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NBD was yesterday actually, but I had to go on a whisky tasting so the first ride was this morning.
I stumbled across Canfield about 8 years ago when looking at DH bikes for a friend and they've been low-key on my radar ever since. When my Banshee developed a crack on the top tube back in July I finally had a reason to give them a shot so 3 months later here we are.
Transferred most stuff over from the Banshee - Yari fork, Blue Flow wheels with Hope hubs, Brand X dropper, GX drivetrain - but new Magura MT5 brakes and Cane Creek Kitsuma Air shock.
What can I say about it? It's a modern-geometry 135mm 29er so it's going to be good regardless. The MT5s are excellent brakes, nice linear feel and plenty of stopping power. The shock has way more adjustability than I'll ever need so I just set the sag at 35% and left everything else right in the middle. Buttery smooth, soaks up the bumps when it needs to, pops off jumps when it needs to. A big step up from the RS Monarch I had on the Banshee. It's nice and long so it'll bulldoze down a trail in much the same way that the Banshee did but even though it's built up slightly heavier than the Banshee it feels a lot more nimble, much easier to jump and flick about.
The special thing about this bike though is how it pedals. There is plenty of technical detail on Canfield's website but the basics are a linkage design that means the effective pivot point remains at the meeting of chain and chainring throughout the range of travel and therefore there is never any sag or stretch as you're pedaling and tracking over bumps. I've no idea how true this is in practice but it certainly feels like that's what's happening. I can only liken it to pedaling a hardtail, even with the shock set to "descend". I've previously had DW Link bikes, like the Banshee, Pronghorn, and an occasionally-borrowed Pivot 429c, but this is something else.
Comments on the state of the lawn, crank angle, colour choice, etc. welcome and indeed expected
Raw frame - nice! That's a nice head tube badge too.
You sure that bottom headset race is properly set, it doesn't look quite right to me?
Very nice, always had an eye on them too, Did you buy direct or do they have distribution over here now?
I've read a lot of praise for how the Canfield suspension pedals.
Very nice, liking the fact it quickly got wet & dirty.
Oh and sort yer garden out, it looks like a building site! 🤣
Did you buy direct or do they have distribution over here now?
Got it direct from Canfield. Before our economy was torpedoed too so it was surprisingly reasonable even with duty & VAT - around £2300 in total iirc, including the shock. They need to find a distributor over here, I think they'd sell loads.
I'll give the headset a check over. You're right, it doesn't look 100%
Nice job! I like a dirty new bike day!
Nice bike. I’ve always wanted to try some of their shorter cranks but never had the money.
That looks properly nice
You could at least have put the trees in level.
Nice bike.
👌