Trek Remedy 7 vs Canyon Strive 6.0 vs YT Capra AL

derekjgrove

Hi All,

Looking for primarily, out of box, best feel (the geometry) for these bikes all 2018 AL models

• Trek Remedy 7
• Canyon Strive 6.0
• YT Capra AL

Looks like I can get all for $2600 except Capra is $2500, so price point is out.

A little about myself:

• 5'9" 155lb
• I have a lot of year racing amateur motocross, and have done a lot of single track (for fun) on my hard-tail for 5 years.
• I plan on only being a weekend or 2 a month at the mountain. I want to hit all aspects of the mountain from flow riding, to jumping gaps at the park, to drops and rock gardens on the double black (I hope at least).
• I don't have any plans to do enduro racing, if I do, it would simply be to have fun.
• Please also consider bike maintenance in your review (Are any of these bikes a tank that requires little maintenace other than the usual frame cracking, lubricant and pressures?)

Thanks in advance and excited for you guys to help me with my next toy

cooldad

The mountain?

slc123

They are all very similar bikes. I would say the Strive and Capra are slightly ahead on spec as they have better forks and better drivetrains. The Strive also has the 12 speed. I know from other people who have a Capra, they are notoriously bad at climbing. The Trek has their unique rear suspension setup, which from what I've been told you either love or hate it! (I am just building up a Trek Slash) so hopefully I'll love it.

If you are looking to get rowdy going downhill the Strive and Capra will be good, if you are looking for something more all round the Remedy would probably suit more.

My gut feeling would be the Strive, but it wouldn't be based on experience purely on looking at the specs and reviews I've read.

The Rookie

Indeed, uplift or pedal up?

If its a pedal up then don't take the Capra unless you are happy to just winch yourself up, the other 2 will make it less of a chore and maybe even bordering on enjoyable.

While I'm in the camp of the 'seriously dislike' the Trek ABP rear, plenty of people who's opinions I otherwise respect do like it and its probably the slightly better climber of the two.

steve_sordy

I have never ridden a Strive or a Remedy, but I have owned a Capra for three years.

Capra is latin for goat and it is well named in my opinion. Obviously it won't climb as well as an XC bike, but it is my belief that the Capra climbs like a mountain goat. The only thing that lets it down is me!

I have the 2015 version, so unless YT have changed the geometry a lot, then the latest versions will climb just as well. You need to check that out. I have the geometry table for the 2015 bike and I will email it you if you PM me with your email address.

robertpb

This might be worth a read. https://enduro-mtb.com/en/8-enduro-bike ... in-review/

steve_sordy

robertpb wrote:

This might be worth a read. https://enduro-mtb.com/en/8-enduro-bike ... in-review/

Hmm, that opens to an advert for clothing.

CitizenLee

steve_sordy wrote:

robertpb wrote:

This might be worth a read. https://enduro-mtb.com/en/8-enduro-bike ... in-review/

Hmm, that opens to an advert for clothing.

Install uBlock Origin - Available for Chrome and Firefox (and Safari if you're one of "those"). Probably IE/Edge too but who in their right mind uses those?

Sorry, I have nothing to add about the bikes.

steve_sordy

It worked that time!

From that review it looks like the Capra is the one to go for, they really rated it.

(I'm selling mine by the way, I've got knee problems and have difficulty riding it where it needs to be ridden).

johnas7

ive had a YT capra AL1 for 2 half years. Brilliant bike. I have no problems on any climbs at all, have used it in the alps twice, ard rock enduro twice, borrowdale bash, torridon, loads of trail centres.
Climbs really well with how much travel it has and is a beast on the downhills.

derekjgrove

steve_sordy wrote:

It worked that time!

From that review it looks like the Capra is the one to go for, they really rated it.

(I'm selling mine by the way, I've got knee problems and have difficulty riding it where it needs to be ridden).

Thanks for the reply and sorry I guess I have email notifications turned off for the forum. Awesome to hear your personal experience on the YT! And sorry to hear your shredding days are coming to an end

derekjgrove

The Rookie wrote:

Indeed, uplift or pedal up?

If its a pedal up then don't take the Capra unless you are happy to just winch yourself up, the other 2 will make it less of a chore and maybe even bordering on enjoyable.

While I'm in the camp of the 'seriously dislike' the Trek ABP rear, plenty of people who's opinions I otherwise respect do like it and its probably the slightly better climber of the two.

Thanks for the reply and sorry I guess I have email notifications turned off for the forum.
It would be lift up at the mountain. I do plan on riding single track still, personally I don't enjoy the uphill even on my hard-tail haha! That's interesting about the Trek, thanks for that tip!

derekjgrove

slc123 wrote:

They are all very similar bikes. I would say the Strive and Capra are slightly ahead on spec as they have better forks and better drivetrains. The Strive also has the 12 speed. I know from other people who have a Capra, they are notoriously bad at climbing. The Trek has their unique rear suspension setup, which from what I've been told you either love or hate it! (I am just building up a Trek Slash) so hopefully I'll love it.

