Review: Canyon Lux Trail - Mellow Marathon Machine

Frame Details

Canyon took the opportunity presented by reworking the Lux Trail's front triangle and really ran with it. The level of integration here is impressive, with in-frame storage, a hard-mounted multitool, and two water bottles to boot. The bike feels like it's been accessorized with long days in mind, and the quick-access tools and stashes make for a speedy fix should something go awry.

There are two frame trims to choose from, with the differences essentially coming down to weight. For an average size Medium frame, the CF models are claimed to weigh 2101 grams, with the more expensive CFR frames clocking in at 1936 grams. With equivalently light parts kits fit to each, there will definitely be some weight-weenie friendly builds in there.

The Lux now features a UDH rear end, making all your hard-shifting Transmission dreams come true. Front and rear lockout mean you can turn your mountain bike into a road bike at a moment's notice, and might make some post-ride pumptrack sessions more fun.


While the improvements are many and welcomed, there are still some vestiges of the compromised designs of prior generations still at play here. The main two that come to mind are the flat-mount rear brake (this is for road bikes, please keep it out of the MTB world), and our favorite enemy, the through-headset cable routing. Both details make for a bike that requires specialized components that usually don't perform at the level of equivalently light or convenient designs.

Geometry & Sizing

In the name of keeping things quick (a theme with this bike), here are the beats: the seat tube angle is 1.5° steeper, landing at 76° across all sizes. The head tube angle of 67° is half a degree slacker than the prior generation, while the reach, stack, bottom bracket drop, and chainstay length remain essentially unchanged. This addresses a primary complaint about the prior gen bike, which was just how stretched out the seated position was, given the relatively long reach and slack seat tube angle.

The new Lux Trail's numbers are more in line with typical trail bike sizing, giving it both a more comfortable climbing position and confidant descending geometry. I've been riding a size Large, and found the seated position quite comfortable. The stock handlebar is a bit flat for my taste, but a little rise improved the ride quite a lot.

Suspension Design

The Lux Trail retains the linkage-driven single pivot layout of the prior model, but implements a hanging rocker meant to improve the small-bump performance. The 115mm of rear suspension is much more progressive than the Lux World Cup, with a left-hand lockout setup that allows for quick changes in suspension characteristic. The Open mode is full fat, letting things move as much as your setup allows for; Pedal mode firms things up, and holds the suspension higher in travel; Locked means locked, expect no movement.

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Testing Info

This bike feels particularly well suited to backcountry exploration, where distance and scenery take precedent over burliness of terrain. The suspension lockout and climbing geometry mean you'll be comfortable in the saddle for a long day out, and the many on/in bike conveniences mean you'll be well provisioned for any mishaps far from the trailhead. There are many routes that fit this bill, but this one came to mind as a good use of a bike happy to put in the miles to get somewhere beautiful.

Climbing

The Canyon Lux Trail is a cross-country bike, no matter what the marketing lingo may lead you to believe. To me, this is a point of pride, not a demerit, as the speed an XC bike can carry on climbs and flat sections of trail is second to none. While the total weight of this bike may be a few pounds over race-focused XC machines, you hardly notice on long days in the saddle. The pedaling platform feels consistently supportive and energetic, especially with the added efficiency from the 3-position lockouts on the fork and shock. I found myself in Pedal mode the most, splitting the middle between a more traction-rich Open and the completely rigid Lock.

Pedaling the bike in Open mode is far from frustrating, as the kinematic seems to keep things from bobbing too much under power, while still keeping decent grip at the rear wheel. By no means is it the stickiest short travel bike I've ridden of late, but there's enough traction to keep you from burning out any time you leave the saddle.

The Lux Trail feels particularly well-suited to seated pedals over mellow gradients, where climbs come gradually and overall speed is rather high. The low front end keeps you in an aggressive position (and a rather uncomfortable one, unless you're used to the more road-style fit), and the 76° seat angle puts you in a nice spot above the pedals. With a higher rise bar installed, overall pedaling comfort increased for me, but your mileage may vary.

With the bike in Lock mode, the bike feels more than ready for some mad-dash sprints on pavement, or pinner climbs up very smooth paths. Ultimately it's a bit of an extra third mode, unless your rides regularly contain long stretches of smooth paved pedaling.

Descending
The climbing performance of a bike doesn't have to come at the expense of descending prowess, but it seems that somewhere along the way here sacrificed capability in service of efficiency. The Lux Trail is quick to remind you that it's an XC bike in all the ways you'd hope to forget, with touchy steering and a nervous feeling over technical sections of trail. You can get down some decently challenging bits of trail, but you have to do so carefully and more slowly than you might like. Flat, somewhat rough sections feel quite good, on the other hand, thanks to suspension that happily moves through the middle of travel to keep the wheels from getting too hung up on obstacles.

