Canyon has just unveiled its new Citylite bikes, designed as a one-stop shop for urban riding, equipped with some of the most frequently used accessories, including lights, mudguards, a rack, and a lock. The lineup includes the electric Citylite:ON, powered by Bosch Performance Line drive unit, with a claimed range of up to 85km (53 miles). Each uses a Gates CDN belt drive rather than a standard chain for reduced maintenance.
Canyon sees the Citylite bikes as being suitable for commuting, shopping, and generally getting around town, as well as for leisure rides… You know the sort of thing. These aren’t performance-focused bikes designed for speed, they’re intended for getting places and doing stuff in town. The idea is that you get practical features for urban riding straight out of the box, so there’s no need to add accessories later.
“The Citylite comes with dynamo lights, fenders, kickstand, a rack and frame-integrated lock for quick security,” says Canyon. “Meanwhile, the Citylite:ON is equipped with all you need for the city, including built-in lights (with clever braking signal) as well as fenders, kickstand, rack, and a frame-integrated lock.”
Fenders being mudguards, of course, for the English speakers among us.
Both the Citylite and Citylite:ON are built around aluminium frames and carbon forks, the electric model coming with a Vario suspension seatpost. You also get wide (650×47) tyres and ergonomic grips designed to reduce pressure on hands and wrists. You get the picture, Canyon is emphasising comfort here.
Each of the bikes comes with an MIK HD rack that allows you to mount a bag, basket, or a child seat.
Citylite
The Citylite – the non-electric model – is equipped with a Shimano Nexus 8-speed hub gear and a Gates CDN belt drive – so there’s very little to go rusty in wet conditions.
A Supernova Starstream Mini (HB) light is integrated into the handlebar, and you get an Iridium M12 light at the back. Each is powered by a hub dynamo.
You also get a MIK HD rear rack, an Atran Velo Edge HV kickstand and a trailer hitch interface.
A frame-mounted integrated lock secures the rear wheel, preventing the bike from being ridden away, while hydraulic disc brakes are intended to give you the power you need, whatever the weather.
The Citylite comes in step-over and step-through versions, each priced at £1,449.
Citylite:ON
The Citylite:ON – the electric version – uses a Bosch Performance Line 75 Nm, 600w drive unit with four support modes and, like the Citylite, it uses a Gates CDC belt drive. It also has a Shimano Nexus internally geared hub, although this time it’s 5-speed.
The 400Wh removable battery should be good for up to 85km (53 miles) of riding (in Eco mode, 23km/h, rider weight 100kg, cadence 60rpm), and there’s the option of a 250Wh Powermore range extender to add about 50km (31 miles) more.
Again, you get the Supernova Starstream Mini front light, and out back there’s an M15 light that provides a braking signal.
You get the same rear rack, kickstand and trailer hitch interface as on the non-electric version, along with a frame lock that uses the same key as the battery lock.
One other notable feature is the SP Connect SPC+ E-CAP smartphone mount on the stem with a wireless phone charging module (that you can buy separately via Canyon) that enables cable-free charging directly from the e-bike battery.
The Citylite:ON is available in step-over and step-through versions, this time at a price of £2,799.
If you’re familiar with Canyon’s range, the Citylite comes in as the pure urban bike with the existing Roadlite and Roadlite:On remaining as the more sporty urban bikes. Canyon sees the Pathlite:ON e-bike as being more trekking orientated. The Citylite bikes will eventually replace the Commuter and Precede:ON lineups.
road.cc Commuting Week – packed with advice on what to do and the best products to buy – starts on 8th September 2025.
9 thoughts on “Canyon launches Citylite and Citylite:ON fully equipped bikes for everyday urban life”
I’m pleased to note unpowered
I’m pleased to note unpowered models haven’t gone out of fashion. I guess that’s why listed here and not on ebiketips of course…
Nice to see “everything included” (except for “skirt guard” maybe) practical urban bikes. My query would be it seems way more fancy than people would typically need from a “everyday urban bike” *. (Brake lights? Carbon fork?! Was it designed by the late Mike Burrows?). And for “everyday” arguably the most important quality (aside from “rugged”) is “cheap”. Still, people can choose, Canyon must know their market.
