First rides
CANYON SPECTRAL 125 CF 9
£5,649 /29in /canyon.com
Is the Spectral 125 more than a watered-down version of its bigger-travel stablemate?
What makes a trail bike a trail bike? Is it the weight, geometry or amount of travel? Or is it simply the terrain you choose to ride it on? After all, trail riding can be anything from a fast, flat, singletrack loop around your local woods, to shredding high alpine trails that would be difficult to navigate on foot. A trail bike means different things to different people, especially in different countries. And with such a broad spectrum of riding to cover, it seems daft that we pigeonhole trail bikes as having to have 150mm travel, weigh under 15kg and sport X, Y and Z geometry.
Yet, designing a trail bike to cover the widest possible variety of terrain is a very good idea, even if it’s clear
