LUKE’S CANYON STRIVE CFR UNDERDOG £4,817.99 (shipped)
A few upgrades help unleash even more potential from the Strive
As the frosty fingers of winter beckon and my year-long journey with the Strive begins to come to an end, I haven’t just been sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Nope, this month, I decided to give my trusty Canyon a little refresh. With the Reynolds wheels I’ve been running temporarily borrowed by Tom and Alex for testing, I was left with the stock DT Swiss EX511 rims and EN370 hubs.
They’re perfectly fine wheels, with one small annoyance – the 20-degree freehub engagement. It’s like waiting for a slow lift to finally arrive at your floor. To remedy that, DT’s UK distributors Madison sent me a 54t star rachet upgrade kit. With 6.5-degree engagement, this has given the rear hub a much snappier response. It’s like switching from regular coffee to espresso!
I also decided to bring back an old favourite – the Ochain Active Spider. I only have one for SRAM cranks, but couldn’t resist. So, yes, I’ve got a bit of a mismatched ‘SRAMano’ drivetrain, but hey, it works like a charm. The Active Spider – which allows the chainring to rotate rearwards as the suspension compresses, to combat pedal kickback – adds a touch of zen to the bike,
