Canyon Neuron:ONfly eMTB review: Agile, powerful, and affordable
Canyon released a lightweight carbon fiber eMTB that has significantly increased the fun of exploring mountain trails while still priced less than $5,000.
Hyperdrive Hits
5/5 Medals of Yavin: Advanced electric mountain bike sporting high performance components with a light weight carbon fiber body and a price less than $4,800.
Bosch Performance Line SX mid-drive motor with left thumb remote
Dropper seat post, 29” wheels, RockShox suspension
400 Wh battery with expansion capability
Aggressive tire tread for flawless trail riding
I bought my first eMTB earlier this year with the Velotric Summit 1 since I am intimately familiar with the Velotric brand of e-bikes. The thrill of riding single track trails around western Washington has been awesome and I cannot believe I am just getting into this mode of riding after turning 55.
Recently, the folks representing Canyon reached out about the opportunity to test out one of its newer light weight eMTB models, the Canyon Neuron:ONfly CF7, that retails for $4,799. When you look across the MTB landscape, this is an affordable bike for the technology it offers and then consider that an electric motor is integrated into the bike to help you turn a few runs up and down the mountain into a full day of exhilaration.
The Velotric Summit 1 is a $2,000 eMTB and while I do enjoy that experience, it is a fairly heavy bike at 62 pounds. The Canyon Neuron:ONfly weighs in at just 41 pounds and that 21 pound savings was the first thing I noticed as I pulled the bike from its box.
Rating:
As explained in my palmsolo’s Refresh Rating Scale post, I’m awarding the Canyon Neuron:ONfly CF7 five (5) Medals of Yavin. I was planning to spend money upgrading my Velotric Summit 1, but after riding the Canyon Neuron:ONfly I would rather sell that bike and spend the money on the Canyon bike. It is much more optimized for MTB riding, especially single track riding in the Pacific Northwest like I participate in regularly. I’m not an expert mountain bike rider, but I could not find a single thing I would change on this bike so I’m giving it a perfect score.
The Good and the Bad
It’s pretty rare for me to not find something that can be improved with a product and for things like electric bikes the pros and cons can depend on your riding needs.
Pros
Light weight and lovely carbon fiber construction
RockShox with plenty of travel, 140 mm
Powerful Bosch motor that easily helped me get up hills
Responsive brakes
Large range dropper seat post
Bosch smartphone app connectivity
Long range 400 Wh battery
Reasonable price for a eMTB with high performance elements
Cons
Still heavier than a standard mountain bike
No throttle for riders who need more assistance
Charging connector is a bit challenging to align
Experiences
Several months ago when I started exploring my local trails for mountain biking, I found most eMTBs priced from $3,000 to more than $10,000. I bought a Velotric Summit 1 for $2,000 to get started with the sport and I have enjoyed that budget beginner mountain bike for the past several months.
The Canyon Neuron:ONfly CF7 arrived in a large cardboard box, in size large and with the Space Grey color (this is the only color available in the US). I was immediately shocked that I could pick up the very large box quite easily thanks to the carbon fiber frame design. The box includes the tools you need to assemble the bike, including a torque wrench for the main tool, small pump for the rear frame shock, large wrench, gear back, Quick Start Guide, manual, and two-inch thick manual in several languages.
I highly suggest that you open up the Quick Start Guide found at the top of the large box inside the smaller box since this Guide will work you through all of the steps to assemble the bike properly. Even the large box has a handy locking mechanism so there are clear instructions for that step.
Since this is the first eMTB with high performance elements and a mid-drive motor, I followed the directions. The rear wheel is attached to the frame in the large box so the main parts to assemble include the front wheel, handlebars, pedals, and dropper seat post switch.
The plug for the Bosch battery is unique and took me a few rotations to get it lined up properly. The manual warns you not to rotate the pedals or move the bike while charging and with this battery design you cannot remove the battery from the bike to charge it.
