My Canyon buying experience
DHA987S
Posts: 284
When I was looking at buying a Canyon bike there were a few threads on here but not too many, a google search of the rest of the net doesn't bring up loads either - so I thought I would put down some thoughts on my recent experience buying a Canyon.
I was looking at a new road bike and wanted one with Ultegra di2. However the mainstream manufacturers want £3500 for such a bike, lower that budget and you can get a Focus or Cube but they have scrimped on a few of the components on the Cube and it isn't full Ultegra. I had looked at Canyon and the reviews all seem very very good for the Ultimate AL di2, but I looked around for some real world experiences of the bike. A few were found on here and they seemed positive.
Next up was sizing. The PPS system recommended a 50cm frame for me (I am 5ft6 and was riding a 52cm trek) that seemed small. A friend looked at the figures and the 53cm seemed to be the closest fit to my trek. I emailed Canyon in the UK with my measurements and they were quick to reply and also said that a 53cm would suit me better given my measurements. Take the PPS system with a pinch of salt....
I asked a few more questions of the Canyon UK people prior to ordering and again they replied quickly and with the answers I wanted.
One of the questions I asked was how long for delivery for a bike that is "immediately available". The response was a week to 10 days for arrival in the UK. This suited me as I was off for a week's holiday. I ordered it on Friday 29th June, (I was away from the 30th until the 8th July so the 7 to 10 day delivery should have worked out fine). Payment was from a UK debit card and worked just like paying any other internet based company, I had heard issues with payment but it seemed exactly like anything else I buy online so I'm not sure where people have issues with it?
On the 2nd July I got the email that my bike was ready to ship, still all perfect with the 7 to 10 day arrival time. Or so I thought.....
The bike was delivered on the 4th July, Friday order to Wednesday delivery which is an pretty good turn around given it has to come from Germany to the UK. UPS are the courier, you can track the parcel online. I saw it had been delivered, but there is no notice of where it has been delivered to - the notes say "delivered to Residential" with no specific address and the name given by the signatory didn't match my neighbours. I was a little worried. (on my return home there was no card through the door either to say where it had been delivered to, which is poor). However next door had taken it in for me and even kindly put it in my house so it was here when I got home
This is what greeted me on return from holiday
The box was smaller than I thought it would be, a previous online bike order had come wheels attached but Canyon pack the bike with the wheels off making the box smaller and no doubt cheaper to send over.
The bike came very well packed in the box, plenty of extra cardboard housing inside to protect everything and keep it in place.
Out of the box and ready to assemble
note the wood in the rear dropout for a bit more protection during transit.
All that was needed was to attach the handlebars, pedals and wheels (I fitted my own wheels rather than those supplied to I had to swap the cassette as well).
Looks great I think. The price for the bike was £1780 plus around £50 to ship, great value I think. It rides very nicely and the di2 is brilliant; perfect shifts everytime and no effort required at all when shifting the front mech. Yes it probably isn't as good as top level mechanical systems but there is the bonus of no maintenance, and the weight penalty is not something I am massively concerned about given the quoted weight of 7.55kg for the bike.
Very pleased and well done Canyon for delivering very quickly!
I was looking at a new road bike and wanted one with Ultegra di2. However the mainstream manufacturers want £3500 for such a bike, lower that budget and you can get a Focus or Cube but they have scrimped on a few of the components on the Cube and it isn't full Ultegra. I had looked at Canyon and the reviews all seem very very good for the Ultimate AL di2, but I looked around for some real world experiences of the bike. A few were found on here and they seemed positive.
Next up was sizing. The PPS system recommended a 50cm frame for me (I am 5ft6 and was riding a 52cm trek) that seemed small. A friend looked at the figures and the 53cm seemed to be the closest fit to my trek. I emailed Canyon in the UK with my measurements and they were quick to reply and also said that a 53cm would suit me better given my measurements. Take the PPS system with a pinch of salt....
I asked a few more questions of the Canyon UK people prior to ordering and again they replied quickly and with the answers I wanted.
One of the questions I asked was how long for delivery for a bike that is "immediately available". The response was a week to 10 days for arrival in the UK. This suited me as I was off for a week's holiday. I ordered it on Friday 29th June, (I was away from the 30th until the 8th July so the 7 to 10 day delivery should have worked out fine). Payment was from a UK debit card and worked just like paying any other internet based company, I had heard issues with payment but it seemed exactly like anything else I buy online so I'm not sure where people have issues with it?
On the 2nd July I got the email that my bike was ready to ship, still all perfect with the 7 to 10 day arrival time. Or so I thought.....
The bike was delivered on the 4th July, Friday order to Wednesday delivery which is an pretty good turn around given it has to come from Germany to the UK. UPS are the courier, you can track the parcel online. I saw it had been delivered, but there is no notice of where it has been delivered to - the notes say "delivered to Residential" with no specific address and the name given by the signatory didn't match my neighbours. I was a little worried. (on my return home there was no card through the door either to say where it had been delivered to, which is poor). However next door had taken it in for me and even kindly put it in my house so it was here when I got home
This is what greeted me on return from holiday
The box was smaller than I thought it would be, a previous online bike order had come wheels attached but Canyon pack the bike with the wheels off making the box smaller and no doubt cheaper to send over.
