How on earth do you buy a Canyon bike in North America?

[Parrot23]

http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3089

This seems a little odd in these days of global markets. They don't ship to North America. Had logistical problems a few years ago doing so, and stopped exporting here.

Our loss: these bikes are superb for quality/price trade-off. I've had good experiences ordering cycling stuff from Germany (high quality & amazingly they can still somehow compete on price).

Anyone have any ideas how to get around this?

(Another problems is knowing what the duty will be in Canada. You can get REALLY whacked by it, and it's hard to know when it will happen. Should be 13% HST tax, then duty. But in the past I've been whacked by an unbelievable 45% total tax and duty charge on merely cycling clothing, and it's irreversible. Just bizarre actions--grossly inequitable application of duties to vendors of the SAME products--by the customs people and the courier company, which you cannot then reverse even if you appeal with all the right paper work. Banana republic, indeed.)

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

Why would you want a Canyon when you have GURU. Full custom made in Canada, would seem like an easy choice.

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

Makes me want to stand up and sing 'O Canada'!

 

[Parrot23]

Giuseppe, good for you! Thanks, much appreciated advice.

I've seen folks riding the Guru around here, but don't know the bike biz well so never checked it out. Just ignorant. Knew Marinoni would custom fit, but didn't know Guru. You've really helped me out here. I see they're fantastic at doing bike fitting, then customizing the build.

Customized/fitted Guru option looks better to me than getting a stock Willier Izoard XP or Lapierre Sensium 400 (was checking those out locally today--can get them here off the floor) given that the "Canyon" route, so to speak, is blocked in North America, LOL.

(I see the pricing is really high, not surprisingly. Will have to see--don't want to spend that much on a bike).

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

If you do a thread search on Canyon here, there was a forum member who went through a pretty horrible experience with them. Not just one bike either, one for him and his lady.

Love Marinoni, but his carbon is rebranded Asian OEM, more known for his steel. GURU is in house custom.

 

[Parrot23]

Okay, yikes. Saw that now.

Any opinions on Willier Izoard XP vs. Lapierre Sensium 400? (That's what I want to spend.). For my purposes below, it may just be a case of six or half a dozen (ie., fretting or optimizing stuff that doesn't make any practical diff. to me).

I don't ride longer than 2-3 hrs, but always a hilly course, few thousand feet climbing max. 180lbs, 6'2". Bike has to climb well (stiff) but don't want a teeth chattering ride, either. Any advice, I'll take, though I suspect these differences won't be much for me given my limited abilities.

 

[LugHugger]

If you do a thread search on Canyon here, there was a forum member who went through a pretty horrible experience with them. Not just one bike either, one for him and his lady.

Love Marinoni, but his carbon is rebranded Asian OEM, more known for his steel. GURU is in house custom.

It's true that Canyon are not particularly agile if deviating from their standard spec. A friend has just received his new Canyon and had a 6 week wait because he wanted a longer stem (Canyon standard stem is at least 10-20mm too short in most of their builds imho). However, if you can wait, the bikes are fantastic value for money.

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

Okay, yikes. Saw that now.

Any opinions on Willier Izoard XP vs. Lapierre Sensium 400? (That's what I want to spend.). For my purposes below, it may just be a case of six or half a dozen (ie., fretting or optimizing stuff that doesn't make any practical diff. to me).

I don't ride longer than 2-3 hrs, but always a hilly course, few thousand feet climbing max. 180lbs, 6'2". Bike has to climb well (stiff) but don't want a teeth chattering ride, either. Any advice, I'll take, though I suspect these differences won't be much for me given my limited abilities.

Have lots of hours on Wilier Cento1 and a GT, and they are fantastic bikes. No Lapierre experience at all. I can tell you though if you're looking for a bargain there's some really top level stuff out there at mid level pricing. One example is the Giant TCR Advanced, probably the best bang for the buck pro level bike out there for the last 3 years. The ones with the Rabobank livery are going at fire sale prices. Ultimately whatever I or anybody else here steers you towards you're just going to have to go to a shop and ride some bikes to see which ones you like.

 

[86TDFWinner]

http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3089

This seems a little odd in these days of global markets. They don't ship to North America. Had logistical problems a few years ago doing so, and stopped exporting here.

Our loss: these bikes are superb for quality/price trade-off. I've had good experiences ordering cycling stuff from Germany (high quality & amazingly they can still somehow compete on price).

Anyone have any ideas how to get around this?

