Which bike?

cml76
cml76 Posts: 2
edited November 2012 in MTB buying advice
I am looking at a 2012 Canyon Nerve AM 9.0 X (Alu frame) with great kit
https://www.canyon.com/_en/outlet/artic ... o=A1025526

or a 2013 Canyon Nerve CF 8.0 (Carbon frame) with good kit (but not as good)
https://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbike ... ab-reiter2

I am 15 st and do mostly trail centre with a bit of XC, What do you think?

Comments

  • I have a nerve CF 8.0 on order since last night... hopefully it will do the trail centre part as well as the XC ... I have not been able to get in touch with Canyon UK to discuss in spite of days of trying .... which is really worrying me on the after care front :-(
  • chez_m356
    chez_m356 Posts: 1,893
    gravitas41 wrote:
    I have a nerve CF 8.0 on order since last night... hopefully it will do the trail centre part as well as the XC ... I have not been able to get in touch with Canyon UK to discuss in spite of days of trying .... which is really worrying me on the after care front :-(
    just keep trying mate, remember there's no one there on the weekend and its just the one guy over here to deal with everything
    Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc 10- CANYON Nerve AM 6 2011
  • Canyon Nerve xc 8 arrived okay.

    I have had the bike out for a few rides and I'm really happy with it.

    Bike is really taut and agile. I was a bit concerned that the head angle would feel too steep - but it doesn't at all.

    Alongside my wife's new Trek ex9 it is SUPERLIGHT!! - all in at 11kg on my scales. Trek is (13kg in her frame size)

    Really great build quality, only niggle is that there is a bit of cable rub appearing on the frame near the headset, but I have just ordered some helitape to protect that area.

    As far as dealing with Canyon is concerned I can comment as follows--

    I ordered the bike with a delivery slot about 5 weeks out.

    A week later I went on holiday for a week, and came home to find a box out in the rain next to the house... containing a £2,500 bike... glad it was still there and pleased that their online estimated delivery dates were wildly inaccurate - in my favour.

    Their UK phone service is completely non existent. I tried so many times to speak to someone that I ended up phoning Germany with a post delivery query and - even though they spoke perfect english they told me to phone England... I tried and tried and tried. Never got a person to answer and whenever I got through to an answerphone was told to email....

    SO - just pretend they don't have a phone service. When I have emailed they have got back in touch in a reasonable timescale. They would be better just getting rid of the phone service if they can't adequately resource it...

    My Rating is as follows:

    Pre Sales Support 0/10

    Delivery Experience 6/10

    Post sales Customer Service 4.5/10

    Bike Assembly 6.5/10 - could have done with some bike specific instructions, but got there in the end.

    Bike Quality Finish and Fittings - 9/10

    And now that it has arrived, and is put together and the memory of buying it is a fading one

    Current Satisfaction 9/10


    (I am 100kg, 6'1" with longish legs and the Large fits me very well.)

    Hope that helps anyone thinking of buying from Canyon
  • gravitas41 wrote:
    Delivery Experience 6/10
    Not really their fault the courier was a muppet is it? They shipped the bike much earlier than they had quoted, which is surely a positive thing? Marking them down because a 3rd party courier messed up is a bit harsh imo.
    gravitas41 wrote:
    Bike Assembly 6.5/10 - could have done with some bike specific instructions, but got there in the end.

    Really?

    I thought they came in a big box and all you've got to do is attach wheels, bars and pedals.
    What did you have to do?
  • chez_m356
    chez_m356 Posts: 1,893
    gravitas41 wrote:
    Delivery Experience 6/10
    Not really their fault the courier was a muppet is it? They shipped the bike much earlier than they had quoted, which is surely a positive thing? Marking them down because a 3rd party courier messed up is a bit harsh imo.
    gravitas41 wrote:
    Bike Assembly 6.5/10 - could have done with some bike specific instructions, but got there in the end.

    Really?

    I thought they came in a big box and all you've got to do is attach wheels, bars and pedals.
    What did you have to do?
    at a guess, attach wheels, bars and pedals, surprised he didn't mention having to pump the fork and shock up too, unless he's been riding around with no air in them :D
    Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc 10- CANYON Nerve AM 6 2011
  • Oh no! what have I started.... I should have probably written that this is all my personal opinion, based on my own personal experience, with a view to trying to provide some idea of the experience that I had when buying this bike.

