complaints. One or two of the complaints have been about poorly set up components. One in particular mentions a leaking fork air seal, and having to bleed the brakes. The poster tells us how long it took to send the bike back under warranty, but to my mind it would have been far better, cheaper and easier to fix the problems yourself, or take it an LBS and suck a few quids' worth of peace of mind. In my opinion buying direct MUST come with htis caveat. If you buy a bike from Germany and it needs the brakes bleeding or flipping, it's an hour in the workshop/garage, or a few jaffa cakes' worth of love from an LBS. Packing into a carton to send back to the Fatherland and losing your tubeless tyres and Hope skewer is operator error as far as I'm concerned.
Read all abaaaht it: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/canyon-refund-where-do-i-stand

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I've also had a look through STW for horror stories for you.

I've read them and a few others. Interested in the "Your mech hanger should break in normal use and the p and p on a new one is £10!" line elsewhere on there. But I take what I read with a pinch of salt, and generally I wrench my own bikes. Mojo have a good rep for dealing with Fox kit and are lovely people. I am an obsessive pre-ride checker of fasteners and fitting anyway. And the pre-owned Nerve XC 7 I'm in negotiation about looks like a real bargain.

 

[youngoldbloke]

If it's the road bikes, the only issue you may have is changing the stem as it's a 1 and a quarter although one or two manufacturers do them. The rest of the kit is standard. Yes expensive as you get better kit for your cash.

Are the stems on all the road bikes 11/4? Carbon and aluminium? The other point I have noticed is the lack of h/s spacers, though comparing dimensions with my current bike it would seem that the Canyon as usually set up would give the same overall height anyway, as the head tube is longer.

 

[Cubist]

Interested in the "Your mech hanger should break in normal use and the p and p on a new one is £10!" line elsewhere on there.

A quick google shows they can be had elsewhere for about 20 quid.

It depends how you interpret it.... a mech hanger should break or bend before the dropout does, so yes, in normal usage they are designed to sacrifice themselves . Cube call it the "frame saver system" but then they would wouldn't they!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

A quick google shows they can be had elsewhere for about 20 quid.

It depends how you interpret it.... a mech hanger should break or bend before the dropout does, so yes, in normal usage they are designed to sacrifice themselves . Cube call it the "frame saver system" but then they would wouldn't they!

Good points well made. S'funny. I'd order a road bike sight unseen off the interwebs without a second thought, in fact, my Surosa was built to my spec in Oldham and I never saw it before deliver, but with an mtb I'm cr@pping myself at the direct route.

 

[Cubist]

I understand your caution, and I'm sitting here smugly thinking they're great bikes, but then I only bought the frame! All the other parts were selected, fitted and maintained by an expert.

Turn the concept round. You're more than capable of putting a bike together. Canyon will sell you all the components you need to build one, for less money than the LBS will charge you for the same spec bike ready built.

You can happily strip the lot down to component parts and put it all back together again as it should be. By taking responsibility for the build quality you only have the components to worry about. Surely you did that with your Boardman anyway? I know I did.

If after that you find the forks don't have enough air in them you've got a shock pump in the box with the bike. If they leak, then they'd have leaked if they were fitted to a Lapierre, so you can post them off to Mojo for warranty work anyway. What else can fail? Wheels? Meh, an hour or so with a spoke spanner or a bearing press. Gears not indexing? Ten minutes in the stand with a screwdriver and pair of pliers. Brakes need bleeding? Avids do that anyway. Get a kit off eBay and bleed them. (Or source a cheap pair of SLX and fit them, best brakes on the market IMHO!!)

 

[youngoldbloke]

I
Turn the concept round. You're more than capable of putting a bike together. Canyon will sell you all the components you need to build one, for less money than the LBS will charge you for the same spec bike ready built.

You can happily strip the lot down to component parts and put it all back together again as it should be. By taking responsibility for the build quality you only have the components to worry about. Surely you did that with your Boardman anyway? I know I did.

Very much my feelings about it. Generally top end components at an unbeatable price. I do all the work on my bikes and servicing myself anyway.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Very much my feelings about it. Generally top end components at an unbeatable price. I do all the work on my bikes and servicing myself anyway.

Broadly my feeling too, though why I should even have to lift a finger to do anything a bike that costs £1k and up is beyond me. (I didn't with my Boardman, it was brilliantly put together in Guildford Halfords). And is certainly beyond the lovely Helen.

But I may have found a partial solution. Going to look at a second-hand one next week. Warranty is transferable, and it appears to be in perfect nick.

 

[youngoldbloke]

I wouldn't expect to receive anything other than a well put together, well set up bike either! (As was my Ribble, by the way).

 

[Cubist]

Broadly my feeling too, though why I should even have to lift a finger to do anything a bike that costs £1k and up is beyond me. (I didn't with my Boardman, it was brilliantly put together in Guildford Halfords). And is certainly beyond the lovely Helen.

But I may have found a partial solution. Going to look at a second-hand one next week. Warranty is transferable, and it appears to be in perfect nick.

No, you shouldn't have to, but you are a self-confessed obsessive fettler, and will take the allen keys to every fitting and fastening anyway, even the direct-mount front mech(), just to make sure.

Your Boardman may have been well built by Guildford Halfords (it's not just me then!!?!), but how did you know it was well built unless you checked it all? There, I've run rings round you logically!

Keep us updated re the XC 7.0, I'm intrigued.