Canyon Sender CFR Team review: a brilliant purebred race bike at an impressive price

After a lot of success as a prototype machine under the likes of Troy Brosnan, Tahnée Seagrave and Luca Shaw, Canyon finally released the all-new Sender earlier this year. 

This new Sender moves to a high-pivot suspension design and offers up masses of adjustment in a bid to give riders and racers exactly what they’re after. 

On top of that, this top-spec Team edition comes fitted with some killer componentry for the competitive price of £5,599 / $7,799 / €5,999, making it worthy of consideration for any budding privateers looking to save a bit of cash without scrimping on performance. 

What’s more, the Sender CFR Team delivers stability at speed and won’t have you wincing as you batter into the rough stuff on the hill. If you want a race bike, this might well be the one.  

Canyon Sender CFR Team frame and suspension

Frame

The latest Sender CFR is a 200mm-travel, full-carbon downhill chassis built for outright speed rather than minimal weight.  

Both the front and rear triangles use Canyon’s CFR-grade carbon, with a targeted layup that adds stiffness around key load zones such as the bottom bracket and main pivot, while saving material elsewhere.  

The down tube and other exposed areas use polymer-reinforced carbon – a tougher composite developed for Canyon’s freeride bikes – to boost impact resistance. 

Durability and serviceability are priorities, with double-sealed bearings, replaceable threaded inserts and extensive frame protection including a full down tube guard, linkage covers and chainstay armour.  

The frame uses a standard 148mm Boost axle, but Canyon has worked with DT Swiss on a custom hub featuring a narrower freehub body and wider flange spacing to maximise stiffness.  

It matches the internal dimensions and stiffness of a 157mm downhill hub, while fitting within a slimmer 148mm shell – although a regular Boost wheel will still work in a pinch. 

K.I.S.

Canyon’s Keep It Stable (K.I.S.) system is fitted to the Sender CFR to help filter out unwanted steering inputs.  

Housed inside the top tube, it uses spring-tensioned bands connected to a cam on the fork steerer to create a gentle self-centring force as the bar turns.  

The system’s tension can be adjusted or removed entirely using a blanking plate.  

Canyon claims K.I.S. helps resist unwanted steering deflection, improve line-holding and reduce rider fatigue by keeping the front end calmer at speed. 

Suspension design

The biggest change for the new Sender is its high-pivot suspension layout.  

The single-pivot, linkage-driven design delivers 200mm of travel from its raised main pivot to produce a rearward axle path – roughly 24mm rearward through 70 per cent of travel, then moving 5mm forward to bottom-out – enabling the wheel to move with impacts rather than against them.  

An idler pulley sits directly on the main pivot to eliminate drivetrain feedback, cutting chain growth from 27mm to 0.1mm and pedal kickback to only 0.5 degrees.

Canyon also tuned the leverage curve for what it calls 'pushability', ensuring riders can still pump terrain effectively despite the rearward axle path.  

A flip chip at the shock mount offers two progression settings – 32.7 and 37 per cent – while high anti-rise (around 130 per cent at sag) helps stabilise the bike’s geometry under braking without making it feel harsh. 

Canyon Sender CFR Team geometry

The Sender CFR Team comes in four sizes, from small to extra-large.  

My size-small test bike has a 443mm reach, 1,246mm wheelbase and 438mm chainstays, paired with a 63-degree head angle and a 626mm stack.  

It feels compact and agile, yet retains the stability expected from a full-bore downhill bike.  

Geometry adjustment is built in. The offset headset cups enable +/- 8mm of reach change – I ran the longer 451mm setting, which stretched the wheelbase to 1,254mm for added stability. 

The 438mm chainstays are the static figure; due to the rearward axle path, they effectively lengthen to around 455mm at sag.  

A flip chip at the shock mount raises or lowers the bottom bracket by 5mm, switching between 347mm (low) and 352mm (high) and adjusting the head angle from 62.7 to 63 degrees. These refinements enable riders to tailor handling to suit track speed and terrain. 

Canyon Sender CFR Team specifications

The Sender CFR Team sits at the top of Canyon’s downhill range.  

