Canyon doesn’t just do bikes – the German direct-sales Goliath has a rapidly expanding range of clothing and accessories to choose from, including these MTB Pants, designed to compete against the best mountain bike trousers on sale. As you can see by the weight, they are very heavy duty, with a thick polyester fabric that Canyon inexplicably describes as ‘lightweight’. In fact the weight quoted on Canyon’s product page is half the actual weight! Part of the reason for that extra weight is that there’s a full mesh liner – something we haven’t seen in a long while. Annoyingly, it’s easy to catch your heel on the liner when taking them off, which pulls the whole thing out.

Mesh liner adds weight and can pull out when you take them off

Given that it’s blended with only 7% elastane, there’s a surprising amount of stretch, which is good considering they are one of the tightest pants on test, with one of the shortest inseams. Knee room is minimal, so they do feel a bit restrictive when wearing pads, and the tight fit generates extra friction, creating heat that the fabric just can’t get rid of. The bottom line is, we wouldn’t recommend these for hot, summer rides. But then again, while there’s a decent DWR coating, they are not waterproof, and the back of the knee is heavily vented, so we can’t see them being particularly suited to winter conditions either.

Thick fabric and heavy duty features mean the Canyon MTB Pants don’t blend into the background when riding

In terms of features, there’s an MX-style ratchet waist closure and two zipped hip pockets to keep valuables safe. Canyon hasn’t added an internal phone sleeve, but the pants are so tight your phone can’t go anywhere.