The Neuron:ONfly CF7 has a Bosch SX mid-drive motor that is easy to operate and help you power up to the top of the mountain or trail. A power indicator/controller is found on the center of the frame below the handlebars. A single press of the top button turns the motor on or off with the assist/support level shown as a color LED around the power button. There are four assist levels, identified as Eco (green), Tour+ (blue), EMTB (purple), and Turbo (red). I rarely ever found the need for Turbo and spent most of my time riding in Tour+ and EMTB modes. There are also five LEDs showing the battery level.
On this center controller, press the support level button, found below the battery LEDs, once to increase the assist level and press/hold for longer than a second to decrease your assist level. I personally prefer to use the mini remote found on the left handlebar with + and - buttons to more easily switch between assist levels while riding.
Canyon also provides a Bosch Flow smartphone application that shows you all sorts of interesting information. This includes the battery level and estimated range remaining, mileage in various assist levels, customization of riding modes, maps and routing details, ride stats, and other settings for the bike.
When you purchase the bike, you also can sign up for a free year of Flow+ that provides you with a bike arm, current charge level, extended navigation, and more data. You can also connect the app to services like Strava, Apple Health, and more.
The ride stats are interesting with riding time, distance, speed, ascent, power, cadence, calories, and CO2 savings estimates. Tap the center button of the app and a bike computer view pops up so if you want to mount your phone on your bike you can enjoy these functions live as you ride.
After assembling the bike, checking tire pressures, adjusting the handlebars and dropper seat post I packed up the bike and hit the road to travel to my local trails. Riding this bike was a much different experience than the Velotric Summit 1. It is more agile and the lighter weight gave me a bit more confidence as I traveled faster down the single track trail and explored the skill training areas of our local park.
The dropper seat post was a game changer for riding, as I was trained to for MTB positioning, while going down hill and active on the trails and then transferring quickly to up hill pedaling mode. The Bosch SX motor has about half the torque of the Summit 1 and no throttle, but with the MTB crankset on this Canyon bike and the available gears I was able to easily power up some steep hills. I would get in a bit of trouble with the throttle at times on the Summit 1 and did not miss it at all on the Canyon eMTB.
The Canyon Neuron:ONfly appears to be optimized for the types of forested single track trails I ride on here in the Pacific Northwest, but it may not be the best fit for everyone. I have been thrilled by the experience and my eyes have been opened up to what a rider can buy for $5,000. It’s a completely different experience than my commuter e-bikes and the joy on my face as I rip down the trails is priceless.
Specifications
Specifications alone don’t mean much, but they are useful for comparing similar devices and checking that you are getting value for your money.
Frame: Carbon fiber
Motor: Bosch mid-drive Performance SX, 400 Wh battery with 600W peak power, 55Nm torque
Bike weight: 41 pounds
Bike capacity: 286 pounds
Suspension: 140mm RockShox front and rear shocks
Pedal assist: Five levels
Max speed: Up to 20 mph with pedal assist, no throttle
Range: Advertised as up to 70 miles with pedal assist, 60 miles with throttle.
Transmission: Shimano Deore 12-speed
Brakes: SRAM Code R hydraulic disc brakes, 200mm rotors
Wheels: 29-inch with Hans Dampf front and Nobby Nic rear
Size: Five available to fit every rider
Seat: Large size has a 200mm range dropper and simple seat
Bottom Line
After ramming the pedals of my first eMTB in to my shins, I picked up some shinguards to go with my MTB helmet and gloves. As I improved my outfitting, I took the fantastic Canyon Neuron:ONfly CF7 out on various trails and quickly realized that a high quality eMTB can make the day much more exciting.
In my experience I saw 15-20 miles of range with a full battery. Canyon advertises that riders should get about 1000 meters of vertical assistance climbing in Turbo mode. I rode it up my local trail, vertical rise of about 600 feet, several times with the bike in eMTB mode so it easily provides me with a solid day of riding on one charge.
Experienced riders will likely want more than the Neuron:ONfly CF7 offers, but for the right trail profile and rider I think it is perfect. I’ll be exploring the idea of selling my Summit 1 to pick up my own Canyon and I’ll see you out in the woods.