2018 Canyon Torque - First Ride
It looks as if we're seeing a freeride resurgence, the return of long-travel bikes designed for seeking out the gnarliest terrain around. Today's all-mountain / enduro machines are incredibly capable, but there's still a demand for bikes designed to go even bigger, whether that's in the bike park or on a secret trail tucked away deep in the woods.
That's where the new Canyon Torque comes in. With 27.5” wheels and 175mm of rear travel, it's the latest entry into the new-school of freeride bikes, a class that includes the likes of the Commencal Supreme SX, Pivot Firebird, and Santa Cruz Nomad.
That's where the new Canyon Torque comes in. With 27.5” wheels and 175mm of rear travel, it's the latest entry into the new-school of freeride bikes, a class that includes the likes of the Commencal Supreme SX, Pivot Firebird, and Santa Cruz Nomad.
Canyon Torque Details
• Intended use: freeride / park / DH
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Rear wheel travel: 175mm
• 65º head angle
• Aluminum and carbon frame options
• Boost hub spacing
• Sizes: XS (alloy only) - XL
• Price: $2499 - $7500 USD
• www.canyon.com
• Intended use: freeride / park / DH
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Rear wheel travel: 175mm
• 65º head angle
• Aluminum and carbon frame options
• Boost hub spacing
• Sizes: XS (alloy only) - XL
• Price: $2499 - $7500 USD
• www.canyon.com
Canyon are also releasing new gravity-oriented stems and handlebars.
The Torque's housing is sandwiched between a plastic cover and the frame.
Frame Details
Like the recently announced Spectral, the Torque's design was inspired by Canyon's Sender DH bike, although the suspension layout is slightly different. In order to increase the bike's standover height, as well as allow for the use of longer travel dropper posts, the shock is now activated by a yoke that straddles the seattube.
The Torque's suspension curve is designed to be sensitive at the beginning of the stroke, supportive in the middle, and then progressive in the end, which Canyon refers to as their “Triple Phase Suspension.” The end stroke ramp up isn't drastic, but it can easily be altered by adding or subtracting volume spacers. It's a gravity machine at heart, but the Torque does have more supportive pedaling platform than that Sender in order to make those long approaches to the trail more tolerable. You'll want to wear a hydration pack, though, because there's no place to mount a water bottle.
The Torque uses Canyon's new cable routing method, where the housing is sandwiched between the downtube and plastic “cable channel.” Found on both the carbon and aluminum frames, the plastic cover can easily be removed for maintenance, and also adds an element of frame protection.
The Torque's suspension layout places the rearmost pivot on the chainstay, but above the rear axle.
The new frame design allows for 170mm dropper posts on the L and XL sizes, and 150mm posts on the smaller sizes.
Going downhill is the Torque's forte, but the Eagle drivetrain found on the higher end models should help take the sting out of the climbs.
The Torque AL 7.0 is priced at 2999 Euro...
...While the Torque CF 9.0 retails for 3999 Euro.
Frame Options / Build Kits
There are two different frame options: the Torque CF, which uses a carbon front triangle and a 6066 aluminum swingarm, and the Torque AL, which is a full-aluminum affair. Prices range from $2499 USD for the base-model AL 5.0 up to $7500 USD for the CF 9.0 LTD. That 9.0 LTD model will only be available in the US, and is spec'd with ENVE M70 wheels and 2.4" Maxxis Minion DHR II tires.
Geometry
Canyon experimented with several different head angles before settling on 65-degrees. According to Daniel Oster, Canyon's senior product manager, that number gave them the handling they wanted; quicker than a full-blown DH bike, but slack enough to avoid any nervous handling. With a 460mm reach on a size large, the Torque's measurements are modern but not wild, while the 425mm chainstay length is on the shorter side of the spectrum.
I was able to spend one day of riding aboard an aluminum Torque, just enough time to start getting a feel for its handling traits. The day's trails included a mix of twisty singletrack punctuated by rock gardens that were made even trickier by the recent rainstorms, and a smattering of medium-sized jumps and drops. Nothing was overly steep, but the trails did fit the bikes' intentions.
Climbing: Stomping down on the pedals to power up a climb does cause a fair bit of suspension motion; this is a bike where the shock's compression lever will see plenty of use if you're planning on earning those turns. There's also the weight to consider. The claimed weight for the top-of-the-line aluminum models is a little over 33 pounds, and the carbon models is said to come in at a touch over 31 pounds. Compared to the freeride beasts of the past those numbers are certainly reasonable, but it is something to keep in mind if you're planning on pedaling more than riding lifts or shuttling.
Drop those heels and let off the brakes and the Torque will come alive.
Fabien Barel was all smiles after sampling some of Madeira's best trails.
