Does Canyon Customer Service disqualify the brand from consideration?

MountainBoy

Active member
Mar 4, 2022
231
212
Washington State, USA
I really wanted to like Canyon's direct to consumer business model and thought I was a good candidate to be a regular customer because I do my own bike work anyway and typically don't need or like the hand-holding of a local bike shop. But my experience with my first (and probably last) Canyon bicycle has been quite an eye-opener.

I bought a Canyon Grail ON: CF 8 with XL frame size at the beginning of the year. I'm a big guy and 6'4" and 215 lbs. and do a lot of mountain riding with long, steep climbs and descents so I was encouraged by Canyon's advertising copy on their model information page that said the 160 mm front rotor was upgradable to 180mm because I absolutely need to ride the brakes down some long. steep grades that would have me quickly over 60 mph without continuous braking through the steeper sections. I tested the brakes the bike came with and, sure enough, they were inadequate for my weight with normal gear (no bike-packing).

So I bought a 180mm rotor and, after hours of research online, including SRAM's brake mounting info for different sized rotors I located the only adapter kit that I thought might work to adapt the front caliper to a 180 mm disc. The disc mountd to the wheel as expected but the caliper mounting adapter was not compatible with front fork and 180mm rotor.

It was at this point I contacted Canyon Customer Service by phone and asked what kind of adapter I needed to run a 180mm rotor as they advertised. The Customer Service Rep was very polite but said he wasn't sure and would have to check with others and get back to me. I gave asked him to contact me via e-mail at the address registered with the company when I purchased the bike.

This is what kicked off a months long struggle to gain this simply information from Canyon. I would wait a week or more without hearing back from them as promised and had to continually re-initiate contact and ask them the same simple question.

Finally, after much hounding they provided a link to an Internet retailer page with caliper mounting adapters. But there were multiple options on the one page and I had to ask which one was appropriate for my bike and a 180mm front rotor. He eventually responded with the information I requested and it looked exactly like the mounting adapter kit I had already purchased for $20 but since it was on sale for only $12 I decided to order it. Well, it was the same adapter kit and it's not compatible with the forks on my Grail.

I then made a detailed e-mail with measurements of the mounting points on my forks and technical information from SRAM that appeared to indicate that my forks are not compatible with 180 mm discs as Canyon marketing material indicated. But I get radio silence until I get more persistent. Usually a week (at a minimum) or two (more common) goes by before I get a response. I generally have given up on getting any support from Canyon when, two weeks later, out of the blue I get a response.

Most recently, the Canyon Customer Support person said he would have to ask the technical experts in Europe (I've been dealing with Canyon USA) to see if they had the answer to my question. But now I've had weeks of radio silence even after re-contacting Canyon USA to inquire why I still didn't have a response to such a basic question, are my forks really compatible with 180 mm rotors and what caliper mounting adapter do I need.

How hard can it be?

I've remained polite and consistently tried to keep the ball moving to get an answer to my very simple question but have been entirely unsuccessful. They have simply stopped responding (but it would not surprise me to get an e-mail two weeks after my last contact out of the blue because that is how this entire process has gone).

My best guess, given my extensive research, is that a caliper mounting solution does not exist for 180mm rotors on my bike, but Canyon has so far refused to say this (because they know they advertised the bike as being compatible with 180mm front rotors). They have also not insisted that the adapter kit they recommended is the correct kit (I can tell it's not). I simply can't get anywhere with them which is disappointing after spending $7K on a bike.

I have been patient over the last 4 months but, if this is the kind of support Canyon gives customers, I fail to see how they get repeat sales. I am certainly re-thinking my plan to buy additional bikes from them. With this kind of lame customer support, how could I ever recommend them to my friends who ride bikes?

It seems like they don't want to take any responsibility for what appears to be false advertising, or even admit it. It seems dishonest and that's no way to treat your customers.
 

Bummers

Well-known member
Mar 12, 2022
584
539
UK
Just a thought have you tried bringing this up on their twitter/FB social media page? Often companies aren't keen on the bad publicity and make more of an effort.
 