OTOH apparently slightly cheaper than the comparable (but no carbon fork) Trek District 4 Equipped.
* And I own a fancy “everyday” (all uses – except for parking for longer periods) – a Cube Travel Exc! Disk brakes! Only places that differs are in an alloy fork, no trailer hitch and no ring lock (the latter would be good to have). Still pricey but – if it weren’t sold out – it would be a few hundred cheaper…
chrisonabike wrote:
My everyday bike is all steel, always on dynamo lighting, front low rider, rear rack, and trailer hitch, full length mudguards, SPD/flat pedals, v-brakes, Pitlock skewers and headset security bolts, 2 D-locks mounted in the triangle and…drop handlebars with ‘cross top levers. It even used to have a chainguard but it broke. It looks like a touring bike but it isn’t one, although it can sub for one when needed but the 28/28 bottom gears isn’t low enough for big stuff.
Sounds like my old Dawes
Sounds like my old Dawes Galaxy, but given I got mine nth hand I never got round to adding security bolts. Aside from the dynamo lights it owes me nothing. (Well, replacing everything except the frame several times…)
I do like the “no oil from chain” and “no gunk from rim brakes” of the Cube. Also “even lower maintenance”. And simpler gears / change while stopped – though I grew up using 2 friction shifters so that’s not a drama.
chrisonabike wrote:
I forget to mention – my everyday bike has bar-end shifters: the front is friction and the rear can be either indexed or friction. The frame is Planet-X Kaffenback and the forks are Surly long haul truckers. I wantedto put cantis on it but the rear triangle is a bit too weird to allow that so it has tektro linear pull drop bar levers on it.
It would be very handy if the
It would be very handy if the handlebars of flat bar utility bikes could be turned by 90 or so degrees when parked so that they take up less room e.g. in narrow hallways. There would need to a be a safety mechanism so that they are locked in the unturned position when the bike is in use, but that isn’t insurmountable.
Or just have drops.
Absolutely – although the
Absolutely – although the devil is in “safety mechanism” because with enough people someone always forgets to “do the nut back up”.
IIRC you *can* get folding handlebars but they add weight of course. Not the biggest concern for a utility bike, but maybe more so for a luxury one like this.
Fewer things to snag are a good idea for bikes that are meant to be parked in racks – presumably why the integrated headlight here. And partly why the old- style opa/omafiets had no brake cables and used a single coaster brake. Since many had only a single gear ratio, that means no cables at all (except for any dynamo)!
I was thinking along the
I was thinking along the lines of something that doesn;’t involve any tools where you have to press something in to turn the bars from the normal position, and that comes back out when the bars are straightened (similar to the ball shaped protusions you find the extendible legs on folding tables). and then won’t go back in until it is pushed in again. There is the issue of wear and longevity and that to be any good it would have to become a defacto standard on (utility) bikes but again not unsurmountable.
I have fitted collars below the stem on the steerers of some of my bikes to facilitate turning the bars when stored* but it is a tiny bit fiddly, requires a tool, and is time consuming so not ideal for a hack bike that you just want to get on and ride (e.g. to the shops pub etc.) and not tool-free.
* or in the case of my touring bike for partial disassembly.
Ixow used to make stems that
Ixow used to make stems that turned. A lockable version too. Their keys for security bolts were very interesting.
The most recent stem I can find out there is the N-lock.
The N-lock looks good but
The N-lock looks good but alas it didn’t make its funding target. It was designed also for security.
There is an Ixow stem currently on ebay.
It turns out there are millions of the wretched things out there e.g. Via VT2 Foldable Stem, and Thinstem.
The Moustache seems the nicest at £65.