CANYON STRIVE CFR

The all-new Strive aims to be an EWS winner straight out of the box

- Danny Milner

£6,099 / 29in / canyon.com

NEED TO KNOW

• Last year's EWSwinning bike gets longer and slacker
• Thoroughbred race bike built to go fast
• Shapeshifter offers two distinct modes - pedal and shred
• Adjustable cups let you tune the bike to your perfect reach
• Two models available from £4,849

It's been fascinating to watch the development of the Canyon Strive over the past nine years. This bespoke enduro race bike was there from the very start, achieving wins under Fabien Barel as a prototype. Then, last year, it really proved its credentials at the very highest echelons of the sport when Jack Moir rode his Strive to the overall series victory.

Job done, one might think. But one look at Moir's winning bike shows it is very different from the one that arrives to the consumer in a box. He runs a longer-travel fork (180mm versus 170mm on the stock bike) along with a spacer under the head tube, mostly with the aim of slackening the 65° head angle. The team also ran longer-stroke shocks to free up a smidge of extra travel at the rear, while saddles were slammed as far forward as possible to compensate for the (now even slacker) seat angle. But with Canyon's Torque and Spectral platforms now offering multiple 29er options to recreational riders, the engineering team were finally free to really hone the Strive's racing DNA.