(Another problems is knowing what the duty will be in Canada. You can get REALLY whacked by it, and it's hard to know when it will happen. Should be 13% HST tax, then duty. But in the past I've been whacked by an unbelievable 45% total tax and duty charge on merely cycling clothing, and it's irreversible. Just bizarre actions--grossly inequitable application of duties to vendors of the SAME products--by the customs people and the courier company, which you cannot then reverse even if you appeal with all the right paper work. Banana republic, indeed.)

You're not alone in your frustrations, believe me. Been trying to buy a bike from them for about 2 yrs, but can't as I live in the states and they dont deliver here. I emailed the company back then, they told me they were working on their delivery system to the US(whatever that means). I'm not holding my breath. A shame too, they have fantastic
bikes from everything I've heard.

 

[86TDFWinner]

Makes me want to stand up and sing 'O Canada'!

That's sick. 3 questions:

1) Do they deliver to the US?

2) Do they come in a 64/65 cm?

3) What's the quality, good bike? how does it compare to say a Spech(Specialized) or a Cannondale?(I'm 6'6", so I'm limited to not many companies that make bikes over 63cm).

 

[Red Dragon]

Anyone have any ideas how to get around this?

If you know someone in Europe or have a contact, you could have the Canyon Bike delivered to them. Then that individual could ship it to your address. Although of course you would incur extra shipping charges.

 

[frenchfry]

I bought a Canyon a year ago and really enjoy it. Excellent value, with no compromise on quality and performance. One of the main reasons I bought Canyon is that most frames now are monocoque carbon and the tallest size is 57/58cm (measured to the top of the seat tube) whereas Canyon offers up to 63cm. I have a 61cm frame (Canyon size 62) which is perfect for me and 3-4 cm larger that the other manufacturers make. For comparison, my custom 1978 steel Marinoni (a real beauty) is a 60cm frame.

I did have some difficulties with my order, but in the end everything worked out. There is virtually no flexibility in components, each frame size comes stock with a certain stem size, crank length and handlebar width. These can be modified for €20 each, but this isn't too bad given that the initial price is very low. Wheelsets cannot be changed in any way, except the cassette configuration for €20. Of course you have to determine the sizing yourself, but there is a simplistic sizing tool available on-line and they were very responsive to questions that I asked. I spent a lot of time calcuating angles and lengths and was happy with the result. I actually went to a shorter stem than standard to have the reach I wanted.

Perhaps one reason they don't expand to North America is for after sales. If there are any warranty problems it could be problematic to ship back and forth across the ocean or set up local service, especially if their business model is based on low margins. Perhaps also they don't want to expand too quickly and rapidly increase production from a quality control point of view.

Even though Canyon makes nice bikes, there are lots of other nice bikes out there so I would advise buying one that is distributed locally. Those Guru's do look great!

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

That's sick. 3 questions:

1) Do they deliver to the US?

Yes, quite extensively.

2) Do they come in a 64/65 cm?

Probably not carbon, steel, alu, and ti can be built that huge though. You'd have to start a conversation with them on that one.

3) What's the quality, good bike? how does it compare to say a Spech(Specialized) or a Cannondale?(I'm 6'6", so I'm limited to not many companies that make bikes over 63cm).

They're great, craftsmanship is top notch, worked at a GURU dealer a few years ago in Minneapolis, and their owners are smitten. GURU is full custom, actually have their own proprietary fit system that a lot of the big brands are using now. For your height I wouldn't be thinking full custom carbon, you're going to be looking at steel, alu, ti, or at most carbon tubes with either of those metals as lugs.

 

[Benotti69]

If you do a thread search on Canyon here, there was a forum member who went through a pretty horrible experience with them. Not just one bike either, one for him and his lady.

That would be L'arriviste of Dopeology.org.

Canyon were not helpful to say the least. He got a Look 585 in the end.

 

[Benotti69]

You're not alone in your frustrations, believe me. Been trying to buy a bike from them for about 2 yrs, but can't as I live in the states and they dont deliver here. I emailed the company back then, they told me they were working on their delivery system to the US(whatever that means). I'm not holding my breath. A shame too, they have fantastic
bikes from everything I've heard.

I would've thought you would be getting a new LeMond bike

 

[86TDFWinner]

I would've thought you would be getting a new LeMond bike

LOL, if they made them in my size, I would buddy believe me.

 

[DirtyWorks]

That's sick. 3 questions:
3) What's the quality, good bike?

Of course it's a good bike. It's coming out of the same factories most mid-market brands use anyway. I don't know how big the business is in their home-market, but if it's big, then they might even be a Giant customer.

There may be a couple of issues tripping them up from officially exporting to the U.S.
The U.S. has their own version of CEN certification. It's not cheap to get the product tested for compliance.

