Canyon Endurace CF 7 eTap review

Canyon has long been known for its value-led bikes and its 2022 Endurace CF 7 eTap continues that reputation – and then some. Thanks to its combination of a lightweight, comfortable frame and quality wireless groupset, this is one of the best bikes, in any genre, I've ridden in years.

In spite of the Endurace being one of Canyon’s long-standing models, the German direct-sale giant has made changes for 2022. The new framesets have a BB86 bottom bracket standard inherited from Canyon’s more exotic CF SL and CF SLX framesets, and a 1.25in fork.

Tyre clearance is a healthy 35mm and with the 30mm tyres fitted there’s room for mudguards, but fender fans will be disappointed at the lack of mudguard fittings, hidden or otherwise.

There are 16 models in Canyon’s Endurace range, from the £1,099 aluminium Endurace 6 RB – a successor to the Endurace AL 7.0 that's impressed me over the years, including in our 2020 Bike of the Year test – to the Endurace CF SLX 9 Di2 at £7,399. The CF 7 eTap is paired with a new model, the CF 7 All-Road eTap, which comes in at the same price.

Canyon Endurace CF 7 eTap spec details

The undoubted star of the show is SRAM’s Rival eTap wireless electronic groupset, which is genuinely a thing of wonder. It works differently from systems made by Shimano and Campagnolo – you use the left paddle to change to a lower gear, the right paddle for a higher gear and both paddles simultaneously to shift from one chainring to the other, regardless of which ring it’s in.

It may sound as if it’ll take a while to get used to – it really, really doesn’t. I've ridden virtually all of my last 5,000 miles or so using Shimano's STI, but Rival eTap quickly becomes natural.

Occasionally, I’d remind myself 'L for lower', but mainly it was intuitive.

It's quick, accurate and the sound of the servo in the front derailleur is one of the best sounds in cycling, with an element of the doors opening on Star Trek's Enterprise about it.

The gearing pairs a 48/35 chainset and a wide-ranging 12-speed 10-36 cassette, for an excellent gear range. It has a slightly higher top gear than a compact 50/34 paired with an 11-34 cassette, as well as a marginally lower bottom gear.

Living on the edge of the Cotswolds and the Mendips, and with a brief 11 per cent stretch even on my short ride from town, I’d have preferred the 46/33 chainset Giant specs on its otherwise very similarly equipped Defy Advanced 0. I rarely spin out and appreciate all the help I can get on steep climbs.

The Rival groupset is also well integrated with SRAM’s AXS app, which enables you to keep track of battery level accurately, lets you run 2x setups with automatic or semi-automatic front shifts and can record just about all the metrics you could ever require. It auto-uploads quickly to Strava too.

Canyon Endurace CF 7 eTap ride impressions

The Endurace’s ride is absolutely first-rate, combining speed, comfort and impeccable handling in equal measure. This Endurace romps royally over rough road surfaces, smoothing out ruts and potholes as well as anything you'll find.

The weight is reasonable for the price, which helps on climbs, and if you want to power it downhill and through twisty bends, the Endurace's stiff frame is an absolute blast, the handling faultless.

The Canyon’s contact points are very good, and I got on well with Fizik's comfort-oriented Tempo Argo R5 saddle. Its compact length puts you further forward on the saddle, and I found the foam padding well placed and comfortable.

The seatpost is part of Canyon's VCLS (vertical compliance, lateral stiffness) range. It doesn’t have the leaf-spring design of more expensive VCLS posts, but the carbon post's damping does help to take the sting out of things.

The handlebar is close to the perfect shape for me. I do a lot of riding with my hands on the tops – no Strava or personal-best-chasing efforts for me – so I like the slightly ovalised profile of the tops. If anything, I’d have preferred a little more ovalising, but the shape beats round for me any day, and I spec it whenever I have the choice.

The handlebar tape is thick and well padded, adding more plushness. It has a slightly sticky, rubbery feel – which adds grip – though I’d have preferred a more fabric-like feel. This isn't so much a criticism as a personal preference.

The wheels are solid and practical rather than exciting, with a modern 22mm internal rim width. The rim is also tubeless-compatible. Somewhat surprisingly, the tyres – 30mm Schwalbe Ones – aren’t.

It’s not a game-changer and the Schwalbes are quality tyres that help with the plush ride, but it’s one of my few criticisms of the Endurace CF 7 eTap.

Canyon Endurace CF 7 eTap geometry

One big positive with this Canyon is it’s available in eight sizes compared to the five Giant offers for its Defy. These are designed for riders from under 158cm (5ft 2in) to more than 197cm (6ft 5 1/2in), which covers most of us.

The smallest two models have 650b rims, to keep the handling and geometry consistent across all the sizes.

I would recommend checking Canyon’s comprehensive geometry figures carefully before buying.

I’m just over 175cm tall and my test bike was a small, designed for riders from 170-177cm, though in the past I've always found the medium was a better fit – and I think this would have been the case here too.

This would have stretched my ride out a fraction and would also have eliminated any toe overlap with the front wheel, which was about a millimetre or two with my size 42 shoes, although never enough to be a hindrance to riding safely.

One final positive is that, while I tend to favour understated, non-flashy finishes over super-bright garish getups, I thought this particular Endurace was just a little too muted even for me, with black Canyon logos and details on a deep, gunmetal grey.

However, when I rode the bike to football training, it impressed both my fellow bike riders and the non-cyclists among my team-mates. Go figure.

The Endurace is a similar weight to the Specialized Roubaix Comp Ultegra, which has Specialized's Future Shock suspension, but the Roubaix is £450 more expensive, so the Endurace takes the honours for both value and its groupset.

It’s a fairly similar story up against Trek, whose Domane SL6 has the same groupset and scores on wider rims, but it’s significantly heavier at 9.42kg (56cm) and at £4,300 it’s also much more expensive.

The bike's most direct competitor is probably Giant's Defy Advanced 0, which costs just £50 more, comes in at a similar weight, has the same SRAM wireless groupset, albeit with lower gearing, and comes fully tubeless. That's a definite plus for the Taiwanese outfit.

Canyon Endurace CF 7 eTap bottom line

At £2,849 / $3,999 and as is often the case with Canyon, you’re getting one hell of a lot of bike for your money with the Endurace CF 7 eTap. Its largely monochrome look is about as laid-back as you'll find, but the ride is anything but.

It romps royally over rough road surfaces, smoothing out ruts and potholes as well as anything you’ll find. The excellent hydraulic brakes and super-slick wireless gearing are also about as good as you’ll get at this price.

Overall, save for some minor criticisms and a couple of component choices I’d have made slightly differently – smaller chainrings, fabric bar tape – about the only objective negative is the use of non-tubeless-ready tyres.

In just about every other way, Canyon’s Endurace CF 7 eTap is the perfect endurance road bike: it’s light, comfortable, handles impeccably and has high-quality gears and brakes.

I’ve tested hundreds of bikes over the last 25 years – and have bought three of them on the back of testing – and this is another I'd be very, very happy to own. It’s pretty much without fault, especially if you've no plans to go tubeless any time soon.