Of course, cheapness doesn’t translate to value unless it’s backed up with performance, and here the Sender capably excels. From the first run we did we had a sneaking suspicion this would be top-five material and in the end it finished second in our list of favourite downhill bikes last year.

“Scarily good value”

We’ve found that ramming the X2 full of spacers is the best way to find the bike’s sweet spot (it actually comes with six already installed). The three phase system that was extolled to us was not quite as distinct on the trail with each stage gliding seamlessly into the other. It’s a light bike too, which gives the ride a certain liveliness you wouldn’t find on others. Finally, it’s a quiet bike – while this isn’t something that directly affects performance, we’ve found it to be a fairly simple gauge of the quality of a bike.

The detailing, the sizing, the geometry, the silence, the price. Canyon have really pulled out a class bike here that sets it apart from nearly all the competition. While the Sender didn’t behave completely as expected it was fast nevertheless and many were fully compelled with its ride characteristic.