Gravel Grizl 7
Libby Cowen
Taking a 'box-fresh' Canyon Grizl:ON out on its first ride after a winter of record-breaking rainfall might seem a little foolhardy. Deciding to do as much of the ride as possible with the motor turned off was therefore an even more questionable decision, but there was some logic to my madness. Canyon reckoned that the in-built battery gave around 60 km of powered assistance to the rider, which would be plenty enough for many people, but I knew that our typical Friday Gravel Gang rides were more like 100 km or longer. It meant that in all likelihood the battery would run out before I got home, so I wanted to test how the bike rode without the motor assistance. What better way to try it than to do as much of the ride as possible with the motor turned off, but then have the ability to switch it on at the end of the ride if my legs were cooked and I needed a bit of a helping hand on the final climbs?
The next part of our route initially wove a sinuous and challenging path through a stretch of woodland before popping out onto a series of pan-flat gravel tracks, formerly the course of a series of small railways which historically took freshly mined coal down to the coast for export, but were now converted into gravel riding heaven. After thirty minutes or so of more gentle terrain, Graham rode alongside me and suggested we switch bikes again. Initially, it was quite a shock getting back on a 15kg+ bike again, but I was determined to try and finish the ride using as much of my own power as I could, so I turned the motor off and set off in acoustic mode. We had quite a tight timescale to meet, so we upped the pace and did a gravelly version of a team time trial for a while, taking it in turns to sit on the front into the headwind, helping to shelter the riders behind, all the while keeping an eye on the clock. Using some cunning shortcuts, we managed to shave a little distance and time off my planned route and we were soon back on the riverside in Newcastle, where we went our separate ways.
Fortunately, rectifying the problem was simple. Even with standard-length tubeless valves fitted there was just enough space to slip the speed sensor over the top. A couple of rubber o-rings (to stop any rattling) later and the bike was as good as new.
I had these custom created for the predecessor of my Paydirt gravel event, the Sierra Prospect Road Fondo. The gold alludes to California's Gold Rush and provides some extra motivation to go for gold myself.
PRO's Turnix saddle sits atop Canyon's split rail VCLS 2.0 post. I don't need a dropper for this event but some bump compliance is a must given thinner tires. I use this post for all my gravel racing.
Ever since Fox debuted the 32TC gravel fork I've been wracking my brain for a race worthy scenario to justify the weight gain for 40mm of travel. This might just be it. Wayne, my mechanic, had to get creative to match the two given the Fox fork has a narrower steerer tube than Canyon's headtube. I can confirm it rides great!
Coming from road my road career I much prefer handling a bike with drop bars vs flat bars, and the flare we see on the PRO Discover line makes handling technical terrain enjoyable. I'm also using Wahoo's Bolt with an aero mount.
We sourced an 11spd XTR 11-40 cassette and paired it with the GRX RX817 Di2 rear derailleur. While not meant to pair with a double chainring, the design of this model matches the shift path of the 11-40 cassette, allowing for a much wider range of gears and still shifts like an absolute champ! I now have a 36-40 for the steepest pitches and the 46-11 for the fastest sections. The rear derailleur can even handle a cross-chain of 46-40 although I'll try not to stress that system too much.
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Where the Grizl strays from the Grail is in its ability to handle rough terrain and its overall carrying capacity. The Grizl comes equipped with wider tires, 700 x 45mm versus 40mm, with clearance for up to 50mm, thanks to a dropped drive-side chainstay and 10mm longer chainstays. The Grizl is also kitted out with a few additional mounting options, including the top tube, under the down tube, and for the first time on a Canyon bike, triple pack mounts on the fork legs. It comes with an entirely new fork too, which appears to be beefier than the one specced on the Grail, and is suspension-corrected for those looking to push it a little further. The Grizl features size-specific geometry and build kits, including 650B wheels on the two smallest sizes, three different crank arm lengths, and four bar widths and stem lengths. Canyon offers some of the widest size ranges in the business, and the Grizl follows suit with seven frame sizes ranging from XXS to XXL.
Truth be told, I was hoping that the mystery Canyon was going to be a drop-bar mountain bike of some kind, or at least throw some kind of design curveball that would have me questioning the existence of gravel all together. Instead, Canyon stuck with what they knew and built upon their existing gravel platform. As I mentioned in my review, I can appreciate Canyon sticking with what they know, which in this case is a performance gravel bike with a little something extra. The added tire clearance and mounting points increase capability over the Grail, and the finished product is smooth and powerful.
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One bike company I continue to go back to is Canyon, based out of Germany. They are direct to consumer- meaning you order directly from their website and get more bike for less money- and they make a sturdy, comfortable bike that will last you a long time.
Depending on how your gravel bike is specked, you can do multi-day bike packing trips or race in Unbound. If you order a gravel bike from Canyon, you will have several different options for which components you want on your bike.
Because this bike can hold up to a 42mm tire, it has the ability to ride some of the toughest roads while being extremely snappy and responsive. The Grail is an excellent choice if gravel racing is your primary goal.
After working many years in the operating room, my back and neck are worn out. I have a few compressed discs in my neck and the Grail was uncomfortable for me. I was super bummed when I began riding longer rides on my Grail only to find out that it was almost intolerable for me.
One thing that I DO miss about the Grail is how fast that bike was. I have yet to touch any of my PRs on any other gravel bike and I solely blame that on how quick and responsive the Grail is. It is the PERFECT bike for riding road and gravel.
While I am happy with my choice to purchase the Grizl, I do miss how fast my Grail was. The Grizl is a super fun, ripping machine but the larger tires do slow the bike down quite a bit. I guess if I wanted to get serious again in gravel racing, I could buy another set of wheels and run skinnier tires on them.
Choosing between the Grail and Grizl is totally dependent on your cycling goals. We will discuss the difference in geometry and specs further on in this review, but the BIGGEST questions you need to ask yourself are:
When I was getting heavy into gravel racing and doing ultra-rides, the Grail was the perfect rig for me. My life changed with the addition of our second child and my priorities changed, and so did my biking style.
The Grail is going to feel more aerodynamic hence it being super-fast compared to the Grizl. This is important when looking at the different bikes because you want an idea of how it is going to feel when riding- are you going to be more upright or closer to the bars?
Think of the stack and the vertical measurement from your bikes bottom bracket to the center of the top tube and the reach is the horizontal measurement from the center of the bottom bracket to the middle of your head tube. These are important measurements because they help you determine the right sizing.
Purist? Nope! The Canyon Grizl:ON is crammed to the hilt with technical features and detailed solutions, which should appeal to a diverse target group. We took a closer look at the 2024 Canyon Grizl:ON and found out what this e-gravel bike is capable of.
For those who want to delve deeper into the topic: we took a detailed look at the Bosch Performance Line SX motor, and compared it with 12 other current ebike systems in a comprehensive motor group test, hosted by our sister magazine E-MOUNTAINBIKE.
The geometry of the Canyon Grizl:ON has changed significantly compared to the analogue model. