Hey all! About to finaaaallllly buy a Canyon Grail CF SLX 8.
There’s two options available currently. Both with GRX Di2.
Both with DT Swiss GRC1400:
Option 1) 50mm
Option 2) 42mm
The price difference is minimal. What would you do?!
(There’s also the same bike with Zipp Firecasts and AXS Xplr 1by but it’s not in stock in my size and hasn’t been for quite some time. Heard a rumor that there may be a Force update on the way which may have something to do with this 🤷♂️)
by TrouserTrail
8 Comments
ride gravel/road mostly flat: go with 50. Have more gravel than road, have more elevation in: go with 42. Either way, the difference won’t be that big, unless you’re inexperienced in crosswinds with the 50, but that you can learn
Possibly a controversial opinion: I’d go with the ones you like the look of better. Performance wise the difference will be minuscule but loving the way your bike looks makes you ride more.
Gravel bikes, this one included, look a bit silly with 50 wheels. Looks like donuts instead of wheels. Esp if you are running tyres over 40/45.
50’s! What’s news w the force update? I’m curious ….
42 are hookless, 50 are hooked. It’s a change in generation between the grc 1400’s. Anyways, I’m a simple man who prefers deep wheels, so 50 anyways.
is there a difference in the width of the wheels? I would go with the wider ones for sure! otherwise, if you live hilly/mountains and ride offroad a lot, 42, otherwise 50.
if you wanna put 40mm slicks on it and ride on road mostly, the 50 would prolly look a bit cooler as well
How gnarly is the terrain you will be riding? Although it’s not a massive difference the deeper the rim the more chance of it getting bashed by rocks.
I’d go with the ones you don’t have to pay to upgrade and sell them when the bike arrives. Get a set of modern gravel wheels with the money you get. Dt makes a good road wheel but they’re behind the curve on what makes a good gravel wheel.
Check out lightbicycle wg55, parcourse fkt, zipp xplr that’s where modern wheels are headed for gravel. Ironically I’d recommend using dt hubs if you went lb.