TITLE: Electric mountain bike + 32° Spanish heat = an interesting experience
I recently got away from the UK for a long overdue trip to Mallorca, a place I’ve visited many times before and spent many hours riding the awesome trails and paths on a mountain bike. So I was massively keen to get back on the trails, only this time, as it was August and averaging 32 degrees blazing sunshine, I decided to hire an electric bike. Now for the record, I’m a traditional mountain bike guy, through and through. For me, nothing beats the effort exerted by powering under my own steam, and I love the feeling after a hard day’s ride. But given the weather conditions in Mallorca, plus my natural inquisitiveness as an all-round bike lover, I decided to go electric.
The bike in question: a Canyon Neuron: ON 8. Considered one of the best in its class, I felt pretty excited to see how it would perform.
Key stats on the Canyon Neuron:
- Frame: Aluminium
- Groupset: Shimano XT 12 speed
- Wheels: Shimano MT510/400
- Suspension: RockShox 35 Silver, 130 mm 29″, RockShox Deluxe Select R, 130mm
- Brakes: Shimano Deore
- Drive unit: Shimano EP8
- Battery: Shimano BT-E8036, 630Wh (S 504Wh)
- Size: L (29”)
I hired the bike for a week from a great company called Rad International in Mallorca. They’re a German-based company with two shops on the island. The guys there are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. They gave me an intro to the bike – very easy to use menu, nice on/off button in the centre frame – and the charging process, which again was super easy, just plug in for a few hours and the once a green light appears, you’re good to go. So I got kitted up, checked the bike was fitted properly and set off on the trails. For the majority of the time, I was going to be flying solo, so took advantage of going at my own pace and skill level. I got stuck in to the full range of mountainous trails, from XC-style to natural technical with featured sections, switch backs, rock gardens, climbs and descents and fast flowing trails. The island’s also has a bike park with a good mix of graded DH runs that were awesome. Mallorca is pretty well set-up for cycle tourism, major road routes have dedicated cycle lanes so I really enjoyed piecing together the ultimate loop of trails, roads and descent climbs combined with scoring some epic views! And speaking of epic views, I took the opportunity to try out some new GoPro settings – check out the results on Youtube .
The days riding with other people who were less experienced riders covered smoother terrains and more cross-country-style riding, some road riding and a few coffee shop stops.
So…how was the bike?
I am genuinely happy to report that my skepticism on electric bikes was unnecessary, the Canyon Neuron was very impressive. When riding down trails, whether they were tight technical descents with rock gardens and tree stumps or cross country trails, the bike was super planted. It felt very stable on descents, turn in was sharp and positive, no understeer and pushing on. I’ll admit, due to the weight of the bike, I was expecting some of that, but was pleasantly surprised to find none of it and it was very confidence-inspiring. One rider in my group, a very amateur rider, even commented how confident and safe they felt.
What was really great about the bike was that even when climbing up technical, very steep, trails, there was no sense of the front lifting. Even in the lowest gears, there was plenty of traction and the bike climbed extremely well.
Us electric bike skeptics can also be concerned about battery life, but once again, the Canyon Neuron found a way to shut me up! I was out for three hours in the morning, doing around 30-35km plus a further 10km in the afternoon. Each day this only used one of five bars of battery, pretty solid considering for 75% of the time, given the terrain and the weather conditions, I was riding in full ‘boost mode’ (what can I say, it was really hot!).
Just on that note this model’s three modes, Eco, Trail and Boost give a great assist range, and allow you to decide for yourself how hard you want to work.
And the heat…?
Knowing full well what to expect from the weather I did have some concerns, but the trained coach within me talked me round and made sure I was fully prepared (water, cool clothing, full repair kit etc). However, I can’t take credit for surviving the heat, that all goes to the bike itself. The assist was so good and powered us over a fantastic mix of terrains. The fact that the heat didn’t affect us all that much had to be down to the assist.
So what’s the verdict?
As soon as I got back after the first day of riding, after taking a cold shower, I checked out the price on the Canyon website, and was genuinely blown away by the reasonable price. After 2020, we’ve all seen the prices in the mountain bike world shoot up, whether it’s bikes or parts, new or used, so this was a very pleasant surprise especially given the performance I’d seen from day one.
It really did have everything you would want from a all-round mountain bike: super compliant, super comfortable suspension, very balanced, very powerful motor (EP8 – one of the newer motors, loads of torque, loads of power). It had a great range of gears, very progressive brakes with no brake fade. Also the combination of the 29” wheels and the shorter travel worked perfectly as an all-round mountain bike. I would say it could’ve had a bit more suspension on some of the steeper descents but this model isn’t particularly designed for that type of ride, check out the next model up for more of an enduro-focused bike.
My only real criticism was the weight of the bike, but this only mattered when moving it around to charge, once you were on and boosting up a mountain, it wasn’t a problem at all.
Also, when the assist modes are in play, speed is limited to 25km per hour, which looks like a present safety feature. As an adrenaline junkie, I’m always happy with a bit more speed, so I found a way around that…when you’re freewheeling down a hill for example, the bike would let you go as fast as you could get it to go! I believe you can take these restrictions off but let’s save remapping electric bikes for another blog post! I should also caveat my comments on speed, of course, with always ride responsibly.
What does this mean then? Am I ditching my mountain bike for electric? No, definitely not, but I am more than happy to say that there is absolutely a place for electric bikes in the cycling world. They bring their own unique benefits and traits that can really enhance a riding experience. The Canyon Neuron in particular was very impressive and I’d highly recommend it. As a Coach and Guide, I’d happily suggest electric bikes depending on the circumstances, and will definitely take my chance to ride one again when I can.
Thanks again to Rad International for the hire services and to Canyon for making some pretty awesome electric bikes that stopped me from getting heat stroke!
