Nothing beats a proper cross country XC mountain bike up a hill, but by golly you wouldn’t want to ride one all day. Canyon’s figured this out too and its solution is the Lux Trail, an XC bike with the edges rounded off a little. It’s a bike for riders who want to go fast, but for fun not fame.

Top of the range Trail Lux CFR LTD uses the best RockShox and SRAM suspension and drivetrain, and an AXS dropper

The Lux Trail uses 115mm travel, a 120mm fork and of course 29in wheels to soften up the XC feel. You also get all the mod cons that trail riders have been enjoying for years and XC racers just don’t need – internal frame storage packed with useful tools, frame protection galore, a full length dropper post, and tyres that won’t disintegrate when you mess up a corner. Trail bike luxury, with XC pedalability, in the same vein as the Specialized Epic Evo.

Side on the Lux Trail looks a lot like the Canyon’s existing Lux World Cup bike then, with a single pivot suspension design and a shade more travel. That’s actually not the whole story though because the frame has been designed from the ground up to work much more like a true trail bike. What this means is Canyon has ripped up the rule book and made an XC bike with plush suspension off the top, all the better to have you sitting comfily all day long.

Need to know

• Latest Trail Lux uses a new suspenion design, same single pivot setup but the shock is now suspended from the top tube
• 29in wheels, beefed up travel, 115mm with a 120mm fork, for all day riding and trail bike comfort
• Lightweight bike at 11.3kg, but with trail bike features: internal frame storage, chain device, downtube protection
• Geometry has been revised, with a slacker head angle and steeper seat tube angle
• Six bikes in the range, all carbon, starting at £8k for the CRF LTD, entry level CF6 is £3,200

Shock is suspended from the top tube, giving an uninterupted seat tube and space for a full length dropper post

XC gone soft

This is the big story of the Lux Trail, Canyon has added a hanging rocker link, where the lower shock mount is actually attached to the top tube rather than the seat tube as on its World Cup bike. That’s unique on an XC machine and it helps Canyon tweak the bike’s suspension curves, making it much more sensitive right off the top, it’s claimed, and totally unlike the rock-hard feel from an XC bike. It also leaves the seat tube uninterupted and therefore space for a full length dropper post. We’re guessing here now, but it might also make the bike less stiff than the Lux World Cup, prioritising comfort over power.

The Lux Trail is designed to be easy to dip into its travel right from the off, while the World Cup bike prioritises power delivery

Canyon has also added two different shock tunes, depending on the bike size, which Canyon calls size-specific shock tune. Each individual size doesn’t get its own tune, but the L-XL bike presumably benefits from a slightly firmer and more damped setup, and the XS-M sized bikes getting a softer tune. The whole idea is to esure big and small riders get the same suspension feel when they’re actually riding the bike.

Soft and supple suspension’s no good when you’re on a lung-busting fireroad climb though, or trying to tick off a long-distance trail. For that you want a firmer platform, which Canyon has incorporated via a three-position adjustable fork and shock. Flick the lever on the bar and you can toggle between an open mode, pedal mode with a firmer shock but not fork, and a locked out setting for really putting the power down.

The Lux Trail has space for a whole lot of ride-saving luggage, from CO2 canisters to plugs

Internal frame storage and details

The industry has decided downtubes are there to be filled, whether that’s with a battery, tools or both a la the new Orange Phase EVO. This is actually Canyon’s first every mountain bike with internal storage here, but we knew it couldn’t be long when the brand tried out the idea on the Grail gravel bike. Besides, YT now gets internal frame storage on its Jeffsy, and Canyon was never going to let that lie.

The Lux Trail is crammed with useful accoutrements, starting with a space for a Canyon Load Tool Pouch in the downtube that’ll hold CO2 cartridges, tyre levers, a tube, and anything else you can cram in there. There’s also a mini-tool clipped to the underside of the top tube, and there are tyre plugs secreted in the bar ends too. There’s also a Quixle, Canyon’s clever tool-free rear axle lever.

