I've been eyeing Canyon Grizls ever since I saw one pop up on FBM so out of curiosity, I compared it to the Jamis Dragon steel frame I have.
I know drop bar conversions using MTBs can get wonky but this seems like a viable conversion… is my optimism misplaced?
- ST angle: 1° difference
- Stack-to-Reach: both 1.44:1
- HT angle: 0.5° difference
Biggest variances:
- BB height: 39mm taller on the Dragon (MTB tire profile contributes to this as well)
- Horizontal chainstay length: 19mm longer on the Dragon
- Wheelbase: 26mm longer on the Dragon
by hoon_tx
5 Comments
These bikes are really pretty different but both will be fun to ride
you have to consider that the jamis geo is based on suspension fork
Yea they are surprisingly close in key areas like you’ve pointed out. I think the key difference will be if you decide to run flat or drop bars. The Jamis will need more finessing to run drops and get a comfortable position while doing so. This is why you see short stems with little to no rise on frames designed to run more upright flat bar setups.
Put a -17° stem on the dragon and you can probably get the stack height pretty close.
But the seat tube angle could cause issues. You might need to run the saddle slammed forward on a 0 offset or negative offset seatpost to get the reach right.
I agree with others you’re going to want to run a zero offeset seatpost and move your saddle as far fwd as possible. You’ll also want a short stem and a short reach bar and you still might end up with a bit too much reach in the cockpit. Being a 2014 bike the Jamis geo is pretty good for an idea like this and it probably came with at least a 70mm stem if not 80-90 so it’s not a terrible starting point.
If you run a shorter fork you will help your seat tube angle issue, and you enough stack that you should be ok there, but you’re only making the reach longer.
Dunno what groupset you are planning on using but mating mtb calipers to road brifters seems generally quite compatible / easy even if not officially supported (speaking of hydraulic) assuming of course you stay within a brand or with compatible fluid. There are a lot of anecdotal bits of info out there from all the adventure bike and drop bar mtb builds.