Their OEMs very likely have a customer selling into the U.S. that does not want Canyon distributed here. When doing a deal with an OEM, typically part of the deal is geographic restriction unless you are already Trek or Dorel/Pacific Cycle.

 

[Giuseppe Magnetico]

Of course it's a good bike. It's coming out of the same factories most mid-market brands use anyway. I don't know how big the business is in their home-market, but if it's big, then they might even be a Giant customer.

There may be a couple of issues tripping them up from officially exporting to the U.S.
The U.S. has their own version of CEN certification. It's not cheap to get the product tested for compliance.

Their OEMs very likely have a customer selling into the U.S. that does not want Canyon distributed here. When doing a deal with an OEM, typically part of the deal is geographic restriction unless you are already Trek or Dorel/Pacific Cycle.

Absolutely false! The bike you're referencing, the GURU Photon R is custom made at the GURU factory in Quebec. Oui!

 

[avanti]

If you know someone in Europe or have a contact, you could have the Canyon Bike delivered to them. Then that individual could ship it to your address. Although of course you would incur extra shipping charges.

This could be quite expensive - you pay sales tax, shipping cost, and import customs duty.

If you pick up in person then you get a refund of sales tax and pay for oversize baggage and pay customs duty. I did that when I bought a track bike in the UK a few years ago. Of course you have airfare but I travel to the UK once a year.

 

[Benotti69]

LOL, if they made them in my size, I would buddy believe me.

I believe he is about to re enter the bike market place. Contact him and pre order.

 

[pedaling squares]

Wow. Been a while since I saw the Guru line. They really built some ugly bikes a few years ago but they've obviously worked those kinks out. Heard nothing but huge love from the people who ride them, about the ride quality and customer experience. Especially their ti frames. I think they do soup to nuts in their shop: design, build, and paint.

 

[86TDFWinner]

I bought a Canyon a year ago and really enjoy it. Excellent value, with no compromise on quality and performance. One of the main reasons I bought Canyon is that most frames now are monocoque carbon and the tallest size is 57/58cm (measured to the top of the seat tube) whereas Canyon offers up to 63cm. I have a 61cm frame (Canyon size 62) which is perfect for me and 3-4 cm larger that the other manufacturers make. For comparison, my custom 1978 steel Marinoni (a real beauty) is a 60cm frame.

Canyon actually makes a few models of their bikes upto size 66cm.....which is a huge reason why I'm interested in them, as I'm 6 ft 6, and 235, so I need to find a company that makes taller bikes(Not interested in Zinn's, as I think they're ugly bikes & too expensive).

Thanks for the review.

Yes, quite extensively.

Probably not carbon, steel, alu, and ti can be built that huge though. You'd have to start a conversation with them on that one.



They're great, craftsmanship is top notch, worked at a GURU dealer a few years ago in Minneapolis, and their owners are smitten. GURU is full custom, actually have their own proprietary fit system that a lot of the big brands are using now. For your height I wouldn't be thinking full custom carbon, you're going to be looking at steel, alu, ti, or at most carbon tubes with either of those metals as lugs.

Thanks for the info, yeah my possibilities are limited. I have a longer torso, and long arms, so I'm limited in the sizes I can buy. Tried test riding a 63cm, and it wasn't a good fit(even the guy @ InCycle was like "dont think so on the 63cm") So I need a 64/65cm, which are tough to find, because not many of the US BMF make that size. I'll contact them though, good lookin out.
__________________

 

[86TDFWinner]

Yes, quite extensively.


Probably not carbon, steel, alu, and ti can be built that huge though. You'd have to start a conversation with them on that one.



They're great, craftsmanship is top notch, worked at a GURU dealer a few years ago in Minneapolis, and their owners are smitten. GURU is full custom, actually have their own proprietary fit system that a lot of the big brands are using now. For your height I wouldn't be thinking full custom carbon, you're going to be looking at steel, alu, ti, or at most carbon tubes with either of those metals as lugs.

Thanks for the info, yeah my possibilities are limited. I have a longer torso, and long arms, so I'm limited in the sizes I can buy. Tried test riding a 63cm, and it wasn't a good fit(even the guy @ InCycle was like "dont think so on the 63cm") So I need a 64/65cm, which are tough to find, because not many of the US BMF make that size. I'll contact them though, good lookin out.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Absolutely false! The bike you're referencing, the GURU Photon R is custom made at the GURU factory in Quebec. Oui!

Sorry. Obviously my fault for assuming it was some kind of Canyon.

Good for them for giving the business a try despite the overwhelming advantages of buying from China. (including Taiwan)

 

[karlboss]

Mexico is North America...just saying.