As such, it’s a race-ready build out of the box.  

Suspension duties are handled by a RockShox BoXXer Ultimate fork and a matching Vivid Coil Ultimate shock, tuned to complement the bike’s leverage curve and high-pivot dynamics.  

Braking comes from SRAM’s powerful Maven Silver stoppers, paired with 200mm rotors front and rear.

A full SRAM X0 DH drivetrain provides crisp, short-range shifting, while the DT Swiss FR1500 wheelset – built around a bespoke 148mm rear hub – aims to provide the stiffness and durability needed for racing. 

Canyon Sender CFR Team ride impressions

I tested the Sender CFR Team on a mix of tracks – from steep, root-choked World Cup-style lines in France to flatter bike-park trails and racing it at the fourth round of the British Cycling National Downhill Series in Llangollen, Wales. 

Straightaway, its composure at speed stood out. Point it down something rough and fast, and the bike feels unflappable – the rear suspension stays active, tracking the ground rather than bouncing over it.  

On square-edge hits or repeated braking bumps, there’s a sense the bike simply refuses to get hung up. The rearward axle path really does move the wheel back and out of the way, keeping momentum high and the chassis calm. 

The Sender’s handling rewards aggression. When ridden hard, the suspension settles into its mid-stroke and the whole bike feels glued to the ground, yet responsive enough to change lines.

Through fast, sweeping corners, it carries speed effortlessly. You can lean it in with confidence and it holds its line tenaciously, offering masses of grip from both wheels. 

The supportive mid-stroke enables you to push against the bike through compressions or berms without it wallowing, and when you load the front on exit, it digs in predictably rather than pushing wide. 

Slower, tighter corners take more effort. With its growing wheelbase and rearward-biased suspension movement, the Sender prefers to be leaned rather than flicked. You need to commit to a line early, but once you do, the bike feels balanced and controlled. 

The higher anti-rise figure also helps keep geometry stable when braking into turns – the rear end doesn’t pitch forward under heavy braking, so your position stays composed.  

SRAM’s Maven brakes deliver excellent power, enabling you to brake late and get off the levers early, freeing the suspension to work actively and hunt for grip through the corner. That high anti-rise never caused concern when braking smoothly and efficiently.

On steep terrain, the bike feels reassuringly composed. You can drop into gradient-heavy chutes and the Sender keeps its weight distribution neutrally, never feeling as though it’s tipping you over the front. It’s easy to stay centred and relaxed, even when the trail is anything but. 

Even on very rough chutes, the Sender remains stable, the rear wheel maintaining consistent contact and grip with the ground, even under hard braking. 

Flatter or slower sections reveal the only notable compromise of the high-pivot layout – the bike isn’t especially lively.  

Getting it to manual, hop or accelerate out of tight corners takes more deliberate effort, and it lacks the pop of more playful designs such as the Propain Rage or Giant Glory. That said, once up to speed, its suspension efficiency helps preserve momentum – the bike skims across choppy ground where others stall.

Control remains excellent over successive bumps – the suspension never feels overwhelmed or harsh, even deep in its travel.  

The coil shock adds sensitivity without spiking, and there’s minimal feedback through the pedals thanks to the idler placement. In its low setting, the bottom bracket sits very close to the ground, and can occasionally snag on awkward rocks, drops or roots – something to watch for on rougher trails. 

The K.I.S. system’s self-centring effect is subtle but noticeable. It damps small steering deflections and helps the front wheel stay committed through roots and square edges mid-corner, although it’s far from transformative. 

It also takes time to build confidence at higher-tension settings – initial cornering can feel heavy, with some understeer until you adapt. It’s an interesting feature to experiment with, but wisely, Canyon enables you to remove it if you prefer a conventional steering feel. 

Canyon Sender CFR Team bottom line

Overall, the Sender CFR Team rides like a purebred race bike.  

It thrives on speed, feels hugely composed through rough sections and remains impressively stable under braking.  

It’s not the bike for jibbing around the bike park or slow-speed play. However, on demanding downhill tracks, it delivers the kind of calm, predictable performance that enables you to push harder, brake later and ride faster – all for an impressive price.