Descending: As you'd expect, the Torque is in its element when gravity takes over. Cornering was especially enjoyable; the short back end and the overall weight balance made it easy to really sink into a turn, then rocket out the other side. There's plenty of 'poppiness' on hand for getting airborne off of natural and manmade jumps, and I didn't experience any harshness in the rockier sections of trail. That being said, I'd like to spend some time on the Torque in some even steeper, rougher terrain - with only one day of riding on unfamiliar trails I I wasn't able to fully push it to the limit.
I kept trying to figure out what bike the Torque reminded me of, and then it clicked – Specialized's Enduro EVO. That bike had 26” wheels and a front derailleur, but funnily enough, the geometry figures are very close to those of the Torque – head angle, reach, even the stem length all match. That's not a knock against the Torque, it's more of an observation that certain geometry numbers don't go out of style.
Most build kits come with the tried-and-true Maxxis Minion DHF / DHR II combo, but 9.0 Pro is spec'd with Mavic's Claw and Charge tires. Those tires ended up on the bike I was aboard, and they made for an 'interesting' time in the wet rocks and mud. They're much less predictable than the Maxxis rubber, and I wouldn't recommend running them if there's any chance of encountering wet conditions. Other than that, the bikes are well equipped and ready to rally right out of the box.
Canyon also rolled out another new bike - an aluminum Sender. Based on the popular carbon-framed DH machine, the aluminum version was designed to work best with a coil sprung shock, and uses a simplified version of the linkage found on the carbon model. There will be two complete models, the Sender AL 6.0 and the AL 7.0, priced at 2499 Euro and 2999 Euro respectively.
Sender AL Details• Intended use: downhill
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Rear wheel travel: 200mm
• 63º head angle
• Adjustable chainstay length: 430 or 446mm
• Sizes: S - XL
• Price: 2499 - 2999 Euro
• Wheel size: 27.5"
• Rear wheel travel: 200mm
• 63º head angle
• Adjustable chainstay length: 430 or 446mm
• Sizes: S - XL
• Price: 2499 - 2999 Euro
The aluminum Sender's linkage is slightly different than the carbon version - the MX link has been removed, and the bike has a more progressive suspension curve in order to allow it to work well with coil shocks.
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Other than that I wouldn't mind an even slacker head angle considering the travel it has.
Now all bitching can be ended on Pinkbike.
Now I come back 6 months later and everyone is complaining that new bikes are NOT 29ers. I cannot keep up. Pleasing the PB crowd is impossible.
I guess most people are here to whine about things not being available, regardless of whether or not they would buy it/have any use for it/notice the difference/benefit in any way.
But perhaps that's the human condition. Rant over, let's slate the Sender AL because the crank arms aren't 100% level in the photo!!!
Altho I do love 29ers and have done for a few years now...
I have been reading NSMB recently and the guys there seem to be regressing back to HT and rigid bikes to keep things interesting rather than lusting after the latest carbon wunderbike. Pinkbike is very much the opposite.
@fartymarty:
No need to get philosophical about humans never being happy or whatever...
Your mistake is you consider the pinkbike audience as a single person. If someone says he's tired of high end bikes being reviewed, and then disappointed when cheaper bikes are reviewed, that person is STUPID.
But on pinkbike, the 2 opinions come from 2 different persons, which... makes sense. We're all allowed to have our opinions, right?
And if you feel like it's always the negatives that are said and heard, well yeah, we often write about things going wrong (example : "my capra cracked!" while 97% other capra owners are out there, riding).
Btw, complaning about pinkbike complains is... well, complaining too :p
High speed cruising is 20% (>20 km/h) of my time on bike, the remnant is climbing, low speed rock crawling or rooty/rocky trail on which I need a lot of traction that is killed by high AS/PK.
I know most of bikes today must climb well and go down well (which is a lié) meaning strong AS, but obviously it means a lot of chain growth, particularly on the granny ring, and the suspension operation became strongly dependant of the weight distributed over the pedals.
I will not buy a bike with more than 70% AS at sag for 32/21.
So let's say there are pro 27.5 people and pro 29 people. On news mentionning a 27.5er bike, pro 29 people will rant about it. On news mentionning a 29er bike, pro 27.5 people will complain.
Unsatisfied people whine, satisfied people stay quiet. That's about it.
@drivereight I’m looking to upgrade from Freetrail to Freeduro, this may be just the bike I was looking for.
This is a gnarly trail shredder. Go for a long "enduro" --ahem-- ride plodding along until a nasty, timed "segment" --cough cough-- comes along and guess what? I don't want my sissy-travel 130mm bike. I want a DH bike and you should too unless fast isn't your thing. This thing is the ticket.
BUT with the shorter ST I appreciate the ability to drop the post all the way down in the frame for the steep stuff.
