Over the weekend in Daun, Germany an all-new prototype Canyon x DT Swiss short-travel gravel suspension fork was spotted racing on some muddy tracks and rocks. And lucky for us, a photographer friend of Bikerumor was there shooting the race, and sent us over some excellent Spy Shots.
So what do we know? mtb bike shocks
At German gravel nats in Daun – which happens to be just 70km from Canyon HQ in Koblenz – Peter Schermann of the Embrace The World gravel team sponsored by Canyon, raced a somewhat camouflaged DT Swiss gravel suspension fork. He still races the Canyon team dazzle camo paint job of sponsored athletes before the current Grail officially launched last summer. But now he has a new suspension fork with a new type of more-handwritten Canyon camo patterning.
Of note, there’s a distinct label on the underside of the prototype fork’s crown calling it a Canyon product (designed or engineered?) by DT Swiss. That’s key as it will likely be an exclusive to a Canyon gravel bike, at least at first. But it looks very much like a DT Swiss suspension product, in line with their previous mountain bike fork designs.
Now let’s just start off with a quick statement that, we don’t have official details at all yet. And most likely this isn’t hitting the market too soon. It’s the first and only instance we’ve heard about of this new fork, and it’s on a solid racer, but not one really fighting at the front for the podium. This looks a lot like Canyon & DT Swiss collecting performance and durability data in a real-world racing situation to us.
Of course, most notable is the reverse arch design… just like we see on Fox’s latest lightweight XC & gravel forks since the Manitou patent has opened up. What we can surmise based on zooming and measuring how the bike sat at the start of the race with Schermann leaning on the bar… I’d guess that this prototype Canyon x DT Swiss gravel suspension fork offers 40mm of travel, with 30mm stanchions.
We also see a remote lockout, with controls either wireless or mechanical routed internally to a lever that Schermann has mounted on the left-hand drop of his handlebar. And front brake line routing that comes out of the back of the fork crown. Plus, there are bolts at the base of either side of the arch, maybe for a fender mount, perhaps?
The prototype DT gravel fork features the same style of integrated covers on both sides of the fork crown like we first saw on their original 535 One all-mountain fork. And then, there’s a similar cutout in the stepped lower left leg to provide access to a rebound damping adjuster like their 232 One XC fork.
We reached out to DT Swiss for a comment and they did then actually admit that it is a new gravel fork they are working on. And they even confirm what the label on the fork crown says – it is “a co-development” between Canyon & DT. But beyond that most basic level, it was more of a ‘no comment’ type response, acknowledging ongoing product development and real-world testing in the suspension realm. No official comment yet from Canyon.
DTSwiss.com & Canyon.com
Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.
Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry created some of these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components, and worked as a bike shop mechanic.
Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, and short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.
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From the optical point of view it is a big disappointment. DT Swiss obviously is not able to develop a unique gravel fork. It looks more than a rebuild FOX or RockShox fork with reduced travel. This fork don‘t fit the small optics of a gravelbike frame silhouette. For me actual the best fork is the CaneCreek fork for grabelbikes. No doubt.
Externally, how much of a difference do you expect outside of moving the bridge or the diameter of the tubing?
CaneCreek Gravelbike USD is the solution for me in terms of weight and optical aspects.
I wonder if Canyon will offer a new sus-only Grail (or new name) ala Giant Revolt X?
Still surprised nobody is making an aero, air suspension fork. I know I’ll stick with my Redshift stem until they do
I like it? That hose routing needs some work.
Unless its lighter than the Cane Creek fork, or is able to be used as a super light XC fork why bother?
CC has the best gravel fork out there currently, and Fox and RS have decent options too.
If this is rated for MTB/XC it could be a great option for folks wanting something lighter than SID or the 32
I still think that gravel bike manufacturers need to design bikes around slightly more travel, something like 60-75mm travel. But since we are not there yet, I welcome other brands into the fray.
That’s how much travel I have on my hardtail. Bigger tires for a gravel bike with ~30mm of travel should be plenty. While not true for everyone, I’d guess that most people wanting 60-75mm of travel already have a mountain bike
Kind of like a mountain bike, only less fun
The structural argument for having the arch on the back instead of the front disappears when the fork leg has inline dropouts vs dropouts in front of the leg. Makes no sense, and now you have to contend with down tube clearance issues, potentially resorting to a taller axle to crown height for a given amount of travel.
Here comes another suspension product from DT with abysmal technical support. Unless something has changed drastically, good luck get any info or service parts for this. They refuse to allow independant or consumer service. And paired with Canyon? Really?
It makes sense when you think about it since it’s not so easy to go to a Canyon dealer
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