Canyon Spectral Vs Strive

Rambo_123

Right I want a full suspension bike that is good for trail riding and maybe the odd downhill run once I improve. It seems canyon has the best value that I have found and i have narrowed it down to two bikes...

The Strive AL 7.0 https://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbike ... ab-reiter2

or

The Spectral AL 7.0 https://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbike ... tml?b=3253

My local trails are the Moray Monster Trails and BikeGlenlivet is less than an hour away. These trails are not to demanding on a bike so I think 160mm travel front and rear might be a bit overkill whereas 140mm would be ideal. It's just that when I improve and want to ride tougher stuff, i don't want to feel restricted by the bike.

Any advice or opinions are welcome!

jonnyashworth

I can see why this would be a bit of a dilemma....

on one hand you don't want to feel that your bike is holding you back while on the other hand you want your bike to be future proof with 650b wheels and you don't want to lug around loads of extra travel (ie weight) that your not using 95% of the time.

reason dictated that if you buy the strive then for 5% of the time you will be grinning from ear to ear and spend 95% of the time cursing under your breath that your bike is to much of a burly brute. (the strive is not exactly an all day machine)

however you may find that the spectral is a bit twisty up front with those fox forks when the going gets tough..

Can you not wait and save a little to get the spectral al 9.0 ex??? it sounds like the perfect (if not pricey) compromise.

big_p

I have a strive al 9.0 and it's awesome, climbing on it isn't a problem, i just drop the travel on the talas forks to stop wheel lift and flip the damping on the rear shock to climb and it goes up as well as any bike I've ever owned.
I've never had it feel like it's run out of travel on the downs but i always manage to get full travel wherever i ride ( if that makes any sense ) People talk about this bike blowing through it's travel too easily, but i haven't found it to be like that, maybe i dont ride hard enough.
I have nothing to add about the spectral as I've never seen one in the flesh.

rockmonkeysc

It's more about geometry than travel, I can ride harder on my 130/150mm Nukeproof Mega than I could on my old 160mm Giant Reign X because the geometry is better.
I have ridden a Strive and it's a bit of a tank with rear suspension thats far too linear when pushed hard.
I would go for something like a Mega TR (I have one for the riding you describe), Specialized Stumpjumper or Transition Bandit.

jonnyashworth

Good point well made!

The mega TR would make an excellent bike bike for the type of riding you want to do and there are a fair few 2013 ones being sold off cheap at the moment!

dusk

As per Rockmonkey, it's more about geometry than travel. There are a lot of enduro racers on 140mm travel bikes and it doesn't slow them down.

passout

Agree about geometry. Personally I think 140mm is more than enough for 99.9% of UK trails.

Rambo_123

Okay thank you everyone, i think i'll go for the spectral! I still need to save for a few of months though...

rockmonkeysc

Also worth looking at Rose Bikes and Nukeproof, both are as good value as Canyon.

adamfo

I was just watching the Spectral promo video thinking any bike with knobblies could ride the easy Scottish trails featured. A light short travel XC carbon hardtail 29er would be the quickest.

http://www.canyon.com/_en/pure_cycling_ ... XqRlJiVw5c

rockmonkeysc

Not the best choice of trails to promote a big bike like the Strive. Maybe that's all it can handle...

poah

spectral not in stock anyway at the moment

what about

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... prod114120

rockmonkeysc

Its a bit of a tank unless a high percentage of your riding involves uplifts.
This would be more suitable for the riding you describe.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... -prod87480

Kowalski675

Rambo_123 wrote:

Okay thank you everyone, i think i'll go for the spectral! I still need to save for a few of months though...

The Spectral's not available for months yet anyway.

poah

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Not the best choice of trails to promote a big bike like the Strive. Maybe that's all it can handle...

not far from other trails that are technically more difficult either.

problem with the bikes is not being able to test them first.

rockmonkeysc

That's not the biggest problem for me. I couldn't demo a Mega before I bought one. Getting spares (mech hangers, linkages etc) is the biggest problem. Also the builds use lots of expensive parts but not necessarily good parts and the standard German linear suspension linkage set up.

Rambo_123

Although the cube and nukeproof both look like ideal bikes for me they don't come with a dropper post which i quite fancy! But thank you for the advice and recomendations!

rockmonkeysc

A dropper post is a part you can fit to any bike. Choose the right bike and add a dropper if it doesn't come with one.

Kowalski675

There's a review of the new 650b Mega TR in this month's What MTB, if you want to have a gander at that.

rockmonkeysc

The 26" Mega is a lot cheaper though. You would have to be daft to buy the 650b while it's so much more expensive.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The 26" Mega is a lot cheaper though. You would have to be daft to buy the 650b while it's so much more expensive.

Depends on your priorities and how flush you are - for some people (not me) the few hundred quid difference will be neither here nor there. Either way, the review gives you some insight into the kind of bike it is, and whether it will suit your requirements.

adamfo

Rambo_123 wrote:

Any advice or opinions are welcome!

There was a brief first ride test of the Spectral AL 8.0 last month in a German magazine.
Things to note are the quite short top tube on the size medium they measured :

http://www.mountainbike-magazin.de/moun ... latt.2.htm

The more accurate reach figure shown on the Canyon geo chart looks OK.

The wheelset is the expensive DT Swiss Spline One XM1501. A new design that finished top
in the same magazines 'all mountain' group-test. It outpointed the likes of the excellent Mavic Crossmax
and cheaper Hope Stans etc.

The 2014 Fox Talas seems to be a bit of unknown quantity so far. I would be tempted to buy the cheapest Spectral and fit my own sourced Rockshox Pikes. The only Canyon with this fork appears to be:



http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes ... ab-reiter2

krautmayer

I was in the same dilemma....
I ordered the cheapest spectral and as soon as it arrives i'll change the wheels and fit a RS Pike 150mm...

That should do the trick...

swod1

the spectral has the similar frame shape as the nerve al but with more suspension travel so i guess would be a better bike for all day riding ?

Just a shame theres no place in the uk to have a look and try out canyon bikes as i'm sure they would get a lot more sales from over here.

AAddict

POAH wrote:

spectral not in stock anyway at the moment

what about

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... prod114120

Try and get a test ride on one of these. I did yesterday and am going to order one this weekend/next week. I was offered the same advice from RockmonkeySC that it was too much bike, heavy and too linear suspension. My experience after a test ride couldn't have been further away from those things. Way lighter than expected, a very all-round geometry that's perfect for all day rides including climbing. Just because it has 160mm each end doesn't make the bike some kind of free-ride only or lift-day beast. This years Cube Fritzz is basically an aluminium version of the carbon Cube Stereo which is a very efficient mid travel bike. I can't wait to get mine and do some epic rides this spring-summer.

*Edit* The RS Pike is brilliant BTW.

Angus Young

Rambo_123 wrote:

Although the cube and nukeproof both look like ideal bikes for me they don't come with a dropper post which i quite fancy! But thank you for the advice and recomendations!

Discounting two bikes you describe as "ideal" just because they don't have something that is easy and relatively cheap to 'after market' is nuts.

adamfo

One bike fits all terrain ? Nein, you need a fleet to choose from.

Canyon enduro team Spectral 29er and Strive at the Trans-Provence event