Canyon Inflite AL 8.0

Over the years Canyon has carved a name for itself as a purveyor of top drawer bicycles at down-to-earth prices. Nairo Quintana and the Movistar team enjoyed a highly successful 2015 Tour de France riding Canyons, and the brand’s cross bikes translate that race winning pedigree to the off-road market.

As you’d expect with a bike costing just over £1,000, the heart of the Inflite AL 8.0 is an aluminium frameset paired with a carbon fork. Skinny seatstays and asymmetric chainstays help to increase comfort and reduce weight without sacrificing pedalling efficiency, and the top tube has been flattened on its underside to make it easy to shoulder in a cross race.

‘We’re keen to offer value for money without losing riding performance,’ says Canyon’s road product manager, Sebastian Jadczak. ‘Alloy is therefore a perfect choice and an excellent compromise. A carbon version would cost £250-£350 more per bike. But still we are offering top quality and very durable components, such as our VCLS 2.0 seatpost.’

Vertical Compliance, Lateral Stiffness (VCLS ) is Canyon’s solution to enhancing rider comfort without harming power delivery. For the chainstays that means the drive side is beefed up to cope with extra load, and for the seatpost it involves a clever leaf spring system to offer damping in the vertical plane without weakness in the lateral plane – crucial for accurate handling and stability when riding seated through fast corners.

A Shimano 105 groupset provides slick shifting with longevity, though the chainset, as per several other manufacturers, has been replaced with the non-series RS500 chainset to help keep the overall price down. Braking comes courtesy of the mechanical Shimano CX77 system, which is very close to Shimano’s hydraulic systems in terms of performance, and offers home mechanics a far easier time when it comes to maintenance – there’s no complicated brake bleeding required here.

As with several other bikes at this price the Inflite is also a versatile beast. Rack and guard mounts plus wide tyre clearances mean it can tour with panniers attached, as well as being used through winter for road-based training. It’s a well-detailed package at a competitive price, with a real do-it-all mentality. 

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