Sent back my new Canyon

ARX

I ordered a Canyon Endurace AL (rim brake). When it arrived I opened the box and pulled out the front wheel. The valve stem was crooked (ie not pointing at the hub) and I though, ok, that's a bit sloppy, I'll have to redo that. Then I pulled the rest of the bike out of the box and it looked like it was assembled in the dark by a drunk.

There was paint missing around one of the dropouts (not scratched off, actually missing - there was primer but no paint).

There were greasy marks all over the frame.

The frame protection stickers were only half stuck to the bike (and in the wrong place in one case).

Brake pads wildly misaligned.

Rim scratched.

Small (admittedly tiny) dent in top tube.

The bar tape was the one of the sloppiest pieces of work I've seen. The tape wasn't even overlapping at some points.

At this point I decided that Canyon had wasted enough of my time and that it was likely that further and more serious problems would appear if I continued unpacking it. I had no confidence that the bike had been assembled correctly so I put it back in the box and sent it back. I had been thinking of buying a Canyon Ultimate if the Endurace had worked out, but after seeing that slovenly mess there is no way I'd buy another Canyon.

It's not the first item I've had in recent years proudly bearing the "Made in Germany" label that has turned out to be junk. At this point I regard "Made in Germany" as more of a warning than a promise.

magicbastarder

did you take photos to make a complaint? just curious to see some now if you did!

McGrath5

Interesting - I've bought 3 Canyon bikes over the years and they've all arrived perfect. What are support going to do, offer a replacement of refund?

You're right to send it back. A scuff or something that would come off with the rub of a cloth no issue but a scratch or dent ? Back it goes. Did you get as far as checking the cranks or brakes? I'd have my worries given what you said about the rest of the bike.

magicbastarder

a dent on its own could be a shipping issue, not indicative of sloppy QA - but that seems to have failed QA at multiple points regardless.

ARX

I did take some photos - I'll post them up later when I dig them out. They refunded the cost of the bike including shipping, no questions asked, which was a relief, as I didn't want to get into a fight about it.

I didn't check the cranks or the brakes other than observing that the brake pads were misaligned. I reckoned that given the sloppy state of the visible stuff like bar tape and brake pads, it was quite likely that there were stripped threads or under-tightened fasteners, and I would end having to strip and rebuild it to have any confidence in it.

The dent didn't happen in shipping - the box was fine and in fairness it was a tiny dent - I might never have seen it had the rest of the bike been in good order.

I accept that if I buy a bike online I will have to do some minor adjustments of brake pads and derailleurs, but I won't accept this.

From various things I've read, it seems that Canyon quality has been going downhill for some time.

Here's a recent video from the Mapdec Cycle Works in the UK describing the faults on a new Endurace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nVzfeQ9dHk

They also have a few videos about Dolan, which is making me reconsider my plan to buy a Prefissio frameset as a winter bike.

So for now I'll continue with my Brand-X frameset from Wiggle! It's not very sophisticated but it was well-made and easy to build up.

Junior

Did Canyon attempt to make any good will gesture ? Or was it just a simple case of here's your refund.

fat bloke

Wow, that's shocking. Especially considering the massive increases in bike prices. Personally I've experienced nothing but excellence from Canyon products and customer service so that's an awful pity to hear. Though encouraging that you just sent it back, no quibble. Perhaps it was an anomaly.

jamesd

When I purchased my endurance from them I had issues as well, first order arrived and the hydraulic brake cables were leaking at 2 area's , they offered for me to go to the local bike shop or let them collect it and refund me, so back it went and I ordered another and this time the gear levers were rattling inside when I was cycling (constant and it was a know di2 issue they said) so they offered the same and back it went - Third time lucky and no issues in 6years.

Have another canyon on order now - so I am happy with them.

CramCycle

My Rose was made in Germany, same with my Stevens, both quality bikes well put together. Not sure the made in Germany dig holds up.

ARX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786745#Comment_119786745

It was the latter - in fairness they could hardly say "sorry for sending you this rubbish, have a free jersey on us".

