Canyon’s New Strive

Over the last few years, the Strive has proven its credentials as a versatile racing machine on some of the most demanding courses in the world, with our Canyon Factory Enduro Team twice riding it to glory in the Enduro World Series team championship. And this year, we’ve taken things a step forward to create a new Strive that’s even faster and more versatile.

Whether you’re competing in the world’s toughest Enduro races, or just want to go shred your local trails even harder: the new Strive with Shapeshifter technology is guaranteed to take you to the next level. With its 29-inch wheels, full-carbon frame, and ability to fundamentally change its riding characteristics at the press of a button, this is a trail-taming machine that leaves competitors in its wake. The Strive is engineered for Enduro racers and aspiring amateurs who demand uncompromising performance on technical trails – both on the way up and on the way back down. It was developed and tested in Canyon’s hometown of Koblenz, and built to take on any challenge, from Finale Ligure to Whistler. Join a worldwide community of passionate riders – Welcome to Shred City!

Constant changes in terrain place incredibly diverse demands on a bike – rider weight gets transferred all over the place depending on what you take on. While climbing, the back wheel can bear almost all of the load, but when riding steep descents, all this weight then gets transferred to the front wheel. So in order to achieve maximum efficiency, under normal circumstances, the rider would have to constantly adjust the suspension sag depending on the profile of the trail. However, with its Shapeshifter technology, the Strive successfully combines the climbing performance of an XC bike with the descending abilities of a downhill bike. The Shapeshifter works using a gas spring which we developed together with the suspension specialists at Fox, and lets you alter the geometry and suspension dynamics on the bike at the touch of a button.

The Shapeshifter system was developed from the ground up by the engineers at Canyon and Fox. It consists of an ergonomic handlebar-mounted remote with two levers, a gas spring, and a patented rear shock linkage. By changing the bike’s linkage and with it the kinematics of the rear end, you can switch between two different geometries with different suspension curves and amounts of travel all without the need for a specially designed rear shock.

We have integrated the dropper post remote below the Shapeshifter remote, so you can still lower the saddle with the push of a button. We have also taken things another step forward in terms of durability. Specially developed piston seals reduce friction and are more robust, and we’ve improved the internal cable routing setup to make it tougher. Furthermore, the bearings of the new gas spring don’t require an additional screw thread, allowing an integrated design that keeps dirt out.