I’m looking for some advice from other Canyon owners.
I have a Grail CF 7 that’s less than 2 months old and has only around 300 km on it. During a ride, the chain fell off. I’m not very handy with bike repairs, and for some reason I couldn’t get it back on myself.
While trying to figure out what had happened, I noticed some surprisingly deep scratches around the drivetrain area (see attached photos). Since I couldn’t get the chain back on, I took the bike to a mechanic. He fixed the issue and also replaced the chain, which surprised me considering the bike had only done 300 km.
What confuses me is that I previously owned a Triban RC520 and rode nearly 1,500 km without replacing the chain once(Microshift). The chain came off a few times on that bike too, but I could always put it back on myself, and any marks were barely visible.
Do these scratches look normal from a single chain drop on a carbon Grail(They are deep), or is this excessive? And does it make sense to contact Canyon about it, considering the bike is almost new?
I’d appreciate any opinions or similar experiences.
by Bazivi2
18 Comments
Idk what you’re expecting Canyon to do for you but I would buy the K-edge chain catcher for the future.
Rode my old grizl like that for 3 years. Even with everything else broken, that part stayed fine when I got run over by a SUV. Check your shifter set up, maybe buy a chain catcher like the other comment suggests and then don’t worry about it
Not a Canyon issue now. It won’t cause any issues. You’ll just have to suck it up. In future you can always put some thick helicopter tape in that area. Also careful with shifting, it can cause chain drop.. Otherwise get your mech limits checked.
Why the hell did he replace the chain??
Lol they sold you a chain + labor for this
Robust carbon area. Like a couple others have pointed out, replacement chain may be too long and derailleur limits need to be checked. A common cause for chains coming off the front chainring like that is back pedaling when you are on your highest rear cog…or very poor limits and chain length
I am sorry for the damage, this really sucks, especially on a new bike.
The scratches are what they are, I guess every chaindrop is different. You probably pushed the pedals half a second too long after the drop, maybe the initial speed of the chain was higher, maybe the angle was different. You should accept the damage for what it is.
>He fixed the issue and also replaced the chain, which surprised me considering the bike had only done 300 km.
You probably should have asked why he replaced the chain, this seems strange.
>What confuses me is that I previously owned a Triban RC520 and rode nearly 1,500 km without replacing the chain once(Microshift). The chain came off a few times on that bike too
My gravel (not a canyon) has done a lot more kms and I remember one chaindrop on a trail that was way beyond gravel. This was on me, wrong trail, wrong gear. Road, gravel, trail, commuting no issues except this one time. Could be the 2x but having a few chaindrops on 1500km seems excessive. Maybe 2x riders have some idea what is happening here.
Your shop likely scammed you, but it’s possible that the chain became bent after you attempted to pedal in the moments after it fell off. The carbon is super thick there, it shouldn’t be a problem. If it continues to delaminate (the crack grows or more paint falls off, bubbles form, etc) take it to a carbon specialist. Check it periodically using these pictures as a reference point.
First thing I do on my bikes is stick helicopter tape on that part of the frame to catch the chain if it drops. Simple and 100% effective
Normally the clutch puts extra tension on the chain to avoid chain drop. I never had it on my Grail, neither on my aeroad, endurace or exceed.
Don’t think they’ll be willing to cover this. Also had an issue within first 100km with my wheel and they refused to
imagine having carbon
Was the clutch lever switched on? Easy thing to forget after maintenance or removing the wheel
Had the same on the first ride on my Canyon Ultimate. Carbon as well. Canyon wanted the bike back and changed the whole frame for free. Rest of the parts were the same “old” ones but… it happened on the first day of riding so the other parts were basically brand new still. First thing I installed before doing anything on that bike when I got it back was a Chain Catcher.
Ya you should definitely tell them you dropped a chain. Im sure thats entirely their fault.
Did the mech check if your chainring and fd are bent? I’ve bent the small chainring while sprinting and accidentally shifted the FD. I changed the chainring but after way too many dropped chains, I realized the fd was bent too… nothing much you can do about them scratches other than finding some matching nail polish and touch up.
Had the same in the first year of my Grizl CF 7. Felt really bad about it and hated Canyon for not installing a chain catcher (in the end: you don’t want to -right out of the box- have to do thise adjustments, you just want to ride).
We are now 3 years later and the frame still holds very well and I never think about it anymore.
I’m surprised a chain drop would damage the paint job this easily. I’ve got a an old synapse 2014 and I’m sure I’ve had the chain come off a few times on the inside and don’t see this.
About that comparison to the TRIBAN bike: You can’t really compare that. Different frame shape and material, different painting method, different force, angle & speed of impact of the chain to the frame for every chain drop.
That being said I owned a double decker grail with a mechanical 2by GRX once and I did not really like the front derailleur performance. Never dropped a chain in 10000km though.
My advice would be to get your derailleur adjusted and practice your shifting so you shift at a decent cadence and force and also not necessarily on super rough surfaces. Dropping your chain so multiple times in only 1800km with 2 different bike must be either super bad luck or you might be a bit rough with it.