Canyon Neuron ONfly Reivew: The True In Between Of eMTB and Trail?

Mountain bikers face a transition when riding eMTBs after years of regular mountain bike riding. While the greater weight of an eMTB aids traction and makes the bike feel more planted. That’s good. However, in riding a bike that may weigh close to double what their previous mountain bike did, eMTBs tend not to feel as playful. They aren’t as easy to loft over rocks and roots. They tend to bash their way through rock gardens. And getting the front wheel off the ground, while not difficult, requires thought and conscious effort because muscle memory is programmed for much less weight.

The upshot is that riding an eMTB is a somewhat different experience than riding a regular mountain bike and it requires some adjustment. For the rider who may want to switch back and forth, taking their lighter mountain bike out for shorter rides and then going on longer, faster rides with their eMTB, shrinking that weight gap between eMTBs and regular mountain bikes means less adjustment for the rider when switching back and forth.

We spoke with Canyon’s Vernon Felton at Sea Otter and what he says he found so remarkable was that most lightweight eMTBs give up that top-end power, so that on a ride with other eMTB riders, the lighter eMTB with the lower power motor gets dropped on climbs. He found the Neuron to be more maneuverable, easier to negotiate through a rock garden while maintaining an ability to climb with the most powerful eMTBs on the market.