CANYON DROPS ‘LUX ERA’ MOUNTAIN BIKE CONCEPT TO FIRE THE STARTING GUN FOR A NEW AGE OF CROSS COUNTRY RACING

With its biplane cockpit, 32” wheels, upside-down forks and aero profile, could the Canyon Lux Era be the dawn of a faster era of XC racing?

Embargoed until 16:00 CEST, Monday 22 June 2026: Cross-country racing is, at its very core, a contest of speed – that's truer today than ever before. In 2016, the average speed of XCO MTB World Cup races was 18 km/h. Today, it’s 24 km/h. Longer races are getting faster, too: the Leadville 100 MTB now sees winning speeds of 28 km/h.

Speed wins the race, but XC bikes have not kept the pace. If you want to cross the finish line first, you need every conceivable advantage. Making bikes as light and efficient as possible – the paradigm for decades – is no longer enough to secure victory. As speeds increase, aerodynamics become more important, yet existing mountain bike frames and components don't allow riders to truly achieve and maintain safe aero-optimized positions.

Those conceivable advantage questions have been answered by Canyon who lifted the lid today on a full-suspension concept XC bike known as the Lux Era.

Its wild front-end features a bi-plane cockpit that recalls the radical double decker handlebar Canyon used on a previous generation of their Grail gravel bike. This enables riders to put their hands on the lower section of the bars for an aero-optimized position.

This aero direction is followed by a pointed head tube profile, upside-down fork, 32” wheels and computer integrated into the top cap, built to factor in aerodynamic advantages with the handling needed to stay at the sharp end of the pack.

“There’s a three-fold problem in XC racing right now. Races are getting faster and riders need to go faster. Riders are looking for potentially unsafe solutions to do so. And they don’t have enough hand positions to maintain aerodynamic positions,” Fedja Delic, Canyon Head of Design.

Canyon's goal with the Lux Era is to give riders a way to get low and fast without risking a catastrophic crash. But instead of just tweaking tube shapes, Canyon went back to the drawing board to question why XC mountain bikes currently look the way they do.

Here is the breakdown of what makes the Lux Era look so radical:

• The Lux Era’s sleek, bi-plane design offers multiple hand positions and crucially offers a safer way for the rider to get in a lower, more aerodynamic position, reducing the 70% of drag that riders typically account for.

• The upside-down fork offers both superior high-performance riding - better fore/aft rigidity, better hard braking stability, reduced unsprung mass, better lubrication and sharper handling – and better aerodynamic performance thanks to narrow crown integration.

• A minimal computer display reduces aero drag and allows the rider to read essential performance data like speed, distance, time, power, or heart rate while keeping a clean cockpit.

• Bigger 32” wheels roll over obstacles more easily, maintain speed better, provide more traction and offer increased comfort.

• The frame cutaway provides a direct line of sight to the rider’s shock, making for easier sag setup.

“Whether it’s world cups or marathon races, riders constantly are figuring out how to go faster. Every second counts even more. Today’s cockpits only let you go so far. We need a solution that lets you get aero and comfortably stay aero,” Luca Schwarzbauer, Canyon XC Racing.

From wheels that help maintain speed better, to the bike’s aero-optimised cockpit, fork and frame, offering riders greater comfort in more aerodynamic positions and in a safer way, will lead to a faster XC mountain bike.

For now, the Lux Era is strictly a "prototype concept" yet to be submitted for UCI approval, so don't expect to see Luca Schwarzbauer or Jenny Rissveds lining up at a World Cup on the bike just yet. However, athlete and wind tunnel testing is now taking place to validate these claims.

If you happen to be heading to Eurobike in Frankfurt (June 24–27), you can check out the Lux Era at the Canyon booth (Hall 11.0, Stand B50), where several other prototypes and concept bikes will also be on display.

1. For a deeper dive into the Lux Era, take a look at the press kit here.

2. For additional images, see here.