Vital Visits Canyon HQ in Koblenz, Germany

When we visited Nice, France, to learn about Syntace new K.I.S. steering assist system, Canyon invited us to tour their headquarters in Koblenz, Germany and do some riding on the surrounding trails. The riding around Koblenz was short but steep and had everyone grinning after some slippery mud runs with Canyon's Spectral: ON e-bikes.

We were greeted at our hotel by a fleet of Pathlite: ON bikes and enjoyed a ride to the main assembly warehouse a few miles outside town.

There, we witnessed the start-to-finish assembly process that allows Canyon to pump out around 400 bikes a day with immense attention to detail at every step. The processes and tools (expensive tools) used to accomplish this task are secret, but the level of efficiency and technology involved in the assembly operations is remarkable.

From there, we visited the service course building in Bannbersheid. There, athlete bikes are assembled and receive custom paint jobs, media content is created, event supplies and demo fleets are stored, and some special bikes from Canyon's past are kept.

Finally, we toured the main office known as Canyon Home. Here we were greeted by a massive showroom displaying special bikes from the brand's past, plus a plethora of their current lineup. With a huge retail interface and a cafe with fantastic food, it is hard to believe that engineers and machinists are actively testing and prototyping just behind the showroom wall.

In the testing area, frames undergo stress testing, there's a C.T. machine to inspect carbon frames, and even microscopic-level analysis of carbon fibers from the various test frames. 

Alongside the testing facilities is a machine shop for rapid prototyping and athlete-specific requests. The machine shop really solidified Canyon's commitment to the K.I.S. system in our minds. Witnessing how relentlessly they work towards developing products from concept to completion was impressive, ensuring that products meet production standards of performance. 

We want to extend a big thank you to everyone at Canyon for the gracious hospitality and for putting together such an insightful trip.

Should you find yourself in the Koblenz area, take the time to visit Canyon Home. Even if you aren't looking for your next bike, the cafe and pump track is well worth visiting.