Designed for endurance riding, as the name suggests, Canyon's Endurace represents exceptional value for money due to Canyon being a direct seller and the lack of brick and mortar stores saves the brand those overheads.
For riders looking for a hands-on experience there were (before lockdown) regular demo events and Canyon has a 30-day returns policy for unused bikes, a UK customer service team and a six-year guarantee.
Canyon, like Liv, is one of only a few bike brands that feel women benefit from a distinct, bespoke frame geometry in addition to touch points, such as saddles and handlebars. This is based on data it has gathered from its online fit system, in addition to information from other sources, such as body dimension databases.
- Women's bike size guide
- Best women's road and gravel bikes
- Best women's bikes: a buyer's guide to find what you need
Frame and forks are carbon, with internal cable routing and flat-mounted disc brakes. Canyon sizes its bikes up differently to most other brands.
At 5ft 9in / 174cm, I would usually ride a size 54cm or medium, but the Canyon sizing chart indicates that I ride a size small. However, the reach (369mm), head tube (143mm) and seat tube length (535mm) are short by comparison to other bikes aimed at riders of the same stature as me, therefore I'd suggest if you sit towards the higher end of the recommended height range you consider going up a size.
The range itself extends from 3XS to M, which is good news for more petite riders sized 5ft 2in / 160cm and under who often have limited choice. These smaller sizes don’t just have size-specific componentry in terms of crank length and handlebar width, the two smallest sizes also come fitted with 650b wheels, rather than the traditional 700.
Canyon says this means it doesn’t need to compromise the geometry, and therefore handling, of the bike to fit proportionally big wheels into a small frame, giving shorter riders the same ride feel as taller riders.
| Frame size | S |
|---|---|
| Seat angle (degrees) | 73.5 |
| Head angle (degrees) | 72 |
| Chainstay (cm) | 41.5 |
| Seat tube (cm) | 49.2 |
| Top tube (cm) | 53.5 |
| Head tube (cm) | 14.3 |
| Fork offset (cm) | 4.4 |
| Bottom bracket drop (cm) | 7.5 |
| Wheelbase (mm) | 989 |
| Stack (cm) | 56.1 |
| Reach (cm) | 36.9 |
Electronic shifting in the form of Shimano Ultegra Di2 provides super-smooth action and a range of gears well-suited to endurance rides.
The Ultegra 34/50t crankset, coupled with an 11-34t 11-speed cassette, provides plenty of low gears for powering up climbs and trucking along, and enough at the high end of the spectrum for a good lick of speed on flats, although the sprinters out there will miss having a higher range to really get the most out of their power.
Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes provide plenty of stopping power that responds to subtle control from the shifters. This makes braking, and controlling speeds on descents, comfortable, easy and confident.
A great deal of the comfort comes from the carbon S15 VCLS 2.0 seatpost. It has a leaf-spring design with a shock-absorbing polymer that isolates the saddle and therefore the rider from road-based vibrations.
Compliance is also built into the frame and the slightly dropped seatstays allow more flex and movement in the seat tube.
DT Swiss’s E 1800 Spline DB is a good-quality tubeless-ready wheelset that provides a comfortable and sturdy ride feel even across rough ground, although, as ever, future upgrades to a lighter and stiffer set will give the bike an efficiency boost.
The finishing kit includes the aluminium Canyon H17 Ergobar handlebars and the comfortable Fizik Argo Tempo saddle with alloy rails.
In action, the Endurace WMN feels agile and comfortable and is a great all-rounder, sitting firmly in the middle ground between bikes that excel at either.
It’s not as nimble and lively as the Liv Avail, for example, nor as supremely comfortable as the Trek Domane, but it is perfectly good at both.
It even coped well with some unexpected gravel grinding. You won’t be disappointed if what you’re looking for is a sprightly bike that can handle rough roads and keep you fresh enough to keep going over distance, and you’ll certainly have lots of fun doing it.
It’s hard to go wrong with the Endurace, and at this price point it makes owning a bike with an electronic groupset a whole lot more affordable.
How we tested
This bike was tested against four other bikes that we consider to be some of the best for female riders – some unisex, some women’s specific.
On paper and based on experience, these five bikes are leading lights in their various fields – whether that’s comfort endurance, race endurance, gravel and adventure, or all-rounders – based on price and performance.
Testing took place (pre-lockdown) in the Welsh mountains, Mendip hills and on the flat and fast Somerset Levels (plus the odd gravel path and wooded singletrack).
Other bikes on test:
- Liv Avail Advanced Pro 2
- Sonder Colibri Ti Force 22
- Juliana Quincy CC Rival
- Trek Domane SL5
Product
| Brand | canyon |
| Price | 5199.00 AUD,3219.00 EUR,3049.00 GBP,3999.00 USD |
| Weight | 7.7900, KILOGRAM (S) - |
Features
| Fork | Carbon |
| br_stem | Canyon V13 |
| br_chain | Shimano Ultegra |
| br_frame | Carbon |
| Tyres | Continental Grand Prix |
| br_brakes | Shimano RT800 |
| br_cranks | Shimano Ultegra |
| br_saddle | SD Fizik Argo Tempo Alloy |
| br_wheels | DT Swiss E 1800 Spline |
| br_headset | Canyon integrated |
| br_shifter | Shimano Ultegra Di2 |
| br_cassette | Shimano Ultegra |
| br_seatpost | Carbon Canyon |
| br_handlebar | Canyon H17 |
| br_bottomBracket | Shimano pressfit |
| br_availableSizes | 3XS, 2XS, XS, S, M |
| br_rearDerailleur | Shimano Ultegra Di2 |
| br_frontDerailleur | Shimano Ultegra Di2 |
