Canyon’s latest Spectral CF is a bike that’s gone down swimmingly in the industry, receiving praise from us and many more. It was just a matter of time until the brand brought an alloy frame to the Spectral family. With prices starting at £2,200, it’s aimed to be all killer, no filler.
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Alloy frames and simplicity
Canyon says that the Spectral AL is for those who are a little more relaxed with their bikes – the ride it and sling it in the shed type. With that, the brand is aiming for simplicity and durability.
At its heart, the Spectral AL brings a lot of what was laid out in the Spectral CF. So it gets an identical geometry featuring a 64-degree head tube angle, a 76.5-degree seat tube angle and a 475mm reach on a medium frame. The bike also utilises 140mm of rear suspension with 150mm at the front.
With simplicity being Canyon’s aim, there are no flip chips on the AL build. However, there are still options to pick a mullet or full 29-inch setup, though once the decision is made, there’s no swapping around.
Other features taken from the CF bike are the top tube accessory mount, threaded bottom bracket, and a refined compliance-to-stiffness ratio. With that, the front triangle is built to be stiff and utilises a one-piece rocker link to reduce flex and stresses on the shock. The rear triangle has been shaped to introduce compliance, just like on the carbon bike.
Three builds, three accessible prices
Canyon is bringing the Spectral AL to the market with three models – the AL 5, AL 6, and AL CLLCTV, which is a Fabio Wibmer special edition. The AL 5 gets a Shimano Deore 12-speed drivetrain and a RockShox Lyrik fork. The AL 6 moves to a Shimano SLX drivetrain with a Fox 36 Performance fork.
Finally, the AL CLLCTV Fabio Wibmer build gets the componentry that the man himself has chosen. So that’s a mix of SRAM’s T-Type AXS kit, RockShox Ultimate level suspension and a custom Bolt colourway.
Prices start at €2,299 and go up to €3,999.
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