Canyon customer service and swapping brakes

Brian Can't

Hi all, first post.

I've read a lot about Canyon customer service but really want one of their bikes. The Roadlite 7.0 and Ultimate CF SL 7.0 have both turned my head.

I phoned Canyon today with a couple of questions and I thought I'd share my experience.

I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to order to an EU or UK address so I asked if I ordered, could I have it sent to EU but have UK brakes (front-right, rear-left) set up. Certainly not was the reply it's against the law.

Since I already have a road bike with UK set up and I'm easily confused I'd rather keep it simple so I asked if I could get a UK spec bike sent to a UK address but pay in euros. Certainly not was the reply, our system isn't set up for that.

This may sound like a minor issue but with the exchange rate at the moment I'd be able to save almost £100 by paying in euros, which is a large saving on a bike retailing for €1599/£1399.

I also asked about swapping cassettes on a standard build but again the answer was no.

To me, these are reasonable requests and I understand if people are put off the brand by that but on the other hand Canyon do sell bikes which are amazing value for money so I suppose anything that isn't standard and easy is not going to be accommodated. Maybe that's why they have a bad reputation for customer service?

Not being able to pay in euros may well be a deal breaker for me unless it's easy and cheap to swap the brakes.
I've had a search online for easy to follow instructions but without much success and taking it to LBS would almost negate the saving.

So would swapping the brakes be something a novice like me could attempt? Or should I start hitting the Rose website?

Any advice/comments greatly appreciated.

Grill

Swapping brakes is a piece of piss. The only difficult part (for some) is re-wrapping the bars.

None of their answers surprise me as their what I would expect.

- they have a duty of care to follow legal requirements and don't want to take a chance in case it bites them in the ass. Reasonable.
- they have different billing systems for UK and euro customers which is common enough. Pricing is region dependent which is expected.
- they won't swap cassettes because they order based on volume and lowest price. They're already passing on a substantial savings, so why should they do more? You're buying a Canyon, not a Parlee...

You will most likely get the same answer from Rose as they follow identical business models.

charlie_potatoes

My LBS would only charge about 10 quid so may be worth checking the price with yours?

If it's a Canyon that you really want then it may be worth swallowing a little bit of poor service. I'm glad I did

But you pays your money and takes your choice of course.

bendertherobot

There's an EU brake law?

Grill

bendertherobot wrote:

There's an EU brake law?

I don't know for certain, but if someone sued Canyon for selling a bike that's setup for LHD roads in RHD country, then the recourse could be costly from a litigious standpoint. It makes sense that they would want to reduce this risk.

charlie_potatoes

The last Canyon I bought was in stock but the delivery was delayed while they swapped the brakes over. Ironic really as I'll probably change them back. They also hit me with a £15 quid surcharge because I wanted a longer stem.

Good bike for the money though.

Brian Can't

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Swapping brakes is a piece of wee-wee

Unwrap the bar tape. Slacken brake cables. Remove from each lever. Reattach to opposite lever. Tighten up. Apply same bar tape?

Is it along those lines or more complicated? Don't have my road bike here so can't assess how easy it would be to remove cable from lever. Would I need new bar tape or reapply the old stuff.

I am still very tempted especially as I haven't seen anything bad about the actual bikes, only the customer service and the fear of getting the sizing wrong.

Ultimate CF SL 7.0 is £1399 or £1314 if paid in euros. Roadlite AL 7.0 £1199 or £1067 if paid in euros.

Any views on which one? Always the most expensive, right?

Grill

Yup, that's pretty much it.

I'd go for the Roadlite AL 7.0 based on the fact that 6800 is a ridiculously nice groupset. I just installed it on my Ritchey and it even makes my 7900 seem a bit dumpy.

charlie_potatoes

Brian Can't wrote:

Any views on which one? Always the most expensive, right?

The CF Sl9.0 £1899 Or the Ultimate AL9.0 at £1499 would be the choices for me.
I know they are over budget but both are 11 speed ultegra.

I went for the AL9.0 as I already have a CF SLX but if it is going to be your best/only bike then the CF SL9.0 looks to be the best value IMO

The Roadlite geometry looked a bit to relaxed for me.

cougie

Planet X let you specify which hand braking you want.

Brian Can't

cougie wrote:

Planet X let you specify which hand braking you want.

Thanks Cougie, I had considered Planet X but thought their frame was a bit old? Also, to me, the Canyons look better value.

Charlie P. It's the CF SL 7.0. Don't let me wife hear you talking about the 9! Tbh, I'm stretching the budget (and my luck) considerably in going near £1300.

