It's basically a drop bar Exceed with Rival shifters and the OEM only S1000 Transmission.
Tire clearance of 2,4"/62mm. Downtube storage. Fox 32 suspension fork with 60mm.
There's a flat bar model of the same new CFR frame too.
No XS size for this which is weird, I suspect that the drop bar made it a bit problematic.
However, I think it could be a very good option for those who need it. I'd say that it sits a level above the Grizl with the Rift fork, since that's only 40mm of travel with 54mm/2,1" tire clearance.
Canyon says that this bike is intended for ultra racing adventure, which is this new category that seems to be in trend right now. The Factor Sarana has a similar use case and we've seen it pit to very good use during this year's Tour Divide.
by HG1998
4 Comments
Another thing, it is listed as a limited model so I think Canyon is testing the waters whether this is something sustainable.
Also interesting that the CF line seems to be slowly getting out of stock in all sizes. We’ll have to see where this goes. They introduced that model only last year and advertised it as a more off-road alternative to their gravel bikes.
I presume that since they steered the Grizl into the (relatively) big tire clearance and suspension fork route shortly after that, that there was a clash between the two. People who wanted to race probably were put off by the flatbar only Exceed CF and went for the Grizl with Rift.
In general the Concept of Dropbar MTBs is Great. Im riding a Cervelo ZHT5 as a Dropbar conversion since 3 years and sold my Gravelbike shortly after.
The problem with the Exceed: it’s a modern Geo and it’s heavy.
– the Dropbar requires a frame with an „old“ geo to mitigate the long reach of the Dropbars (usually +70-80mm compared to flatbars) modern XC Frames are getting longer & longer. The old exceed was a great frameset for a Dropbar conversion
– the new exceed is heavy! Especially on Dropbar MTBs you can go lightweight: you don’t jump and ride as hard as on a full XC-Hardtail.
In my opinion, Dropbar MTBs are superior in many use cases: fast rolling XC tires, lightweight, great for adventure riding.
The inbetween category with 30-50mm forks take all of the disadvantages in my opinion. If you want more suspension for rougher riding, go with a proper fork.
Interesting they didn’t try and get Alex Mc Cormack to ride this on the Tour Divide as a bit of marketing.
Although most people still go for Hardtail minimum, does not look fun on the rigid Gravel bike that Victor won it on, but obviously worked.
So much cheaper than the “traditional” Exceed CFR!