My "Dream Bike" was a fail, so I bought this Canyon Spectral 125. 

We need to help Evan make waaaay more money, so he can make waaaay more of these reviews!

So stoked that you got this bike to review. I also purchased the Canyon Spectral al6. I’m a year into riding mtb and love this new wip. Can’t wait to see the upgrades you out in the Spectral.

I LOVE that you are honest with the negatives or rather pros and cons since every parts choice is a compromise somewhere. So many channels hype everything up and act like the product has no compromises. For example when you mentioned how the slacker head tube feels like it wants to jack knife in sharp turns. you could probably do a whole series of each geo feature and talk about the pro and cons and situations it's designed for and has issues with.

Its amazing how much better rider you are on this bike. so steezy dude 🤘

I am a huge fan or your videos, keep up the good work!🎉

Bought me one of these as my first MTB! Good to see other similar opinions on it. Hammers downhill, the suspension feels so capable. The weight, wheelbase and head angle make climbing a challenge (not helped by the rider...) but if you can set up the right line it seems to just grip and motor through, as long as you can keep pedalling.

THIS WAS SO GOOD!! Thank you thank you thank you for the time and effort and love you put into these videos!!

Hi Evan! You had to do a video of unboxing and assembling you new bike. It's very awesome!😍😍😍❤. Im looking forward for another video on your channel.

this is my first time watching Evan in quite a while and to see how much he's grown in the past year really makes me happy; keep at it man! love the new content too!

Thank you for trying so hard on your videos you always make them the best

Hi, man. Tbh I saw it coming with all your problems with your 'dream bike' but I'm stoked to see you on this one!

super helpful that my favorite mtb channel reviewed the bike i was planning on getting

hell yeah. glad to see you on something that suits you so much better. your riding style seemed too aggressive for the yeti. i got a norco optic, which is a very similar bike to this one and i gotta say short travel bikes can be lots of fun, especially when coming from a 170/160mm bike. long travel is where my heart lies but i have a special place in my heart for short travel bikes that ride like long travel bikes

I love the way you reviewed it. Straight and kinda reveal the bike's potentials. Your Indonesian fan 🤘

Love the musics you use !!! Amazing bike and amazing video ! I have the Canyon Spectral CF8 2020 and it is the best bike I ever rode!

Great video Evan! 🤠I agree with Jared, that longer wheelbase provides a more confident and stable ride. I prefer that myself, being a big guy... the long bikes just feel better for me. Looks like the Spectral is a winner for Bentonville trails!

Sweet ride. I still ride a 2013 Stumpjumper 29er alloy w a 68 headtube and 72 seat tube. The reach and wheelbase are shorter but the bike is 150mm fork and 130mm rear. Why I keep upgrading it is exactly what you noticed... Weight. My bike is 30# packed w tools, tube, and water bottle. It jibs great and rides stable at 25 mph. I live in OH so you rarely have extended downs for higher speeds. I have demoed LLS bikes and they just don't cut it on my steep twisty climbs. This is the bike I would get if I were to go modern and ride parks. Great review. I have about $4K into my bike over the years. Lol.

Ayo that's crazy I got a polygon d7 because of you a month ago then felt like I needed an upgrade and got a canyon torque al 5, keep the canyon videos comin🤟🤟

How awesome to live near all of that. Congrats on the move. You made a comment before about the Yeti not feeling as good as the Modified D5 as well. the Suspension of the Canyon looks similar to the Siskiu with different Geo :)

Hands down the best I have seen you ride a bike you have gotten bro! Look forward to see what you do with it! Bentonville looks amazing! Love seeing you do some old BMX skills with your manueling and taps!

Really great to see appreciation for lower end builds. Even though they look nicer, high end parts are more nice to have, rather than need to have. I have tried both low, mid and high end. Mid end is definitely where you get the most for your money, which it is clear Canyon have gone with

The effective top tube would be the room for your knees when pedaling, the reach would be when standing.

80’s style action show synthesizer music at the end, nice!

My bro I literally saved up 2 years for a mountain bike and when I finally had the money this beauty came out. I decided to buy it. Got it 3 months ago, literally the exact same model, exact same size and color. I am so happy with it. Pretty cool!

Been watching u for quite some time, it looks that you’re more confident with this rig than the last one. 🤙🏼

Those trails look amazing ... binging your channel, you've really progressed in a short time and I love the content! I know the feeling of getting a fancy, expensive bike, then realizing is not really everything you wanted. I got an X01 built on my enduro, and quickly realized I don't like carbon cranks or handlebars. And a lot has to do with what you're riding ... Like my trail bike, I might prefer drivetrain and wheels over suspension and dropper post. Or durability might come at the expense of weight on my enduro.

Nice video. Glad you and Jared @Curecycling can catch up and make a great video. Big fan of both channels.

I have the spectral 160mm 27,5 version, it’s a great do it all bike. From trails to bike parks. Really playfull bike.

Omg I am legit looking into buying this bike, thank you so much for showing me it’s capabilities

Nice riding! 👏Like the focus on value.

