2023 was the year in which Canyon’s innovative product announcements and impressive sports performances stepped up a level – they now count 15 world champions on their rider roster. Let’s re-cap what happened this year.
New riders, more wins
At the start of 2023 Canyon announced a number of high-profile riders. Sam Pilgrim (UK), Mille Johnset (NO) and Jessie Melamed (CA) were warmly welcomed into their MTB CLLCTV. Heather Jackson (US) and Jasper Ockeloen (NL) joined their Gravel CLLCTV, Chelsea Sodaro (US), Sam Laidlow and Hayden Wilde (NZ) came on board to support Canyon in triathlon, and Fabien Barel (FR) and Alex Cure (FR) formed Canyon’s E-Enduro team.
Their medal haul of 12 golds at the UCI World Championships stood out in particular. That included Chloe Dygert winning the Individual Track Time Trial on the Speedmax CFR Track, and Mathieu van der Poel winning the Road World Championships on the Aeroad. Elsewhere, CANYON//SRAM Racing’s Kasia Niewiadoma won the Gravel World Championships on the Grail, Fabien Barel won the overall E-Enduro World Cup on the Strive:ON, and Sam Laidlow won the Triathlon World Championships on the Speedmax. That’s a total of 15 rainbow jerseys aboard Canyon bikes in the season ahead.
Product announcements
Their bike launches started in March with their updated Stoic and Exceed mountain bikes, four new Urban bikes including the Roadlite:ON, Pathlite:ON, Precede:ON and Commuter:ON, their new Neuron for all-day MTB adventures, and their ‘90’s inspired Grizl Throwback with its wild colour scheme.
Later on in spring, Canyon launched five new E-MTB models: the Grand Canyon:ON, Neuron:ON, Spectral:ON, Strive:ON and the Torque:ON.
And on the tarmac, the Aeroad turned heads thanks to two limited-edition models. The Aeroad CFR Tokyo Edition caught the eye with its stunning manga artwork, and Mathieu van der Poel’s special-edition Aeroad CFR MVDP drew attention with its exclusive decals and personalised colourways.
Canyon also made their debut in the world of flat pedals this year. With this new addition to their gear collection, the goal of the product was to give riders even more choice to complete their top-to-toe line-up of quality accessories for the trail.
Summer saw the launch of the Endurace. With a tagline of ‘Go Long’, this bike was designed to push boundaries when it comes to comfort. And the Canyon x Campagnolo collaboration equipped the Ultimate and Aeroad with new artwork and the latest Italian componentry.
Ahead of the UCI World Championships came the top-tier Speedmax CFR Track bike, which immediately proved its worth by winning two gold medals in Glasgow.
The new Inflite CFR with full internal cable routing landed just in time for the new cyclocross season. And the Speedmax CFR Moonshot with limited-edition artwork was made for Jan Frodeno’s final sendoff in the Triathlon World Championships.
Wider tyres got a look-in with the re-introduction of Canyon’s revolutionary ‘Keep It Stable’ steering tech on the Spectral Mullet K.I.S. And a new mullet option was introduced to the Torque family, offering a fast-rolling 29” wheel to take care of business up front and a rowdy 27.5” wheel to keep the party going out back.
But one of their biggest launches of the year was the introduction of the new Grail gravel bike, which set a new benchmark for the future of speed. And fresh in the memory the Lux Trail XC bike launched in November, rounding off a productive year of bike launches at Canyon.
Corporate news: the focus on innovation and customer-centricity
From a corporate perspective, it was a progressive year with their top employer award for the third year running and the opening of their new Headquarters and Innovation Lab cementing their mission be the most innovative and inspirational company in the bike industry. To give customers another face-to-face touchpoint, they also opened a new Canyon Factory Service location in Eindhoven.
The launch of the Canyon app in 2023 marked the evolution of the direct-to-consumer model and offered Canyon riders the ultimate digital bike companion., The app features bike service information, shopping options and stories, and plus a clever Bike Garage where riders can find all compatible spare parts and exploded drawings for their Canyon bikes. With this app, Canyon provides riders and fans with industry-leading features to deliver more personalised services and shopping experiences. Canyon even gazed into the future by imagining how app-based online shopping might look thanks to a pioneering study with Darmstadt University.
Finally, continuing the future-theme, Canyon entered into a partnership with the company IperionX for more sustainability in the bicycle industry. By using 100% low-carbon, recycled titanium from IperionX in bicycle components, Canyon’s aim is to drive the development of a more sustainable titanium supply chain for the bicycle industry.
Looking ahead
Canyon has always emphasized innovation and performance in their products and the athletes they work with. In the future, all services for Canyon customers and fans worldwide will be further expanded and perfected. We’re expecting Canyon to keep things inspiring in 2024, so keep a close eye on them in the year ahead.