Hi guys,
I just bought a Canyon CF SL 7 trail on sale, coming from my old teenager mountain bike. I’m so happy to join this new gravel and road cycling world but as a newcomer I’ve some trouble at the beginning.
I’m 173cm tall with inseam 78cm. The saddle should be around 68cm high, but the VCLS 2.0 at the minimum level is still to high. You can see the graphs in the pictures.
It seems dangerous to go further than the 0 level, right ?
Last picture I switched with the steel low-cost saddle of my mtb to try, it allows me to go down to 64cm saddle height and it feels much better but the saddle is less confortable.
Any idea what I should do ? I can put the saddle from my vcls 2.0 onto the saddle tube, but I’d rather find a solution to use the vcls 2.0 with the absorption effect.
If there is no other choice I should maybe buy a new seat post, any suggestion regarding that ?
And if I miss the comfort from this seat post, maybe switching to tubeless would replace this confort (haven’t yet pulled the trigger) ?
Thank for your help for a newcomer 🙂
by Dragor027
2 Comments
I would contact the manufacture of the seat post and ask but most likely they are not going to recommend it. I couldn’t tell what pedals you are running but another option that could help albeit a small amount if running clipless you could get shims to put between your shoe and cleat to provide some additional reach. That will not be a lot but maybe it would be just enough.
Now onto the Tubeless setup that will absolutely change the feel. You will be able to run lower pressures and if you find a tire setup you like its a game changer. Highly recommend it. You can always carry spare tube or tubes in case of a non sealable flat. I run Thomson alloy seat posts on almost all my bikes and the ones with Tubeless setups always have the better ride feel.
Based on the sizing chart, you might have been better suited to the XS Grizl or to a different bike with a different stack/reach.
In either case, you also might actually be best off with a shorter crank length than the 170mm that comes with the S/XS Grizl. [For your inseam, I’ve seen recommendations from 155-165mm.](https://www.applemanbicycles.com/resources/riders-guide-to-crank-length/) You’d end up with a slightly higher saddle height which may help mitigate this issue, but I don’t think it’s enough to get the saddle in a safe range.