It seems that some people have good experiences with them and some have bad. You can't have Reiner on production line 1 doing perfect work and Stefan on production line 2 lashing stuff together in a half-arsed fashion. The good doesn't excuse the bad.

ARX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119789488#Comment_119789488

Fair enough, it was a somewhat glib remark. I wasn't trying to say that everything made in Germany is junk. But the idea that "made in Germany" is a guarantee of high quality isn't true.

(I have no axe to grind with Germany. I've worked there, I speak German, I've cycled all over Germany, and imo the Germans are the friendliest and most helpful people in Europe).

A couple of years ago I bought a Busch + Müller Ixon Space, their top-of-the-range battery front light. I had to send it back because the handlebar mount didn't hold the light firmly, so it wobbled, as you can see in these two videos:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/c5j9RFDZ3SI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zj9_GA89ro

This was a known problem and yet B+M continued shipping them. A handlebar mount FFS. It's not a complex device. There's no excuse for that.

fat bloke

"imo the Germans are the friendliest and most helpful people in Europe"

Glad I hadn't a mouthful of coffee reading that :D :D. I suppose if loud, public, unsolicited pointing out to you what you're doing wrong and how should be doing it classes as "helpful" :D

MangleBadger

Just watched a documentary on Canyon on GCN. The mechanics get 80 seconds at a station to do whatever job is needed (running cables / mounting pedals / etc) before it moves to the next stage in the line. Although there should be a final check by a mechanic to make sure it is all done correctly. Sounds like final mechanic didn't do much checking.

hesker

Do they get 80 secs to do the bar tape?

ARX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119791126#Comment_119791126

Oh yea, I've had that as well :) In my experience you only get that if you're breaking the rules, and it can't be a surprise to anyone that Germany is a rules-based country. But what I meant by "helpful" was complete strangers who insist on going out of their way to bring you to your destination if you look the slightest bit lost, or insist that you come back to their house for coffee and cake, or offer you a bed in their house for the night, or insist that you sit with them and their friends at the "stammtisch". Or the hotel owner who comes out in the lashing rain to drive you and your filthy bike up the hill to the hotel, and then tells you to leave your bike behind the reception and that the laundry room is at your disposal. Or the police who, when they can't help you with your damaged motorcycle lock, call the fire brigade to cut it off for you.

.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119791177#Comment_119791177

Got a link?

nicksnikita

Surprising that this one passed both the frame inspection at manufacture/paint in China and the inspection after assembly (if that takes place in Germany!?).

The dodgy paint and dent in top tube would be non-negotiables for me. They’d catch my eye every time and annoy me. I could live with sloppy assembly as I usually tinker around with pretty much everything after receipt of a new bike.

MangleBadger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119791633#Comment_119791633

GCN+ | Cycling As You’ve Never Seen It (globalcyclingnetwork.com)

ARX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119791740#Comment_119791740

TBH I would have let any one or two of those issues slide - the dent is tiny (almost invisible), the missing paint is underneath the dropout and I could always do a touch-up with an approximate match. I was thinking of upgrading the tyres anyway so I didn't care about the wonky valve. The bar tape, well I would probably have been adjusting the shifter position on the bars so I'd have had to rewrap the tape anyway. The greasy marks I could have cleaned off and the frame protectors I could have replaced.

It was really the fact that Canyon sent me a bike with multiple obvious and easily-rectified defects that annoyed me. That's just taking the piss. I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been a single issue that showed up after riding the bike, but they knew perfectly well what they were doing when they boxed it up, and I don't like being taken for a fool. I guess it makes business sense, after all they can sell every bike they build lash together, so why would they bother to do the job properly?

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119791066#Comment_119791066

I know I wasn't having a dig. I had similar in an old work place where we brought in time management professionals to analyse our work. What we learned later was that people do a better job, as fast as possible, so long as they are happy and motivated. When we made the changes we slowed, it wasn't as nice in the lab, and the work wasn't as tight. Everywhere is different but anywhere run like that is going to have failings, although undoubtedly someone will have ticked a box to claim they are acceptable.

I also loved my two bikes and take every chance, no matter how loosely linked to mention them.