Don't buy CANYON

In fairness to the OP, it seems his main beef was  the delay (4 wks + 3 wks + 2 wks) and lack of empathy:

'it was the subsequent level of 'service' that really underwhelmed and left me in no doubt that'd i'd never buy Canyon again. '

Am I missing something here?

Incompetent LBS fit tyre that rubs the frame, despite Canyon's clearly stated warning in the manual.

You don't notice the damage happening, despite it wearing away the frame.

This is Canyon's fault.

Have I got that right?

I don't have a Canyon or any connection to them, but I'm really really struggling to see how they are to blame.  What where they supposed to do - have a man in every LBS to check they aren't incompetent, or ride the bike for you to see that it's not being damaged having ignored their warning?

Like all the posts above, its clearly the bike shops incompetence to fit a tyre that rubs! In Canyon's defence, I had issues with my Ultimate SLX that there was creaking noises from the BB. After trying the standard analysis and replacing the pressfit at local BS (which Canyon reinburssed me) I still had issues. Within one week a courier came and collected the bike and within 3 weeks I received a replacement frame which Canyon service center refitted all the parts from the original bike to the new one. I have heard loads of horror stories about Giant, Focus and Specialized not being so service minded. I cannot see any advantage with buying another bike from Wiggle or Evans or CRC. Infact it must be worse because one must return bike to internet site and they must return to the bike manufacturer. Allthough I have had quality issues, the reason I will purchase a new bike is their service centers situated in most European countries.

This is quite unfair to Canyon and any prospective buyer.
They have no case to answer.
Yes they've had problems in the past but this is not one of them.
If you cut out the middle man (LBS) you lose that level of service & support.
OP ruined his own bike.
Why'd be get an LBS to fit tyres?
Why'd he not notice tyre rub?
OP or mods should change the title to -
"Here's how I wrecked my bike and felt entitled to a free replacement."

You were riding a bike that had large enough tyres to rub on the rear stays?

Why would you carry on riding?! 

It's self evident that wider tyres, covered with grit from roads will cut away at forks or rearstays if there's contact.  Nothing short or a steel or alloy frame will withstand that - and it will still lead to damage - which you can fix.  To blame Canyon for this will get you nowhere - and shouldn't. 

That said, I have it on good authority that this manufacturer 'has issues' when it comes to frame failure.  I had my C50 repaired - rearstays:  entirely my fault don't jump high kerbs on your Colnago friends - and asked the repair shop which frames failed most:  Canyon, came back the answer.  And by a country mile.   These guys see hundreds of frames a year, year-in-year-out and if they think there are issues there probably are... LBS everytime. 

I reckon if you searched hard enough, you would find similar stories of customer service no matter the brand. I have some tales of Cannondale, Specialized and Pinarello all of which I have had to deal with for frame issues. I have to agree with others but I'll go one step further, a LBS that lets you ride off like that is not one that I would return to but in addition to that, as a rider, you should know better than to ride where there is friction with the frame no matter the material. In this circumstance you also risk a tyre blowout apart from frame damage.  I'm afraid it's all you. I can't really blame Canyon and I would be thankful that they offered you a crash replacement. You were unlikely to be pleased with anything other than a replacement frame which you are not entitled to given the circumstances. Not sure you should give up on the brand. It doesn't sound like poor customer service by rather poor expectations on your part.

Surely you've taken a light weight carbon race bike with tyres to match its intended purpose and used it as a winter mud plugger with fatter tyres.  The gritty Surrey Hills mud has worn away the chain/seat stay because there's naff all clearance and you say it's Canyon's fault?  Carbon is no more resistant to abrasion than paint - if something's wearing through the paint it will also wear through the carbon fibre. 

Still you had a sleek and svelt mud plugger for a while.

Strikes me that's it's symptomatic of 'entitlement' - You screwed up, but it's someone else's fault.

Remind me again why I don't ride carbon wheels around the Surrey Hills?

How can you not notice the tyre was too wide for the frame ? Considering most mud tyres have chunky knob bits sticking out from the tyre. Surely that would make a 'thud thud thud' type noise when you rode it ? In 7 months of riding your saying you did not notice the rubbing one bit ?

Carbon frames can also be fixed.

Customer of mine has a Canyon... Ultimate Road bike.... can't remember the actual model... chainstay went.... Canyon exchanged the frame and rebuilt the bike...eventually.

He likes his bike even after the new frame, he is not overjoyed with Canyon customer service..... an aquaintance with a B'twin.... had a problem with an old model carbon frame ( within the 5 yr Gtee) and they had the bike in and swapped out the frame for a newer model....within a week.... 

2 opposite ends of customer service..

If you knew the tyre was regularly rubbing the frame, I'm sorry, but the frame problem was entirely your fault. Most carbon frame tubes are only a couple mm thick at most (aluminium frames are even thinner). As for their after sales service, the interwebs is full of canyon's poor delivery tales and ordering delays. Caveat emptor and all that...

I've bought many bikes from Canyon (4 at last count; aluminium and carbon, road and mountain; my mates have also bought several) and have had positive experiences in all cases. They once sent me the wrong mech hanger when I bent one but that was rectified quite quickly (and I've now found an alternative supplier of - frankly superior - mech hangers, so delay served some purpose). 

Sounds to me like Canyon didn't believe your "I was just riding along, honest" story. The Exceed is sold as a super light XC race bike, although I imagine Alban Lakata rides it harder than the average punter.

Maybe you should have had a word with the shop that fitted a tyre that would rub on the stays to such an extent that the carbon was damaged structurally.

The Canyon manual (p.86) says "By choosing a bigger tyre you risk that the tyre drags along the fork or the rear frame." So notwithstanding poor syntax/grammar, they at least make the point (to the extent that a statement of the obvious like this needed to be made).

I suspect I will buy Canyon again and based on my experiences I would not hesitate to recommend that others do the same.

similar experience with a felt bought from lbs. rear hanger snapped mech in spokes broke seat stay. crash damage they said, part failure I said. crash replacement frame offer. got it fixed at carbon bike repair in Dorking instead.

Mate of mine bought a bike from Canyon; they promptly delivered two of the same bike. So they're not all bad

Your experience doesn't surprise me at all.

I ordered a couple of pairs of glasses and a pair of wheels from them in December. Not a single part of the transaction went smoothly. Only sent out one wheel, invoices all wrong, difficulty getting refund, passed from pillar to post when ever I contacted them, tried to invoice me again months after matter resolved.

So when my daughter needed a new mtn bike this month, guess who didn't get my money?

LBS all the way for me!

Sorry to hear about your odeal mate, I think they have an attitude that their prices are low enough that people will continue to buy from them regardless, as I've seen a few accounts similar to yours over the past couple of years.

I've got a Vitus Zenium on order (not fancy, i know) - hoping the Wiggle warranty guys are a bit better should I ever need it, but I've no experience with them!

You pays your money, you takes your choice hey?

Canyon offer great value for money on the product, as they cut out elements of the distribution and therefore service chain.

Which I guess is in line with your experiences.

I've always fancied a Canyon, but always ultiamtely go elsewhere as it can all seem a bit oo good to be true some times.