So I have a canyon 125 in a size Large (I am 6'1 200lbs). I agree with this whole video! first thing that felt a bit off for me was the head tube angle and how the bike wanted to "jackknife" when turning. I am used to it now but initially, it felt a bit odd. I also agree with the weight, its a bit heavy so I could see the carbon wheels being a really nice addition! I don't really mind it though. My only wish is I wish I could make it a mullet for a bit more playfulness. Overall its a great bike and I am surprised how capable it is for its low travel!

We can already seethe progress💪🏻

Great video mate! The tendency for the fork to want to roll to the side at slow speed is caused by the slack HTA, and is certainly a tradeoff for the stability at speed. Something to consider for those who do a lot of slow/techy climbing.

This is a sick build. For some reason I was thinking it was 150/150 but that’s the perfect amount of travel 🔥🔥🔥

Great vid. Those are some awesome trails!

I had a 2018 Canyon Spectral. LOVED IT. Would still have it, but it broke. But Canyon took really great care of me. They didn’t have any replacement frames in stock, so they gave me a full refund. Yeah, FULL REFUND. After riding the bike hard for 3 years they wrote me a check for a full refund inclusive of tax and shipping. They also offered me a 10% discount on a new Canyon but unfortunately didn’t have any in stock and wouldn’t for months. So you have a great bike backed by a great company with awesome customer service.

Make the fork progressive and on the stiffer side and it’s a winner. I have a Scott Genius that has 140/130 @11kg. It’s a winner and the twin-lock is the icing on the cake! Happy riding.

Wow, just stumbled across this video/channel. Really well produced! The 34lbs weight is oddly heavy for a bike of that category.

Love the 80's movie theme music in the back!

Welcome to the short travel gang, the Spectral 125 is super similar to my Norco Optic, at 5'10", the large fits me perfectly and not far off the Medium Spectral. These new school short travel bikes are a lot of fun!

Those wheels held me back not due to the weight but the hub. With only 18pt of engagement it made it difficult to clear some really chunky stuff. Switch to a higher engaging hub (72 pts) and it’s made a difference

Good choice, big Canyon fanboi. I ride the Spectral CF7 ebike, mullet setup w 150mm front and rear. Absolutely love the bike

Man Evan your vids have gotten so much better and produced! Great Job! And that bump manny jump you did was sweet! Bmx move for sure!

I have the same bike and using it for almost six months and i love it.

Just got back from Bentonville yesterday, the Castle had some great trails!

Yeah I can definitely tell this bike feels more at home for you. You were definitely doing better on it than the yeti for sure🤘🔥

Love the new bike! Glad you made it to bentonville, ill be moving there in 6months! How are the trails compared to the desert we are used to?!

Canyon bikes always seem to give really good value for the price. I got my Orbea Occam for the same price with a 150mm fox 36 and 140mm fox float x but it was on sale and didn't come with 4 piston brakes.

Great video!!!! Considering buying this bike!!! I like the 80s music at the end lmao😂. Makes me feel like a kid again!!

Another good video Evan. I've been watching you from the beginning and it's great seeing how you've progressed and your videos keep getting better and better. Your earlier stuff convinced me to purchase a Vitus Mythique which I loved. When I decided to upgrade again I seriously looked at the spectral but decided to go with the new all carbon Vitus Escarpe instead....the frame is outstanding...better bang for the buck than canyon in my humble opinion. You should check it out!

Welcome to the Canyon Family! 👏👏👏

Just grabbed this on the trail sale for $2300. Can't wait for it to come in.

Spectral 125 looks perfect for your riding style. Congratulations!

It’s amazing how much more confident you look on this bike, so much more steeze!

Love your videos dude!

This video gave me so much "RAD" the movie vibes. Loved it.

love the 80s style music, reminds me of those old coming-of-age BMX movies.

Looking mad stylish out there my dude :)

Gotta canyon strive and im going on 3 1/2 years and thousands of miles on it and cant replace it just yet..that shapshifter works so well and i use it every time i climb and descend..killer bike

Another great video Evan! Huge fan here 🤙

You've progressed so much in your riding since i started watching... that was waaaaaay back haha

My home trails are in Kenya, Africa hoping to ride NW Arkansas late next spring!

Can’t think of a better place to own a short travel trail bike. It also reminds me of my optic.

Nice choice! You really can't go wrong with Canyon 2022 models, happy Torque owner here. Those G5 stem and handlebar are pretty heavy, so you can shave off some weight by upgrading them to something you prefer.

Those Arkansas trails look great on the Tube!

Glad you like this bike welcome to the canyon gang🎉

Sick new bike man!! What are you going to do with the yeti? Do you have plans on using some of the parts on the yeti on the canyon?

Crispy edit man! Love it, and I’m taking notes! 📝

Those trails are smooth enough for a rigid bike. Cool vid

Responding to Yeti carbon frame being flexy, my Fezzari Delano Peak (135 DPX/150 Fox36, ShimXT) is carbon and doesn't feel flexy at all. And total weight with pedals when I first got it, no upgrades, was 32lbs. Paid 4600. Love it.

