Grail CF SLX 8 Di2 GRC42 vs. Grail CF SLX 8 Di2
After some research and trying out the Grail at Canyons headquarter in Koblenz, I ordered the GRC 42, because it cost less and being an amateur rider mostly riding on well maintained streets with an occasional gravel ride and some bikepacking every other month, it seemed like a good fit.
It's my first "professional" bike, being relatively new to cycling as a sport, I rode a 30-years-old steelframe Raleigh racing bike until now. The full carbon is kind of overkill as I'm nowhere near being professional, and just starting but given I love the blue/purple colour and carbon wheelsets by themselves cost as much as the price difference between this bike and the CF SL 7 AXS, I ordered this bike.
I was super happy when I pulled the trigger on the bike until this morning where I started second guessing my decision when I read about the hooked/hookless difference with the GRC42 being hookless. Being an amateur rider I wondered whether it overcomplicates things for me with the tire pressures and the expertise you need to set up and maintain hookless tires and ask myseld if I should cancel my order and spend 300€ more to be "safer" with the hooked wheelset bike version.
Any advice? Anything else I am missing about this bike as an amateur?
by GeldMueller
4 Comments
Personally I would always go for hooked wheels. Yes, people will tell you they ride hookless for years without issues but the shit needs to happen only once for you to crash and hurt yourself.
Don’t worry at all. Enjoy your bike you’ll love it.
Hookless is perfectly fine. Especially for gravel/wider tyres.
I wouldn’t ride hookless rims. Weight savings are marginal yet it introduces additional risk factors. Everyone should make their own decisions based on their risk appetite