Are the Ultegra 6800 the newer 11 speed and the 6700 last year's 10 speed?
I like the sound of Ultegras but I don't think I'd really notice much difference between either set and the 105s.
Besides, if I went for the Ultimate CF with 105s now I'd have a great frame and I could upgrade components sometime in the future.

Grill

Yes, 6800 is the new 11spd and 6700 is the old 10spd. I have both and have ridden them back-to-back. The difference is huge.

charlie_potatoes

Brian Can't wrote:

Tbh, I'm stretching the budget (and my luck) considerably in going near £1300.
............
Besides, if I went for the Ultimate CF with 105s now I'd have a great frame and I could upgrade components sometime in the future.

Agreed

mroli

A mate is currently being given the run around by Canyon in relation to a problem he has with one of their bikes. They're insistent that the problem must be "owner error" although he can't see how it can be (worth nothing but I tend to agree with him). Long and short of it is, if he wants it to be "looked at", he has to pay for it to be returned to Germany, pay for it to be x-rayed and then and only then, if THEY decide it is manufacturer error, will they consider sorting him out. I have no axe to grind with Canyon, but thought it was worth putting a counter balance to all the (very) good stories you hear about them. Perhaps he is unlucky, but he's pretty aggrieved....

gethinceri

Rose allow you to specify how you want the brakes set up.
With their configurator you will get some cassette options.
As far as I know from their website.

rgasuk

From my own experience ultimate slx - I changed the cassete £13 charge and I had an option on checkout which side I wanted the brake on .

Hope all go's well

Regards

MrSweary

I can recommend the Roadlite 7.0 - Mine took 5 working days to arrive. Lovely bike.

Brian Can't

Thanks again for all the responses. I love the way everyone who has one is so keen to recommend the Canyon bikes and despite mroli's mate's problems I think I'd still be willing to take the risk.

rgasuk, interested in your experience of specifying which way round the brakes go, I've done a dummy order up to entering card details but there wasn't that choice, maybe the option's gone from website now?

The cassette isn't much of an issue but the Ultegra comes with 11-28 and the 105's 11-32 and trying my 2nd etape this year I fancied the granny gears! The guy on the phone said they wouldn't change the cassette but that may have been compatibility rather than intransigence.

Will take another look at Rose if I can get the website to stop crashing my iPad....

Semantik

Aside from all the hassle of having to return a bike to Germany if there's a problem, what puts me off Canyon is the same issue the OP has-they just won't budge on swapping components. I could take a punt on ,say, their cheapest Ultimate CF build, but I don't want an 11-32 cassette, OR a compact chainset, OR an 11cm stem. I would have to change all of these myself, which is not the end of the world I know, but when other retailers WILL swap these components at the build stage at NO extra cost, I am no longer smitten by Canyon or convinced that their bikes are such a bargain after all.

ai_1

There's a wide range derailleur for the new 2014 Ultegra groupset which will accommodate 32 tooth sprockets. The Canyon bikes come with the standard one (max 28 tooth I believe) but you could switch later if you decide you really need the bigger sprockets. Of course that would be maybe 150 for a new cassette and new derailleur.

ai_1

Semantik wrote:

Aside from all the hassle of having to return a bike to Germany if there's a problem, what puts me off Canyon is the same issue the OP has-they just won't budge on swapping components. I could take a punt on ,say, their cheapest Ultimate CF build, but I don't want an 11-32 cassette, OR a compact chainset, OR an 11cm stem. I would have to change all of these myself, which is not the end of the world I know, but when other retailers WILL swap these components at the build stage at NO extra cost, I am no longer smitten by Canyon or convinced that their bikes are such a bargain after all.

They give options for choice of chainrings and cassettes when you order. When I ordered my CF SL 9.0 last week I had the option to specify either standard or compact in the shopping basket. It also gave a selection of cassettes. I went with the default 11-28 but could have chosen 3 or 4 others instead. Don't think you can change the stem without talking to them but I think they will switch stem lengths for a small fee.

Have a look at the selectable deviations in the equipment spec listing for the bike you're interested in. This shows some of the selectable changes you can make to the standard spec.

It would be great if Canyon did full config options like Rose but unfortunately they're still one of a kind.

Semantik

Ai_1 wrote:

Semantik wrote:

Aside from all the hassle of having to return a bike to Germany if there's a problem, what puts me off Canyon is the same issue the OP has-they just won't budge on swapping components. I could take a punt on ,say, their cheapest Ultimate CF build, but I don't want an 11-32 cassette, OR a compact chainset, OR an 11cm stem. I would have to change all of these myself, which is not the end of the world I know, but when other retailers WILL swap these components at the build stage at NO extra cost, I am no longer smitten by Canyon or convinced that their bikes are such a bargain after all.

