The new Neuron CF SLX trail bike is the natural, lightweight carbon evolution of Canyon’s all-rounder trail mid-travel mountain bike – taking the high-performing all-rounder and stepping it up a notch with a lighter frameset and more premium builds. With 130mm of well-mannered four-bar travel, the Neuron is the kind of mountain bike you just hop on and ride, ready for pretty much any type of trails you’ll encounter.
2020 Canyon Neuron CF SLX lighter weight carbon trail bike
Building off the excellent & affordable alloy Neuron AL that we tested this past spring, and the base carbon Neuron CF from the fall before, this new SLX bike drops even more weight – a claimed 250g shaved off even the lightweight Neuron CF SL. The new bike is essentially unchanged from the rest of the Neuron family in all the standard geometry & 3-stage suspension performance categories.
Canyon calls their new 130mm Neuron a “touring bike” which sounds like they’re underselling it. But sitting between the shorter 100/110mm cross-country Lux and longer 140/150mm all-mountain trail Spectral, the Neuron is the kind of versatile mountain bike that you can take out on tour – spanning gaps between a marathon race bike and heavier enduro & all-mountain bikes.
Neuron CF SLX weight savings tech details
Canyon just has been able to whittle away the 2020 Neuron CF SLX frame, down to a claimed frame weight of 2280g (size M, without shock or thru-axle) through the use of higher grade carbon. The new frame uses a hi-mod 40T unidirectional carbon for both front & rear triangles to both shed grams and at the same time boost tensile strength.
For once you can actually even see the difference, as the CF SLX frame gets a translucent black finish that lets some of the structure of the new carbon layup peek out in ideal lighting conditions.
The Neuron CF SLX shares the same tech specs as the CF & CF SL models, with sealed & protected suspension pivot bearings, a threaded bottom bracket, Boost rear spacing with Canyon’s hide-away QR thru-axle, external shielded cable routing, stealth dropper-ready 30.9mm seatpost, impact protection tapered headset stopper, 1x or 2x drivetrain compatibility, and room in the main frame for a full-size water bottle.
Neuron CF SLX 29er-only geometry
While the alloy and lesser carbon Neurons are offered in a five size range that puts 27.5″ wheel on the XS & S, then 29″ wheels on the larger bikes, the Neuron CF SLX is 29er only. That means sizing is limited to taller riders only, with a limited three size M, L & XL range.
Pricing, spec & availability
Canyon likes to say that the Neuron family offers solid performance across a wide range of price points, with five different frame models along the way including a WMN women-specific range. Pricing for the alloy bikes start from just 1600€, or from 2600€ for the base CF carbon bikes. But this new Neuron CF SLX is decidedly more high-end.
Only one complete bike in the new spec is available now – the 6000€ Neuron CF SLX 9.0 Ltd. But with that you get a proper top-spec build, with a complete Shimano XTR 1×12 drivetrain, Fox 34 & Float DPS Factory suspension, a Transfer Factory dropper & DT Swiss XMC1200 carbon wheels.
All in, the new top 29er Neuron CF SLX 9.0 Ltd trail bike comes in at a claimed complete bike weight of just 11.7kg/25.8lb, venturing more into lightweight race bike territory than most trail bikes. Currently there is no option for a Neuron CF SLX frameset on its own, but Canyon offers all their other top spec carbon mountain bikes as a frame only (for around 3000€), so we wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar Neuron option in the future too.
