{"id":158317,"date":"2022-02-17T21:00:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T10:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flowmountainbike.com\/?p=158317"},"modified":"2022-02-23T09:27:15","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T22:27:15","slug":"new-canyon-spectral-125","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flowmountainbike.com\/post-all\/new-canyon-spectral-125\/","title":{"rendered":"Canyon adds spice to the Spectral lineup with the new Spectral 125"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year Canyon unveiled what we thought would be its complete lineup of Spectrals<\/a> with eight models covering a \u2018uge range of price points. Covered everything from alloy and CFR models, 27.5in, 29in and even a mullet specific option, each bike was based around 150mm of rear travel and a 160mm fork. So many Spectrals!<\/p>\n

\"2022
Keeping up with the times, Canyon’s new aggressive trail bike is very on-trend.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, it seems the German outfit still had something in the works, and today we have yet another new addition to the Spectral lineup. This time, however, Canyon has cut the rear suspension down to 125mm, to create what the brand is calling \u2018the rowdy one.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rowdy trail bike geometry<\/h2>\n

The idea of a rowdy trail bike continues to gain steam. Whether it be the Norco Optic, Marin Rift Zone, Mondraker Raze or the new Canyon 125, these slacked-out short travel trail bikes are designed to be lively and engaging, but still capable of keeping the rubber side down when the trails get aggressively steep and deep.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Numbers that speak to the rowdier segment of trail riders.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"2022
Up front is a 140mm travel fork with a 64\u00b0 head angle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With 125mm of rear travel, paired to a 140mm fork, the Spectral 125\u2019s geometry chart is almost a mirror image of its longer travel sibling. Both have 64\u00b0 head angles, 76\u00b0 seat angles and 437mm chainstays. With that said, they aren\u2019t totally identical; the BB drop and reach differ by 1mm in size large, and the 125\u2019s frame stack is 3mm higher.<\/p>\n

While most bike brands have general sizing recommendations, Canyon includes a minimum and maximum \u2018body height\u2019 on the geometry chart, and even includes the effective seat tube angle at the min and max saddle heights and at stack. At the same time, in the launch materials, Canyon notes that it opted for a low standover to accommodate long droppers and encourage folks to choose a frame by length (i.e. reach).<\/p>\n

\"2022
The Spectral 125 features a unique frame, linkage and a shorter shock to deliver 125mm of rear wheel travel. The kinematics are different to the 150mm travel Spectral 125 too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Suspension designed for pop<\/h2>\n

Canyon originally debuted its Triple Phase Suspension on the Sender DH bike. The idea is to be ultra-smooth through the early part of the travel to eat up the chatter and trail noise, while also providing support through the mid-stroke and end of stroke progression, so you\u2019re not blowing through that last bit of travel.<\/p>\n

The Spectral 125 shares the same fundamental suspension design as the longer travel version, but Canyon says it steepened the gradient of the leverage curve to provide a quicker ramp so the rear end feels poppy without also feeling harsh.<\/p>\n

While the Spectral 125 definitely has more of a gravity focus than the Neuron, despite the overlap in travel, the person who is in the market for a bike like this is still going to do some pedalling.<\/p>\n

With that, Canyon says it kept the anti-squat relatively high up to the to sag point, to provide a crisp pedalling platform without resulting in too much pedal kickback as the rear wheel moves through its travel.<\/p>\n