Ridden to several World, European, National Championship & World Cup wins this year, Canyon is giving their full-suspension Lux & hardtail Exceed XC mountain bikes a facelift and spec boost for the 2022 race season. Neither frame itself has changed since the Exceed debuted its superlight carbon Canyon Factory Racing option last summer. But now that the Lux has its own Trail sibling, both cross-country bikes can focus on racing with short XC-tuned travel, aggressive race geometry, and lighter weight component builds.
2022 Canyon Lux short travel carbon XC full-suspension bike
Built for proper technical World Cup Cross-Country MTB racing – where the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Emily Batty, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado & many more XC pros have put it through the paces – the Canyon Lux has been a perennial race favorite since its mid-2018 debut. But now that a new longer travel downcountry Lux Trail is here, the original bike can dial back to its short-travel XC racing roots.
For 2022, the carbon Lux pares back to 100mm of efficient front & rear travel for all models with a cross-country race focus, and its most aggressive racing geometry. Plus, lighter weight standard components mean racers won’t need to swap out anything between Canyon’s consumer-direct delivery and the start line.
All XC fullies now come spec’d with rigid seatposts (droppers can still be added later), and the top-tier CF SLX models get handlebar remote lockouts for both shock & forks.
Four carbon Lux XC race bikes are available. The 2022 cross-country full-suspension ranges starts with the 3000€ Lux CF 6 with a complete Shimano SLX 1×12 groupset, Fox 32 Step Cast Performance fork, Float DPS Performance Elite Remote shock & DT Swiss XR1900 alloy wheels. The 3700€ CF 7 steps up to an XT group & Reynolds TR309c/289c XC carbon wheels.
The slightly lighter 1662g carbon SLX frames build up into the 6200€ Lux CF SLX Team with Shimano XTR groupset, Fox Factory suspension, DT XRC 1200 carbon wheels, and one-piece carbon cockpits for a claimed 10.22kg total weight. And at the top, the 7000€ Lux CF SLX LTD gets an even lighter build of SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS, RockShox SID SL Ultimate fork, Deluxe Ultimate shock, and Reynolds Blacklabel XC carbon wheels at 10.16kg.
2022 Canyon Exceed lightweight XC MTB hardtail
There are even more options in the Exceed XC hardtail after the addition of a superlight Unicorn Hair CFR version last summer. Now the race-ready carbon hardtail comes in three layups – CF, CF SLX & CFR – and all three levels available in team replica paint jobs for that pro racy look, and all with internal cable routing through the upper headset cup.
Canyon says the Exceed family highlight is their entry-level CF carbon frame at a decently light 1312g with accessories (it is 477g heavier than the CFR frame, but you can get a complete CF bike for about 1/3 the price of a complete CFR build.)
The most affordable current 2022 Exceed is now the CF 6 at 2400€ with Shimano SLX, a Fox Rhythm remote fork & alloy DT wheels. But an even cheaper 1900€ CF 5 with Deore 1×12 & a RockShox Recon fork is coming soon. There’s also a CF7 for 2900€ with GX Eagle & a SID SL Select RL fork.
Moving up to the CF SLX level (a 1015g frame) the Exceeds also move to a one-piece 322g carbon Canyon bar+stem cockpit, and get the 420g alloy DT Swiss D232 mini dropper seatpost. Pick from a 3700€ CF SLX 8 with XT & Fox 32 SC Performance fork, or go for the 4700€ CF SLX 9 with wireless GX Eagle AXS and a Factory Fox fork, both with carbon DT Swiss XRC wheels.
The top tier comes down to the 835g CFR carbon hardtail with two super-premium build options. Pick a Shimano mechanical build for 5800€ in the Exceed CFR Team with XTR, a Fox Factory fork, DT XRC 1200 carbon wheels and a flexing Canyon VCLS seatpost at 9kg. Or choose wireless SRAM in the 6700€ Exceed CFR LTD with XX1 Eagle AXS, a RockShox SID SL Ultimate RaceDay fork, Reynolds Blacklabel XC carbon wheels, and a carbon DT Swiss D 232 One mini 60mm travel dropper.
Both updated 2022 Canyon Lux and Exceed XC mountain bike platforms are available now in select builds and sizes, with many ready to ship now direct to your doorstep.