If you are looking to get rowdy going downhill the Strive and Capra will be good, if you are looking for something more all round the Remedy would probably suit more.

My gut feeling would be the Strive, but it wouldn't be based on experience purely on looking at the specs and reviews I've read.

Thanks for the reply and sorry I guess I have email notifications turned off for the forum
That's great to hear! I was leaning more towards Strive too. I was actually going to order it, but I saw 1 mediocre review on Strive, and that's why I posted this actually. I want to confirm it's an outlier so to speak. Maybe you guys can check this out and let me know if this is more personal, or if there is some un-biased truth to this:
https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/biking/enduro-mountain-bike/canyon-strive-al-6-0-2018

derekjgrove

cooldad wrote:

The mountain?

Yes, this will be the primary 1, given my location:
https://www.skibluemt.com/outdoor/mountain-biking/

slc123

I see what you mean about the review... It sort of puts you off a little, although all reviews like that will be some what subjective. They keep comparing it to bikes that cost considerably more that isn't overly helpful.

If you don't enjoy uphill on a HT then you definitely want something that climbs, which the Strive does and they are critical on tyre choice, but that's easily changed.

I'm making a theoretical choice as I've not written either, but I still like the idea of the strive, but that was based on my knowledge that the Capra doesn't climb, which someone that owns one disagrees with. Ultimately, I think they will both be good bikes!

steve_sordy

derekjgrove wrote:

...............

..... Awesome to hear your personal experience on the YT! And sorry to hear your shredding days are coming to an end

Thanks for the sympathy, but my shredding days are nowhere near at an end! :shock:

I will sell the YT Capra, and retain the Whyte T130 for now. But my next bike purchase will be an e-Bike. I just don't know which one yet! Or when!

derekjgrove

steve_sordy wrote:

derekjgrove wrote:

...............

..... Awesome to hear your personal experience on the YT! And sorry to hear your shredding days are coming to an end

Thanks for the sympathy, but my shredding days are nowhere near at an end! :shock:

I will sell the YT Capra, and retain the Whyte T130 for now. But my next bike purchase will be an e-Bike. I just don't know which one yet! Or when!

Sorry Steve, I read into that wrong :P, didn't know you had another shredding machine haha.
Also, for your e-bike purchase, maybe in a few years Alta dirtbikes will go down, and laws around e-engines will continue to lack

derekjgrove

slc123 wrote:

I see what you mean about the review... It sort of puts you off a little, although all reviews like that will be some what subjective. They keep comparing it to bikes that cost considerably more that isn't overly helpful.

If you don't enjoy uphill on a HT then you definitely want something that climbs, which the Strive does and they are critical on tyre choice, but that's easily changed.

I'm making a theoretical choice as I've not written either, but I still like the idea of the strive, but that was based on my knowledge that the Capra doesn't climb, which someone that owns one disagrees with. Ultimately, I think they will both be good bikes!

I had that same impression as well from what I've read, I think you are right with saying either or should work out, with getting these 1st hand reviews on this thread. Thanks a lot, and good luck with your build!

BarryFishFinger

I've not noticed any issues climbing with my Capra but I suppose I don't have any real frame of reference. Certainly I've never felt hindered on climbs, the weak point is generally my fitness!

Capra is an absolute beast downhill, its fantastic.

derekjgrove

BarryFishFinger wrote:

I've not noticed any issues climbing with my Capra but I suppose I don't have any real frame of reference. Certainly I've never felt hindered on climbs, the weak point is generally my fitness!

Capra is an absolute beast downhill, its fantastic.

Thanks for the reply Barry.

I think you and the other YT advocates saying this similar statement about the uphill has made me more receptive to the YT. The other thing I'm noticing, is there is alot more videos of people ripping through bike parks and downhills on the YT (there can be many factors of course), but numbers seem to be in favor with the capra.

Do you know if the AL models of the YT or Canyon go on a closeout sale? I think the new models should be rolling out by next month right?

steve_sordy

At the time I bought the Capra I had a Norco Sight 1. It was a light trail bike when I bought it and it was even lighter once I'd gone tubeless and fitted a carbon bar. It was a 26er and it really flew. Just looking at the Capra, I had assumed that it would not climb too well (not what I had bought it for!). The 2x10 gearing was the same as the Norco. but the wheels were bigger and the crank arms were shorter. Both those factors pushed the overall gearing against me when climbing. In addition the head angle was slacker, the tyres were wider and more knobbly and the suspension travel was bigger. First trip out I took the bike on a local climb with a long steep trail where I always struggle. I could always get up the hill without stopping but I usually ended up in the slowest gear at some point.

So I was expecting to have to get off and push in at least one place. But not so! I was astonished to ride straight up that climb and never once dropped into the easiest gear. This was way past my expectation and you can imagine how delighted I was. I suspect that I was just having a really good day. But my climbing expectations of the Capra have been high ever since.

The Capra is an Enduro bike not an XC bike, or even a trail bike. Nobody doubts how good it is descending, but it is far, far better than it has a right to be when climbing.