Award-Winning Precede:ON Carbon e-Bike From Canyon Will Leave You Wanting More

Ladies and gents, the bike smashing into your visual cortex is none other than Canyon Bicycles' Precede:ON CF 9. I’m sure you’ve heard of Canyon before, but not so sure you’ve heard of the Precede. Why? Well, this bike seems to only be available in Europe, where the urban biking scene is a bit more developed than in the U.S.

Still, if you know little about Canyon, I can tell you it has been around since 1985 when Roman Arnold and his brother, Franc Arnold, founded Radsport Arnold. Much later, in 2021, the company rebranded and adopted a slightly different sales approach: the internet. It seems like business has been booming since then and have risen to become a world-renowned cycling force.

To understand a bit about the level at which Canyon likes to play the game, this e-bike has received the 2021 Red Dot Award for Best of the Best, according to the manufacturer’s website. So, what is it that makes this bike so fantastic?

Well, the first thing to point out is its price tag. You’ll need to dish out a full €4,999 ($6,004 at current exchange rates) for this bike. With a base price like that, you know something’s got to be up. One of those somethings is the frame. A full carbon fiber design is used to yield one beautiful bike and a light and durable one.

A dropped top tube blends seamlessly to the seat stay, while at the cockpit, the same top tube is angled downward, offering a fierce and slightly MTB feel. The downtube is just as seamlessly integrated into the chain stay and seat post while housing the freshest 2021 Bosch Gen 4 Performance Line CX and cranking out a massive 85 Nm (63 lb-ft) of torque.

Offering the necessary energy to run the motor, you’ll need a battery. Canyon chose to continue with Bosch and have integrated a 500-watt-hour PowerTube into the down tube. Bosch tells us that this sort of setup is good for 65 km (40 miles) of range, well within daily commuting averages.

For the remainder of the drivetrain, you will not see Shimano or SRAM but Gates. Lately there’s been a whole lot of interest in Gates drivetrains as they seem to be quite easy to maintain and run smoothly. A CDX 24T cassette and CDX belt will keep you running smoothly and silently to work, or maybe because it’s new.

For shifting, everything is automatic. An Enviolo Sport Automatiq will be handling your shifting smoothly, effortlessly, and without any attention from you, so you can chit-chat away with your riding buddies or simply pay attention to traffic. All you’ve got to do is set your hub to your pedaling cadence and enjoy the ride.

One feature Canyon prides itself on is the cockpit. Aside from being all carbon, the unified stem and handlebar meet the top tube at that kink I mentioned earlier and complete the look you see. Internal cable routing feeds the clean look even more. Personally, riding this gen, I would feel just as proud as Canyon.

Since it is a city go’er, after all, the CF 9 can be equipped with all the extras customary for a city e-bike. Fenders, racks, panniers, and baskets can all be put to good use; a quick lock system offers ease of use.

As for myself, I can’t stop drooling over this sexy thing. I wouldn’t put one fender or basket on it and just leave it bare; it looks gorgeous. I’m sorry for making this sound like the most amazing e-bike I've seen, but it’s pretty damn nice.