Canyon Neuron 6 review: this is the best budget trail bike I've ever tested – but I'd make one upgrade

Canyon's seventh-generation Neuron rides best when it flows, hitting straighter lines and covering ground when you're almost on autopilot.

It’s stretched-out and efficient with a ‘head-down’ attitude. The bike cracks on with pace and smoothness, so you can concentrate on hitting better lines and nailing everything without getting shaken up.

With grippier tyres, though, it’d be even better.

Only available online, for £2,349, the Neuron plugs the gap between the brand's pure cross-country bikes and its jack-of-all-trades Spectral.

While the Spectral heads further towards the aggressive trail and enduro categories, this versatile and efficient Neuron is a more conventional trail bike.

That’s not to say it’s a glorified XC bike. It’s more than capable on harder trails and for faster riding, aided by stretched-out geometry, the extra frame length adding stability and a 20mm lower standover height that makes room for long droppers and more dynamic body language.

The range spans various models, with carbon or aluminium frames, which are more affordable than before.

• Read more: Best trail mountain bikes 2025: 20 of the most exciting and capable MTBs ridden and reviewed

Canyon Neuron 6 frame, suspension and geometry

The Neuron platform dates right back to 26in wheels, but this one is a full 29er in most sizes (XS and S get a 27.5in rear wheel).

The aluminium version here is the most affordable, but the Neuron is also available as a sleeker (almost 700g lighter) carbon frame.

The frame shape was made longer, slacker and lower a couple of years ago, and reach has grown between 10mm and 40mm depending on size, with the 480mm measurement here feeling the longest of the three trail bikes I tested together.

Routing the cables internally through foam tubes keeps things rattle-free, while an equally effective integrated chainstay protector reduces chain slap and protects the frame.

As you’d expect in 2025, there's a SRAM UDH dropout that’s easier to source and replace than any brand-specific hanger.

There are mounts for frame storage under the top tube, and hidden features to ensure durability, such as wider pivots and improved hardware sealing.

The suspension layout is a four-bar, but look closely and you’ll notice the Neuron’s Horst-link chainstay pivot is higher than the rear axle, which is the brand’s way of fine-tuning pedalling and braking characteristics to taste.

This subtle difference highlights how much the devil is in the detail and how, regardless of many modern bikes looking so similar, they can behave very differently in the real world.

Diving into the Neuron’s geometry, the 66-degree head angle is slightly steeper than both the Saracen Ariel and Boardman MTR 9.0 I tested at the same time. The seat angle is a tad slacker too; both things hint at a bike that nods slightly more to undulating cross-country (XC) miles than full-on enduro capability.

I found I had to move the saddle fully forward on the rails to compensate for the slack seat tube angle and get a better climbing position for steeper pitches.

Canyon Neuron 6 kit and specifications

The Fox 34 Rhythm fork is a real spec highlight, matching the rear shock's tier – both are great performers, superior to what you’d expect from ‘budget’ kit.

A significant part of how the Neuron rides is down to the Schwalbe tyre combination.

These are fast-rolling tyres and, wow, they rattle along fast on smoother off-road surfaces and tarmac.

But the firmer, bouncy, Addix SpeedGrip rubber can feel dicey at times, and slowing down the rear Wicked Will tyre is often a mission.

Since you don’t get that much traction, I’d recommend swapping them out straightaway if you ride more aggressively.

Elsewhere, there’s little to complain about. Shimano’s cheaper 12-speed Deore drivetrain and brakes work well, and sorted details such as the very comfortable Ergon saddle and grips prevent the Neuron feeling cheap and nasty as some budget mountain bikes do.

The Race Face Ride bar and stem here aren’t as luxurious as the Chester kit on the Saracen Ariel, but match the lighter trail bike remit and save a few precious grams.

Canyon Neuron 6 ride impressions

The Canyon’s rear suspension is super-active, with great tracking over repeated hits and a smooth ride over smashed-up surfaces.

The fork and shock aren’t excessively soft, though – for 90% of the time, the damping has enough support and stability to keep rider weight balanced and poised, so you can stand up and push on the pedals to generate speed and rail berms.

One caveat to this supportive ride is that I occasionally blew right through the travel. It doesn’t absorb heavy landings or big drops as smoothly as the Saracen Ariel.

When you really slam into things, there can occasionally be a bit of a dull clang from the back end.

There’s also a vague sense that the handlebar feels stiff and unyielding, or even the frame itself could be a bit undamped and jarring, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly, especially because the tyres aren’t the supplest or best-damped.

However, the smooth Fox Rhythm fork is leagues ahead of the Bomber Z2 on the Ariel when it comes to tracking bumps.

Canyon’s geometry is spot-on, with the bike feeling poised and ready for action with your hands and feet in the right position and a dynamic ride character that never tips you too far forward or back.

Even with the same advertised reach numbers, the Neuron feels the longest bike on test, which brings a very stretched-out, stable and composed feel.

If you’re on the cusp of two sizes or fancy a more reactive ride, you might want to consider sizing down.

The Neuron makes for a speedy ride on the trail and has a feeling of calm, rather than being so lively you can’t resist manualling and popping off every little edge and trail feature.

In this way, it’s more like the (also very composed) Boardman MTR and less of a seat-of-the-pants ride than the Saracen.

The way you end up letting it flow along might also be a consequence of having to defend and react to the lack of grip, damping and cushioning from the rapid Schwalbe tyres – I'd love to try it with a set of stickier mountain bike tyres.

The slightly steeper head angle means the Neuron’s more willing to tip from side to side, and it steers quite fast.

It’s engaging on flowy trails, but you can’t really push all your weight into the front-tyre shoulder knobs for leant-over grip as you can on some bikes with a slacker head angle.

It therefore works best if, instead of slinging it about, you let the Neuron find its own path.

The combination of wheels and tyres makes the miles disappear and you can really get a shift on through flowier trails at a pace that’s very admirable for a bike at this price.

However, on steeper descents, things can get very hectic, and it takes a lot of effort to slow the bike down in the dry and dust with the SpeedGrip rubber on the rear.

The Neuron is efficient at getting up to speed, though.

The supple suspension moves a tad while cranking (especially up steeper climbs), but every pedal revolution gets you there fast, and there’s more of a sense that it pulses along to the rhythm of efforts and amplifies grip and traction rather than robbing you of too much speed.

Canyon Neuron 6 bottom line

Overall, Canyon’s balanced Neuron makes trail riding feel easy without being dull and detached from what’s going on underneath you. It offers the best all-round performance of the three bikes I tested.

The Neuron also feels as though it has so much potential to charge harder – unless you’re after über-efficiency, I'd swap the tyres out for something more versatile, and then you could really alter the character of Canyon’s sorted package for less than £100.