After much time, I’m finally making the jump and grabbing a gravel bike. I’ve heard great things about Canyon, so that’s the brand I’m currently leaning towards with these two bikes in particular. Are there other bikes in this range I should look at? Or is Canyon the best in terms of bang for buck and warranty?
by mandoponcho1337
18 Comments
The Grail is a racy gravel, the Grizl is the more adventure focused one.
You can do both with either of them and both will do well unless you’re thinking about doing it at a pro level.
I’d go for the Grizl, as the bigger tire clearance opens up more use cases for the bike.
I bought this exact Grizl 3 weeks ago and i’m super happy with it! As someone else mentioned, the grizl is more adventure with more options to mount bags and bottle cages.
Grizl all the way.
What great things have you heard about Canyon? As a mechanic who has assembled over a thousand and had to warranty hundreds I don’t have a very high opinion of the company.
Unless you have very specific needs that only the Grail can meet, I think it’s hard to beat the Grizl in terms of cost and capability. Tire clearance is great, it has loads of mounts, geometry is plenty racey, upgrade-friendly, list goes on. You get better aero and a lighter weight complete system with the Grail at the expense of a proprietary integrated cockpit and below-average tire clearance in the rear.
isn’t Grizl cf sl8 with Shimano grx on sale rn? If you don’t need the stam electronic shifting it got better seatpost, seat and wheels.
I have a Grizl. I got a Grail first and returned it. It wasn’t the right bike for me. The Grail leans MUCH harder toward gravel racing/road riding. The proprietary cockpit of the Grail makes switching bars/stems and finding the perfect fit a nightmare. Also, in case you are not aware, the models under the SLX don’t have in-frame storage. The bike is super fast, but not very versatile imo. I’ve had my Grizl SLX Di2 since December and I love it. I just finished the Unbound 200 on it, complete with ShockStop stem and aero bars that were easy to install. Keep in mind the fork has a proprietary diameter that you can’t find a replacement for. The only really option is the suspension fork they sell.
So, if you snap your fork, you can either go with a suspension fork or hope you can find someone looking to offload one.
Completely anecdotal, but I’ve seen a number of posts about poor customer service with Canyon. None of this is first hand so take it for the heresy it is, but I don’t know that I’ve quite heard the same for other brands.
I think a potential difference, is for a lot of others you’d buy via LBS who is going to take care of things for you etc to make sure the experience is right.
In terms of other bikes, Salsa Warbird is highly regarded, I’ve considered a frame swap myself coming from a Felt Breed.
I bought the Grizl 8 a few weeks ago and have put a few hundred miles on it. I bought it to ride while recovering from a mountain bike crash that resulted in a fractured scapula. I did the research and chose this bike. I had owned a Canyon Spectral in the past and found Canyon easy to work with. I have had a great experience with the Grizl and, surprising to me, I have fallen in love with gravel riding. Who knew? 😉
I’d suggest going to the local bike shop and test riding some bikes. Even if you don’t buy one, you can get a feel for what you like and what fits. If you do get it from a local shop you will have service and warranty close by.
Get a Poseidon, great geometry and solid gravel bike for the price.
I ride the Grail and am happy with it. Don’t LOVE the integrated stem, but that is my biggest gripe. It handles well, is super fast, and is fun on chunky stuff, if you want to underbike it.
Grail is great if you want to go just a bit faster on most surfaces. That said, Grizl is a way better all arounder.
Neither- Canyons suck
Between those two I would go grizl. The geometry is still pretty fun while being a more versatile bike.
But those two bikes would be like 15th and 25th on my list of bikes.
Canyon’s atrocious US inventory, poor component availability, and the brand’s overall quirky frame spec make em really unappealing.
Price is the only thing those have going.
I mean…I got a complete build lynskey for that price, that’s crazy.
50mm tyre, 22psi, equals smiles:)
Go the tyre clearance and thank me later.
Canyon is trash with lengthy repair times. Buy local and support your bike shop
Nice