Canyon’s innovative Strive all-mountain & enduro bike, with its on-the-fly Shapeshifting geometry & adjustable travel is back again for Stage 2.0 in 2019. The Strive has been the German consumer-direct brand’s most successful mountain bike, and now gets a full-carbon 29er reboot ready to tackle the toughest enduro stages. More capable than ever with big wheels, EWS race-ready geometry & a revamped Shapeshifter made by Fox, the new Strive again promises an XC feel on the climbs & a DH bike for descending…
2019 Canyon Strive carbon Shapeshifter enduro 29er
Just as on the original Canyon Strive with its Shapeshifter back in 2014, the new Strive v2.0 works by using the secondary Shapeshifter actuator to move the position of the shock’s upper mount on the linkage, significantly affecting both bike geometry & travel. At the push of a button, the new Strive shifts from a 135mm XC bike with steeper angles, to a slack 150mm enduro bike designed to be flung downhill – all without needing to make any changes to the standard metric-sized shock.
The switch also make the suspension stiffer, increasing anti-squat & resulting in less suspension movement while still letting the shock work fully – no need for shock adjustment or a platform.
Moving between modes is now easier than ever as well. You no longer need to rock back and forth as you move between XC & DH modes. Just flip the remote, and the next time your body position shifts (forward or back, respectively) the bike gas spring will move the bike into climbing or descending modes.
New 2019 Canyon Strive Geometry
Of course geometry is the real heart of the Strive because of its Shapeshifter character. Beyond the shift in travel & stiffer resulting shock curve, the Strive moves from a 66° head angle to a 67.5°, with the same 1.5° shift at the seattube and a shift in bottom bracket height of around 20mm. While the angles are mostly unchanged from the older 27.5 bike, the new 29er shifts the rider a bit forward with short offset forks (44mm Fox / 42mm RockShox) for increased trail to encourage more weighting of the front wheel for added control.
Matched with 150mm of max travel at the rear, the new Strive is paired to capable 36mm stanchion forks with 170mm of travel on the top CFR bikes & 160mm of travel for the CF builds. The new 29er Strive comes in four frame sizes (S-XL) for both frame specs.
The updated Shapeshifter design retains the same four-bar suspension design we’ve seen on many Canyon mountain bikes for some time. In either mode the Strive benefits from the three-phase suspension movement developed first on the DH bike for small-bump sensitivity through to a progressive end of travel stroke.
New Strive Stage 2.0 – Tech details
Of course 29er wheels are a big move for the Strive, raced with their pro EWS team (with team head & former DH World Champ Fabien Barel) Canyon refined the bike for improved roll-over. But much of the core geometry remained unchanged with the bigger wheels, and unlike most enduro wheel upsizes, the new Strive sticks with the same 150mm of rear wheel travel.
Frame weight without the standard shock also drops about 100g from previous model for the new full carbon CFR frame to 2400g for a medium. And now there is also a more affordable CF frame at 2700g that makes for an entry-level complete carbon bike that costs the same as the original carbon frameset alone, still with equal stiffness via a more economical layup.
The original Shapeshifter air can wasn’t without some long-term durability issues (even prompting some to replace it with two-position bolt-on link), so Canyon partnered with suspension experts at Fox to redevelop the new, significantly improved Shapeshifter. Now the new Fox-made gas spring gets updated piston seals for lower friction & improved durability, plus new bearings for smooth action without dirt contamination.
In the years since the Strive’s debut mountain bikers have also abandoned the front derailleur, which freed up space on the left side of the bar to rework a better Shapeshifter remote in place off you old shifter. Of course in that same time we’ve also embraced the dropper post, so the new Shapeshifter remote also incorporates controls for droppers too -Shapeshifter up top, Fox dropper post remote below.
Besides the updated Shapeshifter and larger wheels, the new carbon Strive gets Boost spacing with Canyon’s own Quixle hidden rear thru-axle lever, a tapered headtube with integrated full carbon bearing seats, and internal cable routing for 1x drivetrains and dropper posts. It also includes room for a bottle cage inside the main triangle, an ISCG chain guide mount, and integrated downtube & chainstay protectors.
New 2019 Canyon Strive pricing & global availability
Since the introduction of the original Strive, Canyon has obviously made inroad to selling in the US as well. Globally six complete bike models will be offered in two carbon frame levels from 3000-7000€. Just three of those complete bikes will make it stateside (not including the cheapest model) with pricing from $4000-6000. Additionally a top-tier CFR carbon frameset will be available on both sides of the Atlantic for $3000 / 3000€.
All of the new 29er Strives go on sale today, with different color options for the CFR & CF bikes. Check out our complete Spec & Pricing article for the full breakdown on bike builds, including availability.