The wheelbase of the Lux is quite short, making it feel plenty agile when you're trying to hook the bike through squiggly turns and tight sections of trail. The downside is overall stability is rather low, compared to other new-age XC bikes that are starting to rake the front out to near trail bike figures. If you're in pursuit of a more traditional feeling XC bike, with some added comfort from an increase in travel, then I think this could easily fit the bill.


The fairly steep 67° head angle corners nicely on smooth trails and flatter turns, but can quickly become a hazard if you're putting the fork deep into travel while trying to negotiate the bike. Anything too technical can overwhelm that delicate composure and have you looking for a safer line to veer towards, though the brakes might not slow you down enough to get there. I'll touch on it further in the Technical Report, but the Level 2-piston brakes are a poor match to a bike that could otherwise be a fast and efficient off-road traveler.

When things line up nicely and you start to push the Lux Trail into some heavier compressions, the rear suspension does a solid job of keeping you from slamming into the bottom of travel, though the huge bottom-out bumper in the SIDLuxe shock is probably partly to thank for that. When the brakes are biting as well as they can, the bike does give a good amount of rear-wheel traction, allowing you to cut speed without blowing through the minimal tire tread out back. The bike has a tendency to pitch forward under heavy braking in steeper terrain, but ultimately it feels like the Lux Trail is meant more for carrying speed through rough sections rather than navigating steeps.

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How does it compare?

These two XC machines are currently in my regular rotation, and both represent a modern take on the genre, so it felt worth comparing them while fresh on my mind.

Put simply, the Epic blows the Lux Trail out of the water when it comes to on-trail capability and well-roundedness. For traditional racing, both have their merits, though given the increasingly technical nature of XC courses I'd probably still err towards the Epic's more evolved geometry.

The Lux offers more creature comforts in the form of frame integrations, though the Epic's in-frame storage has a much larger opening and still allows for two water bottles. Climbing capabilities are similar between the two, with the Canyon erring a bit more on the side of efficiency and sacrificing a little grip at the rear wheel. For those looking solely to put long days in the saddle, where the technicality of the trails are incidental, the Canyon may be the better choice.

Finally there's the matter of price. Two of the Lux Trail's complete builds are less expensive than the standard Epic frameset, and the most expensive bike in the Lux lineup is essentially the same price as the S-Works frameset. In other words, the Epic is a very expensive bike, and the Lux is not. Performance might not be the same on the descents and tech climbs, but it's worth considering your use case before throwing down the cash.

Which Model is the Best Value?

Canyon's direct-to-consumer business model allows for some pretty staggering prices on complete bikes, and the Lux Trail is no exception. Nothing on this list is dirt cheap, but when you consider the quality of the components hung on the frame, the aftermarket cost starts to get a bit daunting. My pick for value would be the CF8 model, sporting a Shimano XT drivetrain and brakes, Fox Performance Elite suspension, and DT Swiss carbon wheels. All for $4,999 USD (currently on sale for $500 less), you get a swath of some of the best components for the category.

Technical Report

RockShox 3P TwistLoc: The cockpit cleanliness of this system when used in tandem with the AXS dropper is impressive, keeping things tidy and tucked away. That said, I can't help but wish that it could be done with a standard lever arrangement, so you could run standard grips and toggle the lockout with a quick jab of the thumb. Minor difference in the scheme of things, but I think some users would appreciate the option. Luckily, the TwistLoc function is consistent and unobtrusive for my hand size and position, it just took some getting used to the slide-on grips.

SRAM Level Silver 2-Piston Brakes: While the 4-piston Levels feel appropriate for XC bikes, the 2-piston variants feel pretty awful regardless of the context. Part of this falls on Canyon for deciding to keep the flat mount rear brake standard on this bike - despite the fact that flat mount has no place in the mountain bike world - but SRAM didn't really run with the prompt either. The brakes feel underpowered and slow to bite, and the 160mm rear rotor doesn't help matters much. Metallic pads (same shape as SRAM Red road brakes) marginally help the situation, but not enough to justify the choice.

RaceFace 35 Handlebars: These are the only other spec dud, though the frustration is far less potent than with the Level 2P brakes. For a bike focused on weight, efficiency, and all day comfort, a handlebar seemingly made of solid aluminum bar stock feels a bit out of place. The weight of these is impressive, and translates directly into a jarring feeling when compared to just about anything else I swapped in. I ended up running a carbon riser bar for a while, mostly for fit reasons, but dropping a significant bit of weight helps as well.

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Pinkbike's Take

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Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Reviews XC Bikes Canyon Canyon Lux Trail