canyon buying advice..

castlelad
castlelad Posts: 414
edited February 2012 in MTB buying advice
To cut a long story short......£1400. What are the pro's and con's to buying from canyon ? or does anywhere else sell 'em........

Comments

  • direct form canyon only.

    Pros
    lot for the money
    most current owners rate the uk based customer service
    lots of good accounts from owners (but who is going to say their new bike is rubbish!?)
    cons

    No try before you buy
    waiting for it to arrive

    personal opinion

    not too nice to look at
    limited colour choices
  • chez_m356
    chez_m356 Posts: 1,893
    direct form canyon only.

    Pros
    lot for the money
    most current owners rate the uk based customer service
    lots of good accounts from owners (but who is going to say their new bike is rubbish!?)
    you really need to try reading the canyon related posts on here, quite a few have posted about various problems they have had,including myself, though none about the ride quality that i can remember
    personal opinion

    not too nice to look at
    i hear they can do amazing things with laser eye surgery nowadays
    limited colour choice
    the same as about 90% of bikes :wink:
    Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc 10- CANYON Nerve AM 6 2011
  • concorde
    concorde Posts: 1,008
    I've read about a few issues people have been having lately. I put this down to as you're getting a lot for the coin and they're rapidly increasing in popularity they are struggling to maintain high standards. It's the usual story. I'm sure they will catch up again.

    Biggest pro:

    A lot of bike

    Biggest con:

    Don't get to try before you buy
  • cubicboy
    cubicboy Posts: 117
    My thoughts are that the huge savings you make by buying a Canyon go a big way to compensate for any customer service shortcomings ie not being able to try the bike before you buy. Stems and seatposts can be swapped for little extra cost. I love mine!
  • I love mine too, and most, if not all of the so-called 'problems' people have had have amounted to not very much, really. Stuff like having to adjust the indexing and so on - very minor mechanical niggles that people riding mtbs off road really ought to know how to deal with, and not even think of as an issue!!

    You always see threads on here with people complaining about the slightest little thing - it winds me up to be honest. What you don't see is the 99 out of every 100 buyers who are totally happy with their very good value and very well reviewed bikes!

    Please don't be put off. Their service to me and two of my friends was first class.
    2011 Canyon XC 8.0 (Monza Race Red)
    1996(?) dyna-tech titanium HT; pace RC-35's; Hope Ti Hubs etc etc
    Bianchi Road Bike
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

    London Calling on Facebook

    Parktools
  • chez_m356 wrote:
    direct form canyon only.

    Pros
    lot for the money
    most current owners rate the uk based customer service
    lots of good accounts from owners (but who is going to say their new bike is rubbish!?)
    you really need to try reading the canyon related posts on here, quite a few have posted about various problems they have had,including myself, though none about the ride quality that i can remember
    personal opinion

    not too nice to look at
    i hear they can do amazing things with laser eye surgery nowadays
    limited colour choice
    the same as about 90% of bikes :wink:
    As said, personal opinion. I have a bike of beauty! (again personal opinion) see relevant section if you like, you may agree!
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    I found the size calculator on the website spot on but you need to read the instructions and measure yourself properly with someone helping you. I got a medium and it fits fine though I could probably have got on with a large as I was right on the border another cm on the inside leg and it reccomended a large. I conciously went with the medium as I wanted a slightly smaller frame than my previous bike.

    When the bike arrived it only needed wheels and bars fitting which is easy. The gearing was miles out but that took 5 minutes of tinkering with the adjusters. The only problems I could find with the bike spec were the grips they are rubbish and worth about 5p.

    I had a problem with the rear brake hose routing which luckily I spotted before it ate my frame, that led on to my main gripe about Canyon. I wanted Canyon to acknowledge it had cocked up but when I contacted the factory they denied there was a problem and offered me £50 to go away. Luckily I have a friend who speaks German and she did some research for me and spoke to them direct bypassing the UK service centre.

    Basically 10/10 for the bike, 1/10 for service and I would still happily insert a sharpened spoke into the nearest Canyon employee.

    Saying that I know of several other people who have had nothing but great service maybe I just got the wrong person to speak to who had only just taken his arrogant and patronising jerk pills for the day.
    Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap
  • Mojo_666
    Mojo_666 Posts: 860
    Its like anything really, not everyone is satisfied with the experience they get, but this applies to shop bought bikes, on-line or direct sale some people with think it's perfect others will think it sucks.

    The big issue is no try before you buy.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    stubs wrote:
    The only problems I could find with the bike spec were the grips they are rubbish and worth about 5p.
    To be honest I wish that the more expensive bikes were supplied with 5p grips and pedals, they are the 2 things most people serious about biking (serious enough to have bought such a bike) will change almost straight away to their preferred items, so why not keep cost down by fitting just about adequate bits......my ten penneth!

    Simon
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • cooldad wrote:


    Cheers . I knew there was a thread but couldn't find it. :wink:

    cheers all...am seriously thinking about it.....even with the bad points of view.......
  • streetvw
    streetvw Posts: 164
    TBH when buying my Canyon the most awkward thing was getting the sizing right (oh and convincing the wife that spending that sort of cash on a bike was the right thing :wink: ) but I got my brother to give me a hand with the measurements and went for it and boy am I glad I did 12 months on I still love riding it.

    BTW I notice that your only in castle S-O-T (I'm in Congleton) if you want to come and have a look at mine, I'm more than happy for you to give it a try out for size it's a medium XC7 2011 model
    2011 Canyon Nerve XC7 viewtopic.php?t=12765275
  • AMcK
    AMcK Posts: 79
    From personal experience, the service has largely been excellent - responsive and fair - even when I've gone back with an issue (similar to Stubs).

    I did find committing to the purchase without being able to try the biggest hurdle to get over. And I spent a lot of time on sizing - using their guide, taking the geometry and measuring against a bike that was a good fit for me, and talking to Canyon for their advice.

    BUT - having taken the plunge and what you get for the money, I've been delighted with mine.
    2011 Black Canyon Nerve XC9.0
  • streetvw wrote:
    TBH when buying my Canyon the most awkward thing was getting the sizing right (oh and convincing the wife that spending that sort of cash on a bike was the right thing :wink: ) but I got my brother to give me a hand with the measurements and went for it and boy am I glad I did 12 months on I still love riding it.

    BTW I notice that your only in castle S-O-T (I'm in Congleton) if you want to come and have a look at mine, I'm more than happy for you to give it a try out for size it's a medium XC7 2011 model


    Its the mrs who thinks its a bad idea :roll: don't need another bike bla,bla,bla :roll: it's the xc7 im looking at tbh but don't have chance/time to pop up, work/family etc etc but cheers anyhow......thinking may time after our holiday aswell..............
  • streetvw
    streetvw Posts: 164
    castlelad wrote:
    streetvw wrote:
    TBH when buying my Canyon the most awkward thing was getting the sizing right (oh and convincing the wife that spending that sort of cash on a bike was the right thing :wink: ) but I got my brother to give me a hand with the measurements and went for it and boy am I glad I did 12 months on I still love riding it.

    BTW I notice that your only in castle S-O-T (I'm in Congleton) if you want to come and have a look at mine, I'm more than happy for you to give it a try out for size it's a medium XC7 2011 model


    Its the mrs who thinks its a bad idea :roll: don't need another bike bla,bla,bla :roll: it's the xc7 im looking at tbh but don't have chance/time to pop up, work/family etc etc but cheers anyhow......thinking may time after our holiday aswell..............

    open ended offer just PM if you wanna come and try it
    2011 Canyon Nerve XC7 viewtopic.php?t=12765275