Canyon Unveils New DH Bike - Women's MTB Network

May 6, 2025

ALL-NEW CANYON SENDER CFR DOWNHILL BIKE UNVEILED WITH HIGH-PIVOT SUSPENSION DESIGN

Canyon set out to build the fastest DH bike on the planet. A bike that could win World Cup races. And that’s precisely what happened…

We got to see this little beauty in person at Sea Otter and were blown away by Canyon’s latest bike. Our contributor, Beka, a familiar face at East Coast bike parks, will be demoing this new DH bike all next month at Thunder Mountain Bike Park, Blue Mountain Bike Park, Bryce Bike Park, and Mountain Creek Bike Park—giving riders a firsthand look and the chance to experience it on the trails.

The New Sender CFR High Pivot DH Bike

Canyon Newsroom-
The new Sender CFR is more than just a full-throttle downhill bike. It is a statement. It is intention set in motion. Countless hours spent prototyping, testing, prototyping again, refining and hunting down every spare fraction of a second, to be played out in the time between the final beep in the start gate and the moment the tires hit the finish line.

Canyon set out to build the fastest DH bike on the planet. A bike that could win World Cup races. And that’s precisely what happened. What’s new? Pretty much everything. Let’s dig into the details:

Lesson 1: Traction Hunting

The biggest change versus the previous Sender is a clever new high pivot design with an idler wheel and 200mm of trail-devouring travel to capitalize on the traction and stability advantages of a rearward axle path and bring insane grip in the roughest of rock gardens and most technical terrain.

This comes with refined kinematics which keep pedal kickback to a minimum and offer superb small bump sensitivity, to further enhance traction whatever the conditions.

The Sender CFR maintains a low center of gravity, centralizing mass in a way that enhances cornering and responsiveness to rider inputs. It also delivers a whole fistful of anti-rise behavior. 130% of anti-rise, in this case, stabilizing rider weight more evenly between front and rear wheels during braking while the high-pivot keeps the suspension responsive and free from packing down in rough turns to maintain race-level braking traction.

That progressivity and anti-squat engineered into the design provides support and stability in the mid stroke of the coil shock, equating to predictable and responsive behavior when pumping and jumping. And the easily adjustable leverage ratio of that shock allows riders to tailor the amount of ramp to suit style or conditions.

Lesson 2: The Shape Of Speed

Long, low, sleek, crafted in carbon fiber and armored for life. The new Sender CFR chassis is a study in performance oriented design.

The linkage and shock placement keeps weight low and centered. All the adjustability is directly built into hard points on the frame without the need for secondary interfaces, maintaining chassis integrity, flex resistance and longevity. And with full carbon fiber construction throughout, the Sender CFR is both precise in its handling and incredibly strong.

Canyon’s polymer reinforced HIT technology – first pioneered on the Stitch CFR Trial – is deployed in the downtube for superior impact resistance. Armoring is further enhanced with polymer rear fenders, downtube protector and rocker skid plate

Lesson 3: Geometry and the Alchemy of Handling

Stability at speed and responsiveness are not always easy bedfellows, but these two attributes are crucial on a DH bike. The Sender CFR employes a mullet platform across the board; 27.5” rear wheel, 29” up front. The smaller rear wheel achieves the responsiveness and manoeuverability that riders want while the larger front maintains the stability and control necessary.

Compared to the previous Sender, the new version stretches the reach by 8mm across all sizes, and brings the stack up incrementally; it’s 9mm higher on the small size, and 4mm taller on the XL. The head angle is 62.7 degrees in the low BB setting, 63 degrees in the high setting. The low BB setting puts the bottom bracket at 347mm, and 352m in the high setting. Stable, but responsive. Ready to do business anywhere

Lesson 4: The Perfect Setup

The goal with the Sender CFR was to build the fastest bike for any course. The Sender CFR delivers on that promise by starting with an incredibly composed, race-ready package, then provides enough adjustment to allow riders to tweak the details.

Custom shock tunes from both RockShox and Fox complement Canyon suspension kinematics, providing superb damping support for pumping and finding speed, yet remaining supple and responsive enough in all conditions.

The upper shock mount allows adjustment of the leverage rate. 32.7% for a more linear, plush suspension, or 37% for more ramp to soak up the biggest hits on smasher courses.

The BB height flip chip offers +/- 5mm adjustment to let riders choose between a super low setup or more clearance and more responsive behavior.

Reach adjustment cups in the headtube provide +/- 8mm of fore/aft tuning to optimize reach for rider preference and tune front-end feel for different tracks or conditions.

Canyon’s KIS steering stabilizer is standard equipment, enhancing stability in all conditions. Fully adjustable, it can be tuned to suit rider preference and adapted to tame even the rowdiest of tracks. For riders who prefer a more traditional feel, it can also be quickly and easily removed, replaced by a tidy blanking plate for a clean look.

Lesson 5: The Little Things That Matter

Sure, the Sender CFR is a top tier race bike that is designed and dedicated to deliver World Cup podium performance at the hands of the best, most demanding riders on the planet, but it’s also designed to deliver a lifetime of dependable use for privateers and riders who don’t have a team truck or a factory mechanic at their disposal. Either way, serviceability is a big feature.

Pivot hardware and bearing seals are easily replaceable, threaded inserts are used where possible, and bolt heads are easily accessible for servicing.

The frame is fully armored where it counts, and has integrated fenders that keep muck away from critical linkage parts in even the most brutal conditions.

Chainstay and seatstay protection mitigate any potential chain slap and keep the bike running silently and smoothly even on the gnarliest tracks.

Cable routing is fully guided internally, ensuring silent running and making cable and hose replacement efficient and easy.

The rear triangle bucks the trend toward ultra-wide spacing and instead is built around 148×12 boost spacing. Not only does this allow us to run a tighter, more compact rear triangle with less chance of heel rub and frame snags, but it allows riders easier access to more wheels in a pinch. Damage a wheel in practice? An enduro wheel will slot right in place and get riders back on track faster.

Specifications: Privateer Value Or Full Send

There are two models of Sender CFR available. One offers pro level speed without the pocket emptying price tag. It offers a huge amount of performance in a high value proposition and has the kind of reliability that make it the perfect choice for privateer racers. In the US the Sender CFR Team is the only one available, starting at $7,799.

That’s the standard Sender CFR Underdog. It doesn’t skimp where it counts; with a Fox 40 fork, Fox DHX2 Performance shock and SRAM Maven Bronze brakes, it means business.

Then there’s the Sender CFR Team. All the bells, all the whistles. This is the bike that took Troy Brosnan to the top step at Mont-Sainte-Anne. RockShox Boxxer Ultimate fork, Vivid Coil Ultimate Shock, SRAM Maven Silver brakes and X01 Dh Transmission. No expense spared – this is as factory as it gets.