Canyon Strive ES8 Review (€2700)
The Canyon Strive ES8 is a super all round bike. With 160mm travel its a real Enduro Race bike.
4.5 StarsRide and Feel
With 160mm travel front and rear, a slack 66.5 degree head angle while still only weighing 13.5 kg makes this a super Enduro Race bike. This bike has been made to be ridden hard. The big 2.4" Shwalbe Fat Albert tyres help you to ride as fast as you can down trails.The bike shines on real technical and fast trails. It's super stiff so its well up for anything you can throw at it. The back end stays planted on the ground unless you want to leave the ground! This helps to Hold the ground even through the roughest trails without fear.
When heading up hill, it makes it up without any problems. A flick of the RP2 shock into Propedal and you'll glide back up the hill. It certainly not a bike for racing up hill so there's no point trying to push it up the hills.
Frame and Equipment
The Canyons frame quite different with the 270box in the centre and its swooping Downtube and Toptube. It is however quite a light frame for an Enduro Frame.Up front the bike has A Fox 36 Talas RC2 FIT Fork which works extremely well at absorbing the hits and bumps. It has plenty of adjustments which makes it one of the most vesitile forks there is. It has a Rockshox Reverb so the saddle is out of the way on the descents. I have change the bike from a 2x10 Setup to running it with a Superstar Plasma chain guide and a single ring to quiet down the bike as well as to stop any potential chain drop during a race. The drivetrain is a Shimano XT which is pro forming brilliantly with crisp gear changes and super smooth running. The only let down on the bike has been the 
Sun Ringle Charger Pro Wheels.I've gone through 3 sets of bearings in the rear hub and a set in the front as there is no seals on the hubs.The brakes are Avid Elixer 7's which do a super job of stopping you when bating down trails flat out. For more info on the 2013 Canyon Strive ES8 Follow the link: http://www.canyon.com/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=3047
Good stuff Scott, nice review. If you want to borrow the AL+ and do a comparison review, give us a shout. It was almost a coin toss between the two for me, could be interesting to do a side-by-side. Cormac.
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