The bike came very well packed in the box, plenty of extra cardboard housing inside to protect everything and keep it in place.
Out of the box and ready to assemble
note the wood in the rear dropout for a bit more protection during transit.
All that was needed was to attach the handlebars, pedals and wheels (I fitted my own wheels rather than those supplied to I had to swap the cassette as well).
Looks great I think. The price for the bike was £1780 plus around £50 to ship, great value I think. It rides very nicely and the di2 is brilliant; perfect shifts everytime and no effort required at all when shifting the front mech. Yes it probably isn't as good as top level mechanical systems but there is the bonus of no maintenance, and the weight penalty is not something I am massively concerned about given the quoted weight of 7.55kg for the bike.
Very pleased and well done Canyon for delivering very quickly!
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Comments
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the most annoying thing about getting goods from Germany, is you then see how bad value the royal mail is....
nice bike0 -
Damn you for posting this!!
I have been looking at this bike rather a lot over the last week and it is getting harder and harder not to press BUY
Glad you are enjoying it.0 -
Brilliant - thanks for posting this its good to hear a positive story and handy to know. Your new bike looks lovely (I am green with envy!)0
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kept reading thinking what's gonna go wrong...and then got a happy story
great bike by the looks of it. and about 2 1/2 kg's lighter than the one i'm gonna buy 0 -
Bike looks stunning, nice purchase.0
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Nice and descriptive.
Saddle to handlebar looks quite a drop though0 -
quite a drop? it looks very mild to me.x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Commuting / Winter rides - Jamis Renegade Expert
Pootling / Offroad - All-City Macho Man Disc
Fast rides Cannondale SuperSix Ultegra0 -
CookeeeMonster wrote:kept reading thinking what's gonna go wrong...and then got a happy story
Me too, I was waiting for the picture of a huge gash in the paintwork.
PS. Nice Park Tool maintenance standTrek 1.1c (2012) - For commuting
Trek Madone 5.5c (2010) - For pleasure http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o62 ... G_0413.jpg0 -
i'd have gone for black, infact... i did
mine came with a mark on the hanger ad if something like a screwdriver had been dropped on it. i emaild canyon who said its not a problem structurally as its an alluminium part and they gave me 30 quid for my trouble. i'd have rather it asn't marked but hey ho.
my despatch time was estimated at 2 weeks, it was delivered in 7 working days from ordering."Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
I ordered the Ultimate AL9.0 with Ultegra, for £1300 inc. shipping I'm well chuffed with the price, I've got my order confirmation through but not any more info; like you, the bike is "immediately available", I'm going away to Ireland to visit the inlaws on Wed next week so I'm hoping it will arrive when I'm away and can come back to a nice new bike and go for a ride.0
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Great post, thanks.
I'm also looking at the Canyon AL 9.0 and like you their website put me on a 50. However, I'm 5 - 7 with an inseam of 30 inches (76 cm) and usually ride a 52.
Any chance that you could tell me what your inseam is and what the standover height of the bike is? Also, is the ride quality of the bike as good as they make out?
Thanks, Mark0 -
Lovely, lovely bike. One day I will have Di2, one day...
But, what the hell are they playing at, I really don't think Canyon have tried hard enough getting their name on the frame, I mean how are you supposed to tell what make it is?!...0 -
mfrodsham wrote:Great post, thanks.
I'm also looking at the Canyon AL 9.0 and like you their website put me on a 50. However, I'm 5 - 7 with an inseam of 30 inches (76 cm) and usually ride a 52.
Any chance that you could tell me what your inseam is and what the standover height of the bike is? Also, is the ride quality of the bike as good as they make out?
Thanks, Mark
Hi, I am 5ft6 with an inseam the same as yours. The website says 50 for me as well. I looked at the size of my previous bike and compared the geometry and the 52 was closer. I emailed canyon with my measurements and they said they 52 would be a better fit. I went with the 52 and it fits great, not a massive amount of seatpost showing (the post is inserted on the lowest setting) but the toptube length is perfect. The ride is great, very comfy, not sure if its the frame or the frame and the basalt seatpost but there is very little road buzz compared to my previous bike (Trek 1.5).0 -
Done about 250miles on my Canyon Ultimate AL9.0 now and it's very fast, but surprisingly it's very comfortable, even more so than my cross bike (that I was told should be much more comfy than a road bike).
Couldn't be happier, delivery took 8 days (inc. a weekend; ordered Tue, arrived Wed next week) from day of order. Order process was simple, pay for bike and wait to arrive (seemed to take forever to arrive)
I'm 6ft2" with inseam 32" and their PPS system told me size 58cm; my cross is a 60cm so I went for the 58cm frame and it fits perfect.
Overall..... Buy a Canyon Ultimate AL if you're thinking about it, brilliant bike frame.0 -
Very interesting post. Cheers0
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Good stuff.
Waiting has been the frustrating part for me. I wish they let you track your order so you have a realistic idea of its arrival time.0
