Taking the shreddy Spectral and tweaking it, Canyon is delivering a shorter-travel bike with serious downhill chops and calling it the Spectral 125. Available in carbon and aluminum models, the Spectral 125 aims to deliver all the downhill fun of the standard Spectral, but with improved climbing ability to also get you to the top faster. And, a little less travel does mean more “pop” to keep you more in tune with the terrain.
The Spectral 125 is part of the Spectral offering, after all, so it fits right in. Canyon has achieved pretty much the same geometry figures here as other models, so you can expect to tackle just about anything that you could on the other models. One note… the Spectral 125 is only available and is specifically built around 29-inch wheels. No 27.5″ or mullet options will be offered here.
Some may scratch their heads at Canyon’s now-crowded 120-130mm travel offerings between the Spectral 125, Neuron and Lux Trail. It doesn’t take much research to come to the conclusion that each of those bikes will ride and perform completely different. They each have specific intended purposes and can coexist quite well. Amount of travel alone only tells a part of the picture, so don’t even think about calling the Spectral 125 an XC bike. That’s laughable. Here’s what Canyon has to say about it.
“The overriding goal was to create a bike that felt poppy on descents and pedaled well on climbs.
When it comes to descending, the challenge with short-travel bikes often boils down to finding a balance between providing smooth, traction-enhancing performance on small impacts while keeping the suspension from bottoming out in high-speed, big-hit conditions.
The Spectral 125 shares the same fundamental Triple Phase suspension design as the longer-travel Spectrals, but the gradient of the leverage curve is steeper. That quicker suspension ramp-up keeps the rider from wallowing in the suspension, gives the bike a bit more “pop”, and imbues the Spectral 125 with a “deep” feeling on chunky trails. Achieving all of that is easier said than done. We were careful not to make the suspension too progressive – otherwise the rear suspension would ramp up so quickly that the bike would become unforgiving and harsh.
We also sought to make the Spec- tral 125 a strong climber. Accordingly, we bumped up the anti-squat a bit, making it even more efficient than the “regular” Spectral.”
That pretty much sums up this bike. It’s a hard-charging Spectral in a little shorter travel guise. And, this new bike will be available in both carbon and aluminum models with 5 total builds on offer here in the USA. Prices will range from $2899-$6299 with availability set as “spring 2022.”
More Info: Visit Canyon.com
