



INSIDE



CANYON



WORDS AND PHOTOS: MATT WRAGG



A disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market leaders and alliances. - Wikipedia

Canyon's headquarters are an imposing affair, situated in the heart of Koblenz.

While it may not look like as much fun in this weather, a pumptrack outside the headquarters is always the sign of a bike company that knows how to enjoy itself.

It may not look like much today, but this trailer is where Canyon began. It was from this trailer that founder, Roman Arnold, first began to sell bike parts at races - and from there the business grew. Today it is on display inside the entrance to the headquarters.

In their headquarters they have their heavily-equipped testing lab. It is here that Canyon tests all of its frames, forks and components to their limits. Alongside the more common examination processes, including microscopes and conductivity testing, they have an CT scanner to examine the structural integrity of the kit. This is essentially the same technology you would be examined with if you went to the hospital, but to work with far more dense metals and composites the power is turned up to levels that would be harmful to humans (they don't turn the machine on with the door open - this was just for the photo).

Every aspect of every component that Canyon put their name to is tested against a myriad of loads and stresses - from impacts on the headtube, to how much force the dropout can take, depending on the test they may face 100,000 cycles or having the force or load increased and increased until the material can no longer take it. Every aspect of every component that Canyon put their name to is tested against a myriad of loads and stresses - from impacts on the headtube, to how much force the dropout can take, depending on the test they may face 100,000 cycles or having the force or load increased and increased until the material can no longer take it.

While the main headquarters are impressive, it's only one of a number of sites they have around the town. The actual production of the bikes happens here - in their vast warehouse and manufacturing facility outside the town.

If you think you receive a lot of post, you should see how much a company of this size receives... This is, admittedly, more than would usually be in this area because this facility when we visited Canyon had only just opened the new facility and were still in the process of cataloguing the garagantuan amount of components you need to build as many bikes as they do.

Before the goods are sent through to the warehouse, each batch is checked by quality control to make sure they are fit to be mounted onto the bikes.

If you're going to produce 100,000 bikes per year you're going to need quite a lot of kit to do that, so you're going to need a lot of space to store the frames, components and finished bikes. If you're going to produce 100,000 bikes per year you're going to need quite a lot of kit to do that, so you're going to need a lot of space to store the frames, components and finished bikes.

Assembly takes place in this hall - the frames enter on the left, then work their way in a "U" shape to finishing on the right.

Assembly begins with preparatory steps - preparing the cable routing, mounting the frame bolts and greasing the frame's apertures

Some steps are done separately to the main production line - for instance, the handlebars and stem are mounted with all the necessary equipment and cables to one side, they are then mounted as a single unit in one go on the main line.

Within just a few steps the frame becomes recognisable as a bicycle, rather than an assortment of components. Within just a few steps the frame becomes recognisable as a bicycle, rather than an assortment of components.

When the basic assembly is done, it is time for the bike to cross the floor to the right-hand side for setup.

The fully assembled bikes are setup to shop standard - all the gears are indexed, brakes tested and alignment of the contact points setup. The mechanics take each bike for a quick spin up and down the hall floor to make sure everything is working order, so the customer can take the bike out of the box and, after some minimal reassembly, get out and ride. The fully assembled bikes are setup to shop standard - all the gears are indexed, brakes tested and alignment of the contact points setup. The mechanics take each bike for a quick spin up and down the hall floor to make sure everything is working order, so the customer can take the bike out of the box and, after some minimal reassembly, get out and ride.

To prepare the bikes for shipping they are meticulously prepared and slightly disassembled to fit in the shipping boxes.