Canyon has a new short-travel ripper out, and the Spectral 125 takes the aggressive geometry characteristics of its 160mm-travel sibling and cuts the rear travel down by 35mm. The Spectral 125 will also be available in 27.5″, 29″, and mixed-wheel options. The bike is paired with a 140mm fork.
The Spectral 125 gets some added anti-squat and a sleek frame design, on top of a 64° head tube angle — which is a notably slack front end for a short travel trail bike, though head tube angles on XC/trail bikes like the Ibis Ripley AF and Rocky Mountain Element have also been inching more closely toward the 65° HTA area.
Canyon says they also optimized the carbon fiber layup process on this frame to shave weight. The Spectral 125 sits at 2,500g and the aluminum Spectral 125 frame weighs 3,000g.
Another thing to note is that Canyon has ditched the flip-chip on the aluminum model in the spirit of “keeping things simple.” Instead, they’ve decided on a low bottom bracket, a slack head angle, and a steep seat tube angle which are used on the carbon Spectral 125’s low setting.
On a medium, that means 460mm of reach, a 76° seat tube angle, 437mm chainstays (across sizes), and a 1,230mm wheelbase.
Canyon has five different Spectral 125 models available today: two alloy models and three carbon fiber models. The Spectral 125 5 has a Shimano Deore groupset, with a RockShox 35 Gold fork, and sells for $2,899. Builds top out at $6,299. For more information see the Canyon website.
