Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD review

Canyon’s Lux Trail CFR LTD is the brand’s latest top-spec featherweight full-suspension downcounty bike, tipping the scales at 12.31kg (large) and costing £8,099.

This carbon-framed model uses Canyon’s high-end CFR material with on-board internal storage, an accessory mount and space for two water bottles.

Building on the Lux’s speed-focused platform with more suspension and trail-friendly geometry, it boasts 115mm of rear travel and 120mm at the front.

29in wheels are paired with a 67-degree head angle, 480mm reach (large) and 76-degree seat tube angle.

Dripping in wishlist-worthy kit, the CFR LTD’s SRAM/RockShox build features a SID Ultimate fork and SIDLuxe Ultimate shock.

SRAM’s XX Transmission is matched with an XX SL power meter crankset, increasing the tech but keeping retail prices up.

On the trails, the Lux is a hard-boiled wonderland, ready to take on almost anything you can point its wheels down, up or over with impressive competence.

There are times, however, when a few tweaks could benefit performance. A longer chainstay would improve descending balance, and slightly knobblier tyres – particularly on the front – would boost cornering confidence.

These issues aren’t the end of the world, but the chainstay length – if you’ve got a penchant for gnarlier terrain or sustained descents – isn’t something you can solve with upgrades.

Generally, though, you won’t be disappointed by its performance; it’s a blast to ride at your physical limits, always encouraging you to pedal harder.

Trail-focused XC riders and outright racers alike will love the Lux Trail.

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD frame and suspension

Built from Canyon’s CFR carbon fibre, the Lux Trail has plenty of features.

There are onboard storage features aplenty, including a down-tube cavity with space for a tube, tools, a C02 inflator, tyre levers, etc, accessed by a hatch.

Under the top tube is a multi-tool mount, and attached to the bar ends are tubeless repair plugs.

There’s space within the front triangle for two water bottles; 600ml on the seat tube mount and 750ml on the down tube.

Cables are routed internally from front to back via the headset, which also limits bar rotation, reducing the chances of damage in a crash.

There’s chunky chain-slap protection and, of course, it runs SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger.

Suspension

Its 115mm of rear-suspension travel uses a single-pivot flex-stay design instead of a pivot between the chainstays and seatstays.

A bushing pivoting rocker link controls kinematics – increasing progression as the shock moves through its stroke – connecting the seatstays, top tube and shock.

This, Canyon hopes, creates suspension that helps the Lux Trail ride “like a bike with much more rear travel”.

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD geometry

Its geometry figures, combined with its suspension travel and overall look, firmly cement it in the downcountry bikes category.

Up front, there’s a 67-degree head tube angle, matched with a steep 76-degree seat tube angle.

The large has a lengthy 480mm reach, low-slung 612mm stack and short 435mm chainstays, combining with a 1,206mm wheelbase.

These figures wouldn’t look out of place on a trail bike from five to seven years ago; the trail-shredding intentions of this XC racer are clear.

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD specifications

The CRF LTD's SRAM and RockShox kit list creates a cohesive feel.

The 35mm-stanchioned SID Ultimate fork has 120mm of travel and is paired with a SIDLuxe Ultimate rear shock.

Both dampers connect to a three-position grip-shift style remote, enabling you to choose between open, pedal and locked modes, each setting progressively firming up compression damping (from open to lock).

SRAM’s 12-speed XX Eagle AXS Transmission is matched with 175mm-long XX SL cranks featuring an in-built power meter in the 34-tooth chainring.

Rounding out the AXS components is a 150mm-travel Reverb dropper, bolted to an Ergon SM10 Pro saddle.

Level Ultimate Stealth brakes – with a four-piston front caliper and two-piston rear – grab 180mm and 160mm rotors respectively.

DT’s carbon fibre XCR 1200 wheels are wrapped in Maxxis Rekon (front) and Rekon Race (rear) tyres.

Canyon’s CP0037 one-piece bar (740mm wide) and stem (50mm long) is fitted.

