Introducing The All-New Canyon Spectral:ONfly Lightweight e-MTB | Dive into the Details

This thing is like ridiculous, it's not even, it doesn't even feel like an e-bike. Look at this, the ultimate play machine. You won't need another bike. E-mountain bikes are awesome. The big batteries allow us to go even further and ride even more trails. The high torque motors allow us to go up ridiculously steep climbs and keep us fresh for the fun part going back down. While we love riding high torque e-mountain bikes, there's still something very special about a non-motorized trail bike. Just how it pops off jumps, how it riffs through turns and how fun it is to ride. People say you can't have a bike with true trail agility and enough power on tap to pull you to the top of the steepest climbs. Yes, it powers up. Incredible. A bike that is all thriller and no filler. So Canyon just threw out the rule book and engineered an enigma. Introducing the all-new trail-taming EMTB, the Spectra OnFly. To make a lighter and leaner e-mountain bike, we needed a lighter and leaner drive unit. Powering the Spectra OnFly is the HPR50 from the e-bike innovators at TQ. The motor's coming in at just a hair over 1,800 grams, which allows for the Spectra OnFly to be fly and super light, but also seamlessly integrate into the frame. It's got a super sleek top tube display and handlebar remote. Honestly, when I pulled this bike out of the box, I was so surprised that it was an e-bike. I had to do a double take. It is so slim, so sleek. Its compact size means we can position the battery and the motor lower, closer to center of gravity, which is going to be better weight distribution and be more stable on the trails. Weight and dimensions aside, the real magic of this drive unit lies in the way it delivers the power. The 300 watts of peak power and 50 newton meters of torque feed into the pedals smoothly and silently, creating one of the most intuitive and controllable e-bike systems out there. TQ's HPR50 is working with you on the climbs, not for you. It's not designed to give you a full push through the pedals like the high torque e-mountain bikes are. We've worked closely with TQ to tune the three support modes perfectly to match the trail bike characteristic of the Spectra OnFly. Eco mode gives you 60% assistance, which allows you to travel further distances and lets you dig deeper on the climbs. Although the harder you push, the more the motor gives back. So if you forget to switch out of eco on a big climb, you're still going to make it to the top with ease. I think the mid mode is the perfect Goldilocks setting. It has a 100% assist factor and is the perfect setting for local loops and after work rides. High mode sets the assist at 180%, which unlocks 300 watts of power from the motor. So even in your worst days, your legs feel like the best. All the modes are completely tunable, so you can put in your own settings. If the terrain or your riding style calls for something different. The TQ HBR 50 is fed by a fully integrated 360 watt-hour battery. But don't think a smaller and lighter battery will cut you short in range. For an 85 kilogram rider, this setup will scale up to 1000 meters of vertical using a mix of eco and mid modes. Perfect for a two-hour shred. True trail bike needs trail bike geometry. This one comes with a pretty slack head angle at 64 degrees, which will get you down any steep or outrageously rough track that you can find anywhere in the world. We extended the chainstay length to 440 millimeters. 11 millimeters longer than the standard Spectral. This helps to keep the front end from lifting. On those steep pitches, e-mountain bikes usually get pointed at. Some of you may be wondering if the extended rear center affects the agility and playfulness of the bike. Well, we wanted to make this feel as close to the original Spectral as possible. So we've opted for the mullet setup across the whole Spectral on-fly range. The 29er on the front helps hold speed and gives you loads of grip while flying down the trails. Where the 27.5 on the rear helps you whip it around and makes the agility of the bike everything you could ever want. Freaking hero, Derek Hughes. So compared to its non-motorized sibling, the Spectral on-fly has an increased 10 millimeters of travel to compensate for the extra sprung mass caused by the drive unit. So you have 160 millimeters in front and 150 millimeters in the rear. But on the trails, you can still expect that same blend of fun-loving pop mixed with traction-hunting compliance. Center stage of our latest development is an all-new carbon frame. Taking inspiration from our latest Spectral CF mountain bike chassis, you'll have a hard time telling those two apart on the trail. Starting with the weight. An astonishingly light 2,650 grams make them virtually identical. Combined with a lightweight TQ motor, this leads us to full bike weights as low as 18.1 kilograms. Only three and a half to four kilograms heavier than the standard Spectral. Now this flyweight e-bike is built tough and carries the same enduro-proof strength rating as our world-beating Strive on CFR platform. So you can ride down pretty much every trail with 100% confidence. To keep your bike running like a dream ride after ride, we've opted for double-sealed bearings and threaded inserts. So if you mess up like I do when fixing your bike, you can switch it out and your bike won't be destroyed. Whether you're traveling light or preparing for a massive day in the hills, Canyon have integrated storage space underneath the top tube for your favorite snacks or tools for your whole day out. On the down tube is space on all frame sizes for a standard 600 milliliter bottle and side loader cage. If you run the XL frame, then you can squeeze on a 750 milliliter bottle. But if you're looking for more capacity, then using our Fidlock system, you can get an 850 milliliter bottle on all frame sizes. The down tube also holds this little puppy, the TQ range extender. With 160 watt-hours, the additional battery gives you juicy 44% more range. Perfect for those big days. Like its non-motorized sibling, the Spectral OnFly comes standard with a keep it stable steering stabilization. So this nifty little device sits inside your frame and connects the top tube with your fork steer to give it that centering effect. So with KISS, the bike's going to feel more predictable and more stable through those sections where you wouldn't necessarily feel like it would be. And there you have it. That's our new lightweight trail ripper, the Spectral OnFly. So if you crave a nimble and light-footed trail mountain bike, but want a bit more power through the pedals to fast forward up the hills, this is the bike for you.