They give options for choice of chainrings and cassettes when you order. When I ordered my CF SL 9.0 last week I had the option to specify either standard or compact in the shopping basket. It also gave a selection of cassettes. I went with the default 11-28 but could have chosen 3 or 4 others instead. Don't think you can change the stem without talking to them but I think they will switch stem lengths for a small fee.

Sorry, but you'll find you CAN'T do that with the lower spec version. The CF with 105 spec (SL 7.0) comes as it is. No changes to crank or cassette allowed. No good for me.

Serious Cat

Have Canyon started answering phonecalls made by customers from the UK ? I read so many posts from people saying they were ringing and ringing and ringing......etc and the phone simply wasn't answered and that is shoddy customer service in my books.

on-yer-bike

They answered when I called

6wheels

No problems for me either.

Flâneur

Called twice, never a problem

sloppyschleckonds

Ditto above

Brian Can't

Expecting an Ultimate CF SL 7.0 in week 9.

Thanks for all the help, advice and comments here. Will let you know how it goes.

Brian Can't

Unpacked the Canyon last night, took it out for a spin today.

Amazing! Really pleased. Got my training lap down from 77 to 74 minutes, collected some PBs too.

Love the look of it. Love how stiff it feels (still very comfortable). Love the way it feels like none of my energy is wasted.

Old bike is a Bianchi Via Nerone 7, Aluminium with carbon fork and I find the Canyon much more comfortable. Especially the handlebars where I've been getting some wrist pain recently but the canyon is so smooth.

105s are a big step up from the Campagnolo Xenon for me.


Very easy to set up out of the box. Had to adjust the front derailleur but only because I'd messed around with cable tighener as I assembled it.


It ways ready a few days before they said. Didn't get it delivered for over a week thanks to UPS.

UPS said it would take 3 days. Watched the tracking right up to when they said it would be delivered but then got a message saying their was a problem. Said my address was incomplete.

Emailed Canyon (who were very good), they said UPS needed a street number to deliver it. I live by a farm-there ain't no numbers.

Canyon said 'it's ok, UPS have sent a postcard asking for your full address'

I said 'why didn't they attach the bike to the postcard?'

Canyon also asked for my phone number on behalf of UPS, and this is where Canyon customer service fell down slightly. I gave them my UK number on ordering but in the large section available to add notes on the order form I gave a French number to be given to the courier.
Canyon obviously never read the notes otherwise they wouldn't have to ask for a phone number for UPS.

I also specified on the notes UK brakes but they just ignored that too. Now after previous enquiries I didn't think they would supply UK brakes but they could at least have acknowledged the request.

I don't see the point of a section to add notes if they obviously don't read it. You could put "Angela Merkel is a hottie" there for all they care.



I think that's what you get with Canyon, great bikes although don't expect anything out of the ordinary when it comes to customer service.






Great, great bikes.



Can't wait till tomorrow!

Sprool

^ ditto above, took delivery of a CF SL7 last week, no problem calling them on the phone asking about specs and brakes. They responded to email questions within 24 hours. Delighted with the frame, saddle and 105 groupset. I have bought an 11-28 cassette to replace the stock 11-32 since there are limited places even round the hills here where i'd need to revert to a 32 - the bike climbs so muuch easier than my scott (speedster 30). The ride is noticeably more comfortable, soaking up the road vibrations really well. Its a great sunny morning out there now so I'm off to get some miles in.

neeb

You can't have it both ways - if you are buying from a company like Canyon you are benefiting from lower prices because it's cheaper for them just to ship standard units directly to you, perhaps with some range of common selectable options. If they offered to customise things such as brake setup for everyone, the bikes would have to be more expensive. If you are ordering for delivery to a certain country there will be a standard process whereby the bike comes from a certain batch in a certain warehouse or whatever - to short-circuit that process defeats the purpose, which is to help keep the costs as low as possible.

If you can't swap the brake cabling between right and left perhaps you should consider buying a bike from a shop, as you are likely also to need help with general maintenance on a fairly regular basis. But I suspect that if you had the bike in front of you you would realise that it's actually pretty simple. Basically, all you need to do is swap the cables and the two front lengths of cable housing from right to left and visa versa. As mentioned above, the most difficult thing is unwrapping and re-wrapping the bar tape, and also maybe any tape underneath that is holding the cable housing in place.