All-in, the Lux Trail CFR LTD weighs 12.31kg (size large without pedals), including all on-board accessories, and 11.72kg without.

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD ride impressions

I tested the Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD on the trails used for the 2023 cross-country marathon world championships in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, terrain perfectly suited to its intended use.

Taking in pruned trail-centre singletrack, open moorland and long, rough, rocky fire roads through to tight, twisty and technical descents, the Lux Trail was put through its paces.

Trail conditions ranged from freeze-dried to soaking wet.

Setup

The fixed-position bar and stem simplifies setting up the Lux Trail CFR LTD. Adjusting bar roll isn’t possible and changing stem height on the steerer needs the official spacers.

Fortunately, bar height was spot-on for my tastes, but I’d like to have adjusted the bar’s geometry.

RockShox’s SID Ultimate fork and SIDLuxe rear shock were easy to dial in for my 76kg weight.

I set the fork’s low-speed compression adjuster to fully open and the rebound to taste, inflating the air spring to 90psi. I fully opened the shock’s external rebound adjustment and set the air spring to 170psi.

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD climbing performance

The Lux Trail is scarily fast and efficient when working against gravity.

Each pedal stroke is rewardingly transferred through the frame into the back wheel, driving forward motion; the harder you pedal, the faster it goes.

This is addictive, but also incredibly punishing.

It’s impossible to ride the Lux Trail at a sedate pace, despite having the best intentions at the start of the ride; its 'go get ‘em' attitude dominates, squeezing every watt of power from your legs.

The suspension’s pedal and lock modes add to this, simultaneously stiffening up the fork and shock at a flick of the wrist (to twist the remote), turning the Lux Trail from impressively grippy to an outright rigid pedal machine.

Although the lock mode is best left for smooth tarmac or intense sprints, the pedal setting’s usefulness extends to smoother, undulating high-intensity trails because the dampers still take the sting out of bumps.

Surprisingly plush

Undercurrents of efficiency remain in the open setting.

The connection between pedal inputs and forward drive are direct and distinct, but there’s a surprising abundance of grip thanks to the fork and shock’s fluttery, responsive nature.

Hammering over square-edge matted roots or worn trail-centre surfaces is smooth and forgiving. The trail’s vibration-inducing bumps are more than dulled, they’re almost totally smoothed out.

Pedal smoothly and there’s little bob, but push vertically through the cranks and the suspension dips in and out of its sag point.

It’s still no slouch, however, and the extra comfort and traction are well worth the marginal efficiency loss.

There are limits to its travel figure, though. Ploughing into chunky rocks or riding with little mechanical sympathy highlights the Lux Trail’s downcountry credentials.

A lack of finesse cuts speed and flow because the suspension can’t keep up with bump intensity or frequency, but no more than bikes with similar travel figures

The SID Ultimate fork matches the rear end’s performance and can be tuned with volume reducers.

Geometry

With a roomy top tube, there’s plenty of space to move around between bar and saddle when seated.

To avoid rear-tyre slip and spin, power needs to be fed delicately through the Maxxis Rekon Race’s fingerprint-deep tread pattern.

Fortunately, the bike’s geometry helps; the stout chaintays and steep seat tube angle keep the rear wheel close to your backside to focus traction and improve pedalling efficiency.

While Canyon didn’t pioneer steep seat tube angles, it’s certainly reaping the benefits now they’re widely accepted, even on XC bikes.

The Lux Trail’s 76-degree figure boosts pace by dishing out comfort in spades.

A relatively low stack gives a shoulders-to-bars feel, swinging the performance pendulum convincingly towards attack mode rather than gentle cruising.

In true cross-country race bike style, then, digging deep with your body low is where the Lux Trail feels best, its geometry fostering that ride position with authority.

Angled up the steepest inclines, it reveals instances when you’ll be begging for a longer chainstay and grippier rear tyre to reduce slip and keep the front wheel planted.