MountainBoy

Active member
Mar 4, 2022
231
212
Washington State, USA
this for flat mount: Magura Adapter QM 52
this for post mount: SM-MA-F180P/P2

did I help or you have some other mount?:)

Unfortunately, it looks like the carbon forks on my Canyon Grail: ON CF 8 eTap are designed natively for a 140 mm disc so those adapters will not get me to a 180 mm disc. I would love to hear differently, as I already bought a 180 mm centermount rotor. The bike came with an adapter for the 160mm discs as delivered.
 

MountainBoy

Active member
Mar 4, 2022
231
212
Washington State, USA
Just a thought have you tried bringing this up on their twitter/FB social media page? Often companies aren't keen on the bad publicity and make more of an effort.

As I believe I reported, the European experts at Canyon already weighed in and said it was not possible on this model fork, despite Canyon's advertising copy that said it was. I believe Canyon's advertising a 180mm rotor was referring to models that used a different fork. I have little confidence in the US service managers claim that he disagreed with the Canyon experts in Europe. I am quite capable of putting a lot of braking force into the front wheel on very steep paved descents, and I'm a big rider (6'-04" and 215-220 lbs.) and don't want to run a setup that the engineers in Europe cannot recommend for safety reasons. But I'm all ears if someone knows of a solution that is approved by those who designed the fork in the first place.
 

adam89pl

New Member
Aug 28, 2023
10
7
Poland

MountainBoy

Active member
Mar 4, 2022
231
212
Washington State, USA
I had already given up on Canyon customer support after hours of dinking around on this one simple request for assistance and them finally telling me their Euro office said my fork was not compatible with 180mm rotors.

But, yes, the adapter in first link you provided looks like it would work. I tried to buy one just now but the retailer only ships within Europe and the manufacturer doesn't appear to sell to retail customers. A quick Google search didn't turn up any N. American retailers that carried them either. It seems like it is a highly specialized part!

It's funny, I've spent hours searching for this on my own and coming up blank. One of the reviews to the part in your link even says, "The part builds quite high, but does what it is supposed to do and works perfectly. Funnily enough, I haven't found anything like this on any other platform." and another review says, "This was the only way to install a 180 mm disc. There was no other provider like this. It's just a shame that the adapter builds so high. Otherwise top."

Neither of them mention what fork they installed it on. Thanks for the links!



 

adam89pl

New Member
Aug 28, 2023
10
7
Poland
Can't you install for example MAGURA QM 52 on this adaptor you have already installed? I'm not 100% sure but maybe it'll work. Or use some flat mount to post mount adaptor.

Edit:
If you are not able to buy the one I sent before in USA I found one more adaptor that will fit. It's available on amazon so maybe it'll be possible to order.
XLC BR-X107

You can also use company like tiptrans.com to order it
 
Last edited:

MountainBoy

Active member
Mar 4, 2022
231
212
Washington State, USA
Can't you install for example MAGURA QM 52 on this adaptor you have already installed? I'm not 100% sure but maybe it'll work. Or use some flat mount to post mount adaptor.

Edit:
If you are not able to buy the one I sent before in USA I found one more adaptor that will fit. It's available on amazon so maybe it'll be possible to order.
XLC BR-X107

You can also use company like tiptrans.com to order it
No, stacked adapters don't work due to interference from fasteners. I will see if I can buy that, I'm having problems signing into my Amazon account due to it being an international Amazon website. I'm not sure how that works. Thanks for doing the legwork, you are certainly finding more than I am when I search in the U.S.
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,014
9,443
Lincolnshire, UK
Even if you can stack adaptors, or find one that works for you, the basic safety question has yet to be answered; are the forks safe with a 180 rotor? I suspect the answer is in the negative, but it would nice to have it confirmed one way or the other by Canyon. Is it possible to cut out Canyon and ask the fork supplier directly?
 

MountainBoy

Active member
Mar 4, 2022
231
212
Washington State, USA
Even if you can stack adaptors, or find one that works for you, the basic safety question has yet to be answered; are the forks safe with a 180 rotor? I suspect the answer is in the negative, but it would nice to have it confirmed one way or the other by Canyon. Is it possible to cut out Canyon and ask the fork supplier directly?

