Neues Canyon Exceed Review

Canyon distances itself from ultimate lightweight construction with its Exceed Hardtail. Instead of focusing on gram-counting, the newly developed hardtail for 2025 aims at more features for adventurers. Is the Exceed encroaching on the gravel bike segment?

Mountain bike hardtails were the best-selling mountain bikes for decades. The good balance of price and weight and their simple technical design offered a huge appeal for mountain bikers—beginners, tour riders, alpine crossers, and racers—all found joy in them.

However, with increasingly extreme trails and better full-suspension bikes, the fan base of hardtails has significantly shrunk in recent years. The former jack-of-all-trades have recently been primarily sold based on price alone. Even though we have a different opinion and still focus intensely on weight, this topic has lost its significance in perception. And anyone who recently wanted a robust, carefree bike often opted for a gravel bike. The combination of a curved drop handlebar and light off-road tires is simply in vogue now.

With the customer base getting smaller, many manufacturers are currently starting to rethink their hardtails. Rose is focusing more on trail fun with its PDQ, featuring 120 mm of travel and a dropper post. Liteville, Mondraker Chrono DC review, and Merida are taking the same approach with new hardtails. Canyon is going against the trend and aims to captivate adventurers with a passion for multi-day tours with the new Exceed.

With its 100 mm of travel and rigid seatpost, Canyon is taking a classic approach. Unlike Cube with its Phenix, they prioritize lightweight construction over luggage transport options.

The frame can accommodate three bottle cages (two on the mainframe, one on the underside of the down tube). Inside the down tube is a storage compartment that provides space for a multitool, spare tube, and small snacks. There’s even a form-fitting large frame bag available as original equipment. A “butt rocket” (very large saddlebag) can also easily be mounted to the rigid post. This is not readily possible with dropper posts.

The design for ample storage naturally takes its toll in other areas. With just under 11 kilos, our test bike at a price of €4000 is not exactly light. For comparison, the old Exceed weighed 1.5-2 kilos less at a similar price point.

However, you wouldn’t want to attach a frame bag to the ultra-thin and especially thin-walled top tube of the old bike. With the more robust frame design, the weight also increases, with 1400 grams putting it in the same ballpark as Roses PDQ frame. An aluminum frame like that of the Liteville H3, on the other hand, is another 400 grams heavier.

In addition to the storage compartment in the downtube, which uses the same closure as the Canyon Lux Trail tested , there are other noteworthy details on the frame. The integrated steering limiter in the headset protects the top tube from damage by brake or shift levers in the event of a fall or if the bike tips over. The rear triangle and downtube also come with protective stickers applied at the factory.

The integrated seat clamp not only ensures a clean look but also gives the seat post a little more flex due to its lower position. This increases seating comfort.

The screw-in BSA bottom bracket makes maintenance easier. However, routing cables through the head tube requires a bit more craftsmanship if you want to run a cable there. On our test bike, only the brake line runs to the rear anyway.

The cables are routed inside the frame through integrated carbon guides. The work here is very clean. With SRAM’s UDH derailleur hanger, you can install current transmission drivetrains. The frame can also be used with mechanical shifting systems.

The old Exceed hardtail featured an almost horizontal top tube. This gave the frame a visually large appearance and also resulted in a practically high standover height. In the new Exceed, the top tube slopes more steeply, which is especially noticeable when standing with both feet on the ground over the top tube in rough terrain. The increased standover clearance is certainly appreciated.

Otherwise, Canyon offers its carbon hardtail in 5 frame sizes from XS to XL, covering a range of heights from 156-202 cm. Our test bike was a size L, which was at the upper limit for a rider at 180 cm tall. Canyon’s factory recommendation for someone 180 cm is actually an M bike, and we would agree with that.

In hardtails, the seat comfort that comes from the flex in the seat post is often highlighted. However, in practical perception, this is indistinguishable from the cushioning of the robust 2.35 Maxxis tire. Whether the comfort comes from one or the other is up for debate. In any case, the new Exceed is not a rigid old-school sparring partner but rather provides a pleasant riding experience both while seated and standing.

Canyon’s leaf spring-like carbon seat post certainly enhances this feel, but it’s only available on the top model for €5000. The carbon handlebar-stem unit is also reserved for the top model. However, with the Exceed CF 8, you already benefit from Sram’s new Eagle Transmission drivetrain, which performs flawlessly under load. Additionally, the high-quality carbon wheels, with their low rotational mass, impart a sense of lightness during acceleration despite the relatively high overall weight.

While you’re cruising swiftly and comfortably on gravel or easy forest trails, a weakness becomes apparent in real terrain. As soon as you turn onto the singletrack, as a biker, you instinctively try to drop the saddle with your left thumb. But your thumb finds nothing. Even on easy trails, the high saddle noticeably restricts your freedom of movement on the bike.

As an experienced rider, you quickly adapt to these conditions, but the fun of riding and safety suffer from the lack of a dropper post. Additionally, the Sram Level brakes with their slender two-piston calipers are not exactly powerhouses. When riding hard on the trail or when considering loading this bike for multiday tours with ample gear, you wish for a bit more stopping power.

The good news. All this can be fixed. The frame is prepared for internal routing of a seat post cable. And on the more affordable models for 1999 – 2999 €, stronger Shimano brakes are used. Also, the frame is cleared for a 120mm fork, so the bike can be set up differently.

We had the CF 8, the second most expensive model of the bike, in our test. Anyone focused on price and weight will quickly notice that the CF 6 and CF 7 models are significantly more attractive in these aspects, as they are priced at 2499 and 2999€ respectively, yet they are in the same weight class. From an equipment standpoint, the Exceed CF 5 almost competes with the Grand Canyon’s top model with an aluminum frame.