    Which - (obviously) - starkly contrasted with the experience of buying my wife's Trek ex9 from my LBS a few weeks earlier. Where a sales assistant was on hand to answer pre sales queries, a technician assembled the bike, and it was available for collection when they said it would be. The key difference is that you have to take a leap of faith to order a bike you have never seen or sat on, and (even with a good returns policy) potentially waste a load of time buying from an online retailer. I know - I so nearly didn't do it.

    BUT in the end I feel that the result was worth it and am really pleased with the bike. (Personally)

    Cat With No Tail
    Not really their fault the courier was a muppet is it? They shipped the bike much earlier than they had quoted, which is surely a positive thing? Marking them down because a 3rd party courier messed up is a bit harsh imo.

    I can see your point, but my reasoning is as follows:

    I am not sure that the courier can be described as a muppet, nor that they messed up. I marked the delivery Experience based on the fact that they dispatched the bike 3 weeks early (in this case) - it just wasn't what I was led to expect, I wasn't there to receive it, and I hadn't expected to pay for it 3 weeks earlier either. - Maybe this should have been described as 'Experience from time of order to Receipt' but I'll let it stand as anyone reading this can (now) see what I mean.
    Really?

    I thought they came in a big box and all you've got to do is attach wheels, bars and pedals.
    What did you have to do?

    Yes they do. It sounds from the tone of this comment that you have plenty of experience of doing this (in which case you may have needed no instructions at all). I have to say that I don't and there were a number of details that were not obvious. In this instance how to decide on correct Handle Bar angle and how to fit the Reverb stealth control - (which appeared to be missing a part) that simply didn't make sense to me (personally) based on the generic assembly information which resulted in some frustration during the assembly. I have seen many home assembly items come with clearer instructions and feel that they would have made my experience much easier than it was. I did manage to get the rest of it together with no problems.

    I hope that helps clear up my marking, which is, can I just say - my own personal opinion and observations that I am sharing to try and help anyone else out who is in the same situation I was in in October when I was wondering whether to go ahead and take the plunge of buying an online bike from canyon - from the UK...
  • Settle down fella.
    I was genuinely curious as to what bits needed fitting. I've had allsorts before, from a bike where all I needed to do was fit pedals and turn the handlebars (Evans) to a bike that came completely stripped down.

    I couldn't tell from your description what they were expecting you to do with no instructions.

    For the bars, they couldn't write instructions on the "correct" angle because there isn't one, it's personal preference.

    Similar comment for the Reverb remote, different people like them configured differently, although from your post it does sound like they did include some fitting info for that.

    I'm not trying to belittle you, or make out that you're wrong. as you say, it's your opinion and you're quite entitled to it.
  • chez_m356
    chez_m356 Posts: 1,893
    gravitas41 wrote:
    I hope that helps clear up my marking, which is, can I just say - my own personal opinion and observations that I am sharing to try and help anyone else out who is in the same situation I was in in October when I was wondering whether to go ahead and take the plunge of buying an online bike from canyon - from the UK...
      a lot of us have been in the same position, searching the site for threads like this
    viewtopic.php?f=10002&t=12789920 can help, 33 pages of the canyon experience
      and i wouldn't worry too much about the replies that you get to posts, much of it is just a warped sense of humour :D
    Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc 10- CANYON Nerve AM 6 2011
  • compo
    compo Posts: 1,370
    gravitas41 wrote:
    Really?

    I thought they came in a big box and all you've got to do is attach wheels, bars and pedals.
    What did you have to do?

    Yes they do. It sounds from the tone of this comment that you have plenty of experience of doing this (in which case you may have needed no instructions at all). I have to say that I don't and there were a number of details that were not obvious. In this instance how to decide on correct Handle Bar angle and how to fit the Reverb stealth control - (which appeared to be missing a part) that simply didn't make sense to me (personally) based on the generic assembly information which resulted in some frustration during the assembly. I have seen many home assembly items come with clearer instructions and feel that they would have made my experience much easier than it was. I did manage to get the rest of it together with no problems.

    But if you have no experience and/or are wary of of putting a bike together surely you should think twice about direct order?