Interesting! Got myself a Canyon "this year" as well, pretty happy overall. :)

You should check out Fezzari, I think you would really enjoy their bike (value for price) plus the customization of it all. Happy to help if you have any questions about them or the process

You should do like fan ride one day with your viewers In Bentonville. Let the locals show you some of the gems around here!

One of the best riding videos so far 🤌

Nicr vid. It'd be really really awesome if you'd show some longer travel enduro bikes like canyon strive canyon torque or trek slash and so on.

i love the look of those frames!

You should get the 2023 Scott genius and I bet you will have nothing to complain about.

I can really see Evan's progression as a rider over the past year. The way he does the jumps is so much more natural now. Way to go! Definitely a good motivation for me to keep on pushing my limits and improve!

With tight switch backs, and a slack fork angle, you need to go with the flow and always pedal well going up. Once you stop pedaling, gravity seems to take over with a fork angle like that. But so Fun, my Son was riding one of the Canyon bikes that have the 170mm travel and that new pedal power lock on the shock system that makes the bike feel less like a enduro bike and more like a trail bike, just with a push of a button. But that bike is just over 7k. The good thing is he said was he didn’t need to buy two different bikes to ride. He is in California now from Colorado riding my 25 year old DH bike, but now testing out that Canyon, he may be heading there to San Diego to pick one up this next week. My bike now feels like a dino 🦖 to him 😢 haha

I personally would have opted for the 160mm spectral al6 but that is one nice bike

If i am taking jumps i lock my suspension just a little more so it does not hit the bottom (get around 7/10 of the fork) really helped me

For those trails, based on what I see in the video, you should be fine on any 100-130 XC/trail bike. Pretty buff smooth trails, which look really fun, but as soon as you get some place with a lot more jank, you will appreciate how smooth stuff at home is. Suspension brand choice and setup on any full sus can make or break its handling . For example, if your jumping a lot you will want to increase pressures or add tokens to increase the progression to avoid bottom out. Also pay attention to tire pressure as you can burp or even blow tires off if you overload them. Reach is a really bad measurement as seat and head tube angle can play a huge role in how the bike fits while riding, but unfortunately the industry doesn't have a great measurement to tell you if a size is going to feel too short etc. I used to ride large frames for most of the 38 years I have been on mtbs, now all I buy is XLs and still need to run 65mm stems on most. Which is a good tip, you can play with stem length to get more room in the cockpit. With the boom in the sport in Bentonville, I suggest you find a local suspension tuner (if there is one) or talk to the team at Push (in Colorado) or Vorsprung ( in BC) and have them help you dial in your suspension for what ever brand you have on a bike. I believe Ohlins has to be dialed and you need to ride really hard to get it to "feel" good, where as Fox is way more main stream, so out of the box it will feel good to mainstream riders.

And again I see why US is the heaven for mountain biking, I can agree with the video it's not an expensive bike, but the places where it can be ridden on are so diverse and fun.

Thanks for your finding on this bike. How do you compare this Canyon bike with Poygon T8. I don't know which one is better. Thanks for your reply.

I remember reading in “import tuner” or “super street” why spend all the money to build what you want? When you can just buy it. Article was about an s15.

The new spectral platform rides amazing, but the Current debacle over the CF frames and the BB shells failing is getting dumb as hell. - nearly every frame is affected. The alloy ones have been holding up great... which is weird as most brands alloy frames suck these days.

Great color on this bike Evan! Great review. My ripmo af is on the way and this has me amped. They had slx option but I had to go with the red savina color deore. I want to know which commenters would choose, ripmo af or spectral al6?

Here in Germany this exact bike is only 2999€ but I think it's slightly bigger brother. the Spectral 29 AL 5 (not 125) is also pretty good for 2599€

Not gonna lie the trek slash has great geometry as well. Canyon spectral geometry is great too, especially the mullet ones.

I'm still on a 2018 Yeti Sb4.5. Imo, it's the greatest short travel bike ever made. 140/115. Plus I got it back when you could get bikes on sale, it was 35% off, just a bit over 4k. Oh, those were the days....

i have the exact same bike adn i love it i think you will like it even more if you keep riding it it takes a while to get used to (by the way i love your videos) :)

You deserve way more subscribers! Keep it up

let's go! this thing looks beautiful

I've had the same mtb for 3 months (black/White) - I love it😍. Will we see upgrades on the bike again in the future? In Germany I got it for 3000 euro it is about 2.9 k usd😅

I live in bentonville! You should do group ride !!

Love your channel

I got my first mountain bike this summer a specialized chisel. But will upgrade to the canyon cf9 this winter.

I had issues with the old 2017 Spectral Al frame - the chain stay welds kept cracking. Canyon warranty is good, but a little slow. Canyon let me upgrade to the carbon frame (for another £400) & it has been perfect since. Not needed to "baby" the carbon frame in any way (except invis).

Hey Evan I think you should really try out the trek top fuel it feels like an Enduro bike on the downhills but feels like a cross-country bike on the up hills. Plus the bonuses of having a great progressive platform. In my opinion this is a great bike but considering I use it for my cross-country bike says a lot so I would recommend the trek top fuel. Now it’s not the best budget bike but its amazing if you get the right one.

so happy that you moved to bentonVille, You should come and ride in Little Rock