Are the forks safe with a 180mm rotor? That was a major selling point when I bought the bike. Because I knew the terrain I rode and the weight of a big rider had heavier braking needs than an average gravel rider. Canyon prominently advertised the ability to upgrade to 180mm rotors on the features page of the Grail:ON lineup.

It took them almost a year, but I just checked, and they finally removed that claim from their website.

Love the bike, hate dealing with the company, and I am a very low maintenance type of customer that values my time and who is not picky when it comes to little things. One example of how sloppy the company is, the specifications for the bike I bought said it came with a 4 amp Bosch charger but the bike was delivered with a 2 amp Bosch charger.

When I e-mailed them they told me the specifications page was wrong, it was supposed to come with a 2 amp charger.- This made me feel like they were telling me I was trying to game them on a technicality (the website having an error).

While they did agree to fully reimburse me if I ordered a 4-amp charger from a third party, they never changed their website to reflect that it was supposed to come with a 2-amp charger, even to this day it still says 4 amp. I even e-mailed customer service months later to let them know their website still said it came with a 4-amp charger and they didn't respond with a thank you or anything.

All that said, the bike is great! It did come with a couple of minor assembly errors in areas that don't really matter, but I was able to fix these myself relatively easily and all the critical parts were installed and worked perfectly. It's just that I avoid even trying to contact a company, even if I just spent nearly $7K with them, I don't contact a company unless I have a good reason to. When I contact them, I expect to have clear communication and rapid response. Canyon often took 2 weeks between e-mails in my attempt to identify the adapter that would allow 180mm rotors.

I suspect they knew they had mis-advertised the rotor size my bike was capable of, and this was their strategy to deal with it so they wouldn't need to buy me new forks. It's the only thing that explains taking two weeks between short and concise e-mails trying to solve a valid problem. I don't like that one bit. It's no way for a company to operate. All of the issues I had with the company originated with the fact that their website was not accurate (or that their CS reps were misinformed or unfamiliar with their products).

At one point they told me Canyon was not in control of their own website because a third-party managed it. A company the size of Canyon, especially one that relies 100% on on-line sales, needs a website developed and operated in-house so it can be responsive to fast-changing situations. Outsourcing this most important function is suicidal because it is the primary form of contact with the people who buy their bikes.

I like Canyon's business model, and they can bring real value to bicyclists this way, they just need to do it better. I suspect they need to hire better people and maybe they need to pay a bit more to get the kind of managers who are on top of things. They were always friendly, they just seemed like they were on heroin and didn't have a real care in the world. They seemed disconnected from the core functions of their jobs. And the inaccuracies on their website reflect this is a corporate-wide culture problem. But they do make nice bikes.
 

MountainBoy

Active member
Mar 4, 2022
231
212
Washington State, USA
I do not disagree with your beef with Canyon. In fact, I believe that you have been unbelievably patient. You may get a better response if you become Mr Nasty.

I've given up because I think they mis-advertised their bike. I don't have time to dink around anymore. I just check my speed more on fast descents, use my rear brake more than I otherwise would and make the 160 mm work. I might still buy another Canyon bike, but I'm a lot less likely given that I know how screwed up their organization is. And, of course, I reserve the right to share my experiences, they don't appear to be one-off experiences.

I think the company is reputable, they just have a really messed up organization.
 

wenna

Member
Aug 1, 2023
209
143
Sweden
I agree, the bikes are great but I have noticed a few discrepancies on their website over the years.

The latest one is their Spectral on line that got refreshed with longer forks but no change of the geometry specced on the website, even though the longer fork results in shorter reach and slacker head angle to name a few.

I sent them a mail about 2 weeks ago mentioning this and asking for the correct measurements, but I have not heard back from them.

I do not understand how they take it so lightly when things like this can cost them a lot of money from people refunding bikes and returning bikes for size swap.

This said I will probably continue buying Canyon bikes because of the price point and I have been happy with the bikes I´ve had so far.
 

Giustizio

Member
Mar 16, 2021
21
7
Italy
113 days for a SPECIFIC replacement of their headset (Spectral:ON CF8, 2023) . I have no words, after this experience I put the bike up for sale
 

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