Building off their Canfield Balance Formula suspension design, the boutique Colorado brand has just launched two new full suspension 29er mountain bikes. The Canfield Lithium is a long travel enduro/all-mountain option with adjustable travel length. The Tilt is a long travel trail bike. Both are aluminum, and both use the same CBF dual linkage suspension design. Here’s the details…
2021 Canfield Lithium enduro mountain bike
The Lithium comes with 163mm rear wheel travel paired with a 170mm fork. Combine that with big 29″ wheels and they say it’s designed to crush any descent. But, with very short 430mm chainstays (that’s just 16.9 inches!) and a slack 64.5º head angle, it should be able to climb and handle the non-descending fun stuff, too.
The CBF suspension uses two linkages to control the effective pivot point of the suspension and keep it exactly on top of the chainring…right where the chain meets the teeth. The result is a consistent pedaling feel and performance throughout the entire travel range.
They have a full explainer here, and it’s worth noting that the Canfield brothers amicably split the business in 2019. One took the suspension patent and is licensing the design to multiple brands, the other kept the bike brand.
The Lithium can reduce it’s rear travel to 151mm by swapping to a shorter stroke shock. Stock is 230×65, but you can switch to a 230×60. This will also adjust geo to give it a lower BB and slightly slacker head angle. They also say you can run anything from a 160mm to 180mm fork.
Want more versatility? You could also swap in 650B x 2.8″ tires. Or stick with the 29×2.4″ tires that come on it.
Available in Red and Black, as a complete bike or frameset. Claimed frame weight with hardware is 7.7lb and 8.8lb with shock. Complete bike is 31.8lb.
2021 Canfield Tilt trail mountain bike
Want something a little more “all purpose”? Check out the Tilt, which gets 138mm travel in the rear with a 140mm fork. Hitting the tall end of the Trail category, it’s also able to downsize the squish. Swap in a shorter stroke shock and you can get 125mm rear travel.
The Tilt comes in green and white. While they offer different colors and travel, the two bikes share quite a few new features for Canfield. They run full internal cable and hose routing, with new ports that allow from zero to three lines to enter.
There’s also a new forged clamshell bottom bracket part that reduces the total number of frame members, which improves strength, stiffness and alignment across both models.
Geometry & Build Specs
The Tilt is offered with a Cane Creek Helm fork and Kitsuma shock, the Lithium gets an Öhlins TTX Air shock and RXF 36 m.2 Air fork. Choose between Magura or TRP brakes. Both bikes start with a SRAM GX Eagle 12-speed drivetrain, SDG Tellis dropper, SDG custom Canfield saddle, Canfield Special Blend AM29 wheels with optional premium wheel upgrades from RideFast Racing and Atomik Carbon, all wrapped in Maxxis rubber.
Both bikes are available for pre-order now with a slight discount off their eventual MSRP. Prices start at $1,699.99 for a frameset, and $4,599.99 for a complete bike.
