I have been using the new Van Rysel GRVL AF Sword from Decathlon for slightly less than a month. I have done commutes and 30-40k rides so far. Here are my impressions.
The bike is smooth AF.
The 1×10 gears cover quite well the spectrum of gear ratios that I need for moderate uphill and for speeds on the road. Shifting feels good and on spot.
The sword levers have good tactical feedback and feels great. A slight issue is that there’s some lateral movement on the small shifter which feels a little weird initially but this degree of freedom would save it from breaking if the bike falls and impacts there and I got used to it eventually.
The seat is comfortable. I did commutes to work (8k each way) without bib shorts and it was okay.
One highlight of the bike is the wide tyre clearance till 50mm. The 40mm tyres are good for riding on light gravel and roads/pavements and if this is going to be your only bike then it’s nice to have the freedom to slap on wider tyres.
The brakes are not great. They work for slow (15-18kmph) rides on flat gravel paths. However, if I am going fast, I do not feel confident with the brakes. Also, if I am going downhill, it’s not pleasant holding onto the brakes for longer durations with two fingers.
I ride with my hold on the hood for 90% of the time. Changing the hold to dropbars makes it slightly better as you can now hold the brakes with four fingers but this is not always convenient.
Considering everything, I have decided to return the bike. Let me explain why.
When I bought the bike at 999€ I believed it was a great value for money.
However yesterday Canyon launched the endurance all road at the same price with a full Shimano CUES 2×10 group-set and hydraulic disk brakes. The only drawback as compared to this bike is that it has a max tire clearance of 40mm. I intend to buy this instead as this offers a lot more value for my money.
by _Sunshine_17
4 Comments
I don’t get it? How could you return the bike if you already driving it?
Bad move IMO.
You can always change the groupset later in your bike journey but you can’t improve the frame to accommodate 50mm tires…
I see people talking about canyon having a problem with proprietary parts that you can only source through them but they’re not available for months or longer so you’re without the bike if one of those things goes bad. Anyone know if this new inexpensive canyon is the same? For that matter, anyone know if the VR has the same drawback?
I don’t have either bikes, just something that would make me think twice on the canyon.
If I had to return it, would be because it looks too big for you.