Space for two water bottles on all sizes, plus the dinkiest little chainguide you’ve ever seen

Jacking the shock as high as possible leaves tons of space in the front triangle for hydration, Canyon says all sizes will take two full-size water bottles. That’s really impressive, plenty of bikes get cramped for space when you drop down to the smallest sizes and XS riders miss out.

Canyon’s not done with the trail bike functionality there either, the one-piece bar and stem will never over-rotate thanks to a headset lock Canyon called the Impact Protection Unit. The bike also benefits from downtube and chainstay protection, and the dinkiest little chainguide that sits atop the chain to keep it from bouncing off.

Canyon’s one-piece bar and stem is 760mm in sizes Large and XL, and 740mm for the smaller sizes. There’s a headset block buried in there too

Geometry and sizing and weight

Canyon’s gone for pretty conservative figures for the new Trail Lux, with a not-too-steep 76° effective seat tube angle, and a 67° head angle. It’s certainly light enough, at 11.25kg in its lightest CFR build with Shimano XTR drivetrain, but it’s intentions are elsewhere. (The top of the range CFR LTD bike is actually heavier because it uses SRAM’s AXS drivetrain and dropper post, which use batteries and motors).

Which brings us to what the bike is actually for. It’s not just for racing, Canyon says, that’s what the Lux World Cup is all about. It’s for riders who want to cover big distances, as quickly as possible. Perfect for long days in the saddle, or racing between the tape, but we don’t think you could call it a downcountry bike, like the Transition Spur, which is designed for aggressive trails.

Canyon Trail Lux range

There’s no alloy build as yet, the Lux Trail is full carbon only. There are six bikes to pick from, two CFR models with Canyon’s lighter carbon fibre, and four CF models where the frame weighs around 150g more.

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD

Canyon Lux Trail CFR LTD £8,099
RockShox SID Ultimate fork and RockShox SIDLuxe Ultimate 3-Pos RMT shock
SRAM XX AXS Eagle Transmission drivetrain
SRAM Level Ultimate Stealth brakes
DT Swiss XRC1200 wheelset
11.7kg (size M)

Canyon Lux Trail CFR

Canyon Lux Trail CFR £6,699
FOX 34 SC Factory fork and FOX Float SL Factory 3-Pos RMT shock,
Shimano XTR drivetrain
Shimano XTR brakes
FOX Transfer SL Factory dropper post
11.3kg

Canyon Lux Trail CF 9

Canyon Lux Trail CF 9 £5,449
RockShox SID Select+ fork and RockShox SIDLuxe Select+ 3-Pos RMT shock
SRAM GX AXS Eagle Transmission drivetrain
SRAM Level Silver Stealth brakes, RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post
DT Swiss XRC1501 wheelset
12.5kg

Canyon Lux Trail CF 8

Canyon Lux Trail CF 8 £4,499
Fox 34 SC Performance Elite fork and Fox Float SL Performance Elite 3-Pos RMT shock
Shimano XT drivetrain, Shimano XT brakes, Fox Transfer SL Performance Elite dropper post
12.5kg

Canyon Lux Trail CF 7

Canyon Lux Trail CF 7 £3,499
Fox 34 SC Performance fork and Fox Float SL Performance Elite 3-Pos RMT shock
Shimano SLX drivetrain, Shimano SLX brakes
Schwalbe Wicked Will 2.40 Addix SpdGrp and Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.35 Addix Spd tyres
12.9kg

Canyon Lux Trail CF 6

Canyon Lux Trail CF 6 £3,199
Fox 34 SC Performance fork and Fox Float SL Performance Elite 3-Pos RMT shock
Shimano Deore drivetrain, Shimano Deore brakes
13.1kg

The Lux Trail is all about going big, covering maximum miles while still enjoying trail-bike luxuries like comfy suspension, grip and frame storage