Rider skill can compensate for these shortcomings, but only if your reactions are quick enough.

Cockpit troubles

While Canyon’s all-in-one bar and stem looks cutting-edge, its fixed geometry might not please everyone. The bar can’t be rolled in the stem’s imaginary clamp and standard headset spacers can’t be used to adjust stem height.

Personally, I struggled with their shape. While they’re not stiff, the sweep and rise impacted comfort, giving me sore wrists after only an hour in the saddle.

Other riders might not have the same issue, however.

The bar’s profile – which isn’t round – makes mounting traditional band-clamp style accessories impossible. This is a shame given the Lux Trail’s all-day (and night) riding credentials.

I asked Canyon if it’s working on an accessory-mount adaptor for the all-in-one cockpit. It said the bike is designed for all-out performance, with weight being a major concern, and if you're looking for a bike that’s compatible with this type of accessory, you should consider the CF versions.

Alternatively, you could purchase the CFR version and ‘downgrade’ the bar and stem to one with a circular shape.

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD descending performance

The Canyon's descending capability is impressive, but you’ll need to bring your A game to tap into it.

Within the context of its category, its geometry is long, slack and low.

This lifts the performance glass ceiling otherwise imposed by conservative figures traditionally found on the outgoing crop of XC bikes.

It eggs you on to ride terrain more suited to bigger, burlier bikes.

Drop into an off-piste singletrack and the Lux Trail can be ridden with elbows-out, heels-down, toes-up aggression.

As on the uphills, the suspension creates a smooth, controlled ride delivering more grip than you’d expect.

Heading deeper into its travel, the shock ramps up progressively. This maintains the bike’s dynamic geometry in high-load berms and gives plenty of pop on the lips of take-offs.

Impressively, the rear shock’s bump stop isn’t felt frequently; full travel has a soft touchdown rather than a bone-crunching clang, testament to the hanging link’s progressive, familiarly Canyon kinematics.

With such energetic-feeling suspension, it’s possible to weave lines down chunky terrain with razor-sharp precision.

Loading it into small undulations is met with an equal and opposite force, propelling you into the air to change and swap direction whenever you desire.

The SID’s 35mm tubes steer accurately and precisely, bolstering that confidence-inspiring feel.

SRAM’s Transmission is totally silent, remaining hushed when you rattle through chunder, helped by the stays' generous rubberised slap protection.

Exploring the limits

Its overall feel exposes limits elsewhere.

Both the front and rear tyres, while great for nipping along hard doubletrack or surfaced trail centres, lack grip when ground conditions deteriorate.

Agreed, those who buy this bike won’t be hankering for downhill-spec Maxxis Assegais, but I’d bet many would benefit from the marginally chunkier tread and more reassuring grip an Ardent gives, without taking a huge hit in rolling speed or weight.

Although the geometry is progressive, it’s not perfect.

The short rear end skews your weight bias, placing more mass over the back wheel than the front; there’s a lot of bike in front of the bottom bracket and little behind it.

Riding in the backseat is too easy, especially if you’re being lazy; by default, the front wheel is under-weighted, reducing grip.

Gee yourself up to maintain an aggressive, over-the-front stance and the issue vaporises, returning control.

At the edges of its terrain and capability bell curve, the Lux Trail better suits sharper, more accomplished riders and may even punish the less experienced, who venture beyond their depth.

If fire-road bombing, bridleway bashing and doubletrack missions are your thing, there’s plenty of predictable performance in the tank and you’re unlikely to be disappointed.

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD bottom line

True to its moniker, the Lux Trail is as suited to trail riding as it is to XC bombing.

With capabilities that outstrip headline figures, its geometry and sorted suspension combine to create a versatile and fun-to-ride bike regardless of whether you’re looking for outright XC speed, descending performance or all-day comfort.

A longer rear end would boost stability when the riding gets spicy, as would chunkier tyres, but overall the Lux Trail CFR LTD is ready to tackle pretty much any terrain it encounters.

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