Canyon Bicycles

In 1985, Roman Arnold and his brother Franc Arnold (who is no longer involved with the company) founded 'Radsport Arnold' GmbH as a retailer of bike parts for cycling. It was not until 1996 that the first bikes with the brand name Canyon appeared. Radsport Arnold adopted a direct sales strategy via the Internet.

In 2001, the company took the step from being a supplier to becoming a cycle manufacturer and changed its name to Canyon Bicycles GmbH. With Lutz Scheffer (formerly Bergwerk and Votec), Canyon was able to secure the services of a frame designer. In the next few years, the firm based in Koblenz, Germany was able to hire Hans Christian Smolik, along with other bicycle construction experts.

In 2006, Canyon unveiled its new corporate design, which also received several awards in 2007 (European Design Award for Corporate Design, red dot design awards for Corporate and web design, iF Product Design Award for Corporate Design).

In 2018, Canyon launched its first e-bike called the Spectral:ON.

In 2020, the brand launched the first in its line of Canyon Factory Racing (CFR) bikes (the Strive mountain bike), a limited run of high-end bikes designed for professional riders. The current CFR lineup consists of the Lux, Aeroad, Exceed, Sender, Endurace, and Ultimate.

Production and assembling

Canyon's bicycle frames and forks are designed by Canyon and produced in Asia. Quest Composite Technology is an important supplier that also produces frames for Trek. Canyon conducts assembly, quality inspections, and tests in Koblenz.

Other branding

Until August 2019, Canyon bikes were called "Pure Cycling" in Switzerland since the brand name "Canyon" was trademarked by Lizard Sport AG. Canyon bikes made for the Swiss market sported the model name instead of the brand name on their downtube.

Controversies

After standardizing company-wide IT infrastructure to suit projections that began in November 2015, Canyon expanded production facilities to end the year. During the subsequent transitional phases of improvement, Canyon's reputation suffered from cutbacks in customer service. Associated obstacles were encountered during internal expansions that were coupled to external supply chain deficiencies regarding spare parts. Reported discontent essentially reflected concerns that the company grew more interested in selling its products than providing adequate customer service.

To address concerns, Canyon's founder and CEO released a statement in February 2016, offering an official apology and addressing customer criticism. The disclosure also informed the public of the contributing circumstances and outlined corrective actions. The firm thanked customers for their loyalty and continued patience.