Earlier this week, Canyon unveiled the Lux Era, a concept cross-country bike that aims to push the boundaries of speed with aero gains, a mental-looking cockpit… and yep, 32” wheels. Of course, it was met with a mostly negative reception, but in an industry that once flourished with crazy ideas, I reckon we need to get back to the levels of innovation, iconography, and failure mountain biking once had.
Being honest, there’s a rather large part of me that believes that Canyon’s concept cross-country bike was mostly built to upset the masses, in some sort of publicity stunt. But the other part of me recognises that it’s an attempt at moving mountain bike tech forward, which in recent years, has become a matter of baby steps rather than such large leaps like the Lux Era (if it works). Though Canyon has played it safe by keeping this as a concept, rather than making it available to buy. I would love to have a go on it, though.
Over the past five or more years, there have been a few brands that have done something notably different, such as the Lal Bikes Supre Drive and Auckland Cycle Works’ Marra, for example. But compared to the good ol’ days of the 90s and noughties, mental innovation isn’t really happening at the pace it once did. I’ve got to throw kudos to Lauf here, too, for binning conventional mountain bike design and doing something rather brave but on-brand with its Elja models.
It does make sense. Brands have learned what works, so why fix something that ain’t broke? The industry as a whole still isn’t in the best of places, so releasing an aero cross-country bike knowing that people will tap up words of hate poses a monumental financial risk. But with most bikes taking similar forms, using similar technologies and suspension designs, I’ve been yearning for brands to really stretch the legs of what modern mountain bikes can be. Though doing so will certainly lead to failures.
In the 90s to the Noughties, we saw tonnes of brands really push what the then modern mountain bike could be. GT messed about with thermoplastic carbon fibre, which, uh… didn’t go very well. Marin/Whyte’s PRST-1 binned off the suspension fork for a dual shock design. Cannondale’s HeadShok integrated suspension (kind of) into the head tube, a design that’s similar to that found on Specialized’s Future Shock-equipped Diverge gravel bike but far simpler. Though that had its issues, too. Later, Honda played around with the gearboxed RN01.
Cannondale’s Raven bikes were pretty unhinged, using carbon over alloy (literally) frames, then thermoplastic carbon with a magnesium spine… and that bike failed pretty catastrophically. There’s the Slingshot Boomtube, which was more slingshot than it was tubes, and Yeti’s 303 Rail was pretty mad, with a shock that slid on rails. Honestly, I could go on.
More recently, Marin’s newer (well, 2017) Wolf Ridge turned suspension design on its head, and it’s no surprise that we’ve not seen more bikes like it. Motion developed that mental fork, Structure Cycle Works built a carbon bike that turned that Whyte/Marin design up to 11 and remember Trust? These designs were mostly well received by those brave enough to try them, but they were proper ugly, bonkers and expensive. You can still buy a Structure bike, I’m amazed to report.
There is a running theme here that I’m sure you’ve twigged already. Most of these didn’t really work, or at least, we’re poorly received by potential customers for a number of reasons, so all of them faded into the history books, only to be revered decades later. This pretty much explains why we might not be seeing more hair-brained ideas. As I mentioned before, brands now know what works and how to make a mountain bike that performs, but without disintegrating.
While that is definitely a good thing, there’s not all that much to froth over, good or bad. Although everyone’s currently excited about Avinox’s MG Motor, another motor that combines pedal assist with internal shifting, it’s not really pushing the boat out that far, let’s be honest. And, is Avinox fatigue still a thing?
And bikes aren’t as outright recognisable as they used to be. Close your eyes and picture an Iron Horse Sunday, or Kona Stinky. Proper characters, right? Now, as brands have figured out what actually makes bikes fun to ride, their silhouettes aren’t as jarringly unique as they have been in the past. Now I’m not saying that there aren’t pretty bikes around, far from it. Brands like Deviate, Banshee, Forbidden, Atherton, and Mondraker have managed to bring interesting technologies to the mainstream while developing a clear house style.
All is not lost, though. As mentioned, there is a small handful of small brands going about things their own way, but the most noteworthy of them all is perhaps Gamux, and its Reece Wilson-led race team. The Gamux Sego is as mad as a box of frogs, and even the brand admits that its reimagined conventional techniques to create something rather unique. The AON Racing Team (riding the Sego) isn’t doing too badly, either, with Hattie Harnden frequently visiting the top 10. The crew has taken a similar, unconventional approach by adopting wild-looking raised/reversed stems from Be More Bikes, with Hattie Harden consistently finishing in the top 10. So this injection of hair-brained innovation is happening, and working, just not nearly at the volume it once did.
Then there’s the latest Specialized Demo. From the outside, it looks pretty normal, but inside, it has an interesting jack drive type mechanism going on, similar to Pivot’s most recent Phoenix downhill bike. I guess where we’re seeing mountain bike tech being pushed is on the downhill circuit, as usual, where brands are doing everything they can to build a winning bike on perhaps the most viewed stage in the world.
It makes sense for the downhill scene, though. Brands know that with riding styles being the way they are, sales of downhill bikes aren’t the main goal here, nor are they particularly fruitful, so they can push the boundaries to create something within the hopes of topping podiums. It’s also excellent PR for brands. If they’re doing crazy things in the hunt for ultimate performance, maybe that is reflected in their more down to earth offerings?
Small brands are where it’s at for uniqueness and developing new things. They don’t have shareholders to please, so folk like Auckland Cycle Works can eradicate brake jack, and Starling Cycles can build the simplest of frames. Selwyn Bicycles can create things of sheer beauty, and Carbon Wasp hand-lays carbon sheets in whichever way it damn likes. These brands find niches that big brands won’t dare, and at the moment, that’s where we’re seeing most of the fun stuff.
But in this day and age, it takes time for innovation to become standard and accepted. When they first popped up on the market, people hated dropper posts and disc brakes (many roadies are still die-hard rim brake fanatics). And if something weird and unfamiliar popped up onto the scene claiming incredible performance gains, it’s welcome to tonnes of scepticism, and rightfully so. It’s a similar story for handguards, of all things. Enduro riders were spotted using them some years ago, only for people to board the hate train, hit the keyboards, and have a good moan. But only a few years later, I’m seeing many more of them on the trails because they provide very real benefits, especially if your trails are overgrown.
That is quite a different story from bikes, though. Such components are relatively affordable, so they’re more worthy of an experiment. Bikes are expensive and pretty difficult to take out for a quick test spin, so it takes more to morph a closed mind into curiosity. But who knows? We might see aero biplane handlebars become standard soon…