With a 21" ST like on the XL Torque, that option is completely removed. Which is crazy for a 180mm park / big-mountain sled.
If you genuinely need a 21" ST along with a 170mm post, you must be close to 7ft tall, and by that point you should be looking at getting a custom frame made as you are in a 0.0001 percentile.
I'm not saying I hate water bottles on frames. I'm just saying throwing 3lbs of water weight on to a frame you paid a mortgage worth of money to get built light seems counterproductive. Every time read an article where the writer knocks the lack of a bottle mount, when the same reviewer knocked another rig for having a heavy frame I can't help but roll my eyes.
PB loves drama, but it is funny that even the reviewers aren't immune to the silliness.
I've just gone back to a bladder in my hip pack as it makes the bike feels more lively. Plus it's muddy as crap here at the moment and i'm sick of eating mud and faffing with a mud cap on my bottle.
Would love to have a Canfield in my collection, much $$$ to get one in Aus sadly.
Alloy sender is rad.
Just look at it like they have effectively increased the shocks length by 150mm (or however long the yoke is) - it has allowed them to position the shock further forward in the frame where it would usually have to interrupt the seat-tube etc and they may not be able to obtain the correct position to give the kinematics they want.
This is why I didn't get a Specialized Enduro 29 last spring. I had the first gen Enduro 29er, and after blowing up the rear shock, and watching my two buddies with the same bike blow their rear shocks on reasonable trails, I didn't go back.
Multi link bikes almost make this a non issue, it is particularly an issue with single pivot bikes, I imagine steel single pivots being worse if they have some engineered compliance.
I really doubt there is much in the way of axial load issues on this type of frame, with out without a yoke, unless it is a noodle that is.
Cylinders don’t have sides
I do think that any time you add a big lever to the shock you’re asking for trouble and it kind of seems a bit of a lazy option to me. But there’s a lot of that in bikes and not all of them look as rad as this one.
But bearings do feel a little smother
Could be worse, could be magura ...
@FindDigRideRepeat - Depends entirely on how they have designed the kinematics of this frame, you could make this kind of layout work brilliantly with a coil or on the other side you could make it so it is terrible with a coil shock - entirely down to kinematic choices but it looks like a standard rising rate suspension curve so I dont see why a coil wouldnt be fine.
Its like Santa Cruz 'owning' the term VPP - The bike industry loves to patent old tech and use buzz terms for marketing, you can add short-links like the DW / maestro into that one (though DW was pretty much the first to apply the tech with the aim of producing specific anti squat results etc)
@kickmehard it probably has a fairly traditional axle path, but the derailleur can be expected to swing in a bit since it’ll be a bit lower than the axle, but nothing drastic because of how it looks like the suspension moves
"...said upper arm members receiving a rear wheel axle at hub points located on a hub axis spaced above the horizon of said rear pivot axis..."
This same sort of thing is stated more clearly (IMO) in the other independent claims (15 & 18 ):
"...about a second pivot axis spaced below the hub axis..."
Interestingly, I think 1x drivetrains killed that patent on their own, regardless of pivot location:
"a crank mounted on the main frame for rotation about a crank axis, said crank having a _plurality_of_chainwheels_ [emphasis added..duh] of differing diameters fixed thereto"
I'm guessing it was written this way to differentiate it from the 'faux bar' where the rear pivot location is above the axle & brake mount AND means that the rear wheel is directly on a swingarm. Putting the true Horst link pivot above the axle most likely doesn't effect the torque isolation, but rather the amount of chain growth. The original patent was probably written poorly, like you said.
Gorgeous bike !!
Maybe Canyon just really went low cost with the 6066 (which was my guess), knowing that there's a CF version aswell. Radon have the Swoop only in Al, maybe they made it better.
I've never weighed/ridden a liteville, but isn't that supposed to be an example of how light Al frames can be, while still being durable?
Just compare the bearings on Radon and Canyon ...
www.knollybikes.com/delirium
Love those shapes
I need a Kleenex
Also Favorited
mrblackmorescorner.blogspot.com.es/2017/12/canyon-torque-2018.html
Putting all that aside I am seriously disappointed there’s no alloy frame available but the base spec is well priced. May have to do the old Kansas City Shuffle and stick all the parts on a steel hardtail frame and win back some currencies. People love steel hardtails here.
cheers
Let's say a maximum of 150kg is applied on the pedal, equivalent of 150*9.8=1470N, distance from axle : 175mm
Torque : 1470*0.175=257Nm
As much as my 1.9l diesel volvo.
Compare to pedelec motors if you wish... And their power of 250W is also less than what a fit biker can produce.
www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/blog/post/bosch-yamaha-ebikes-differences-explained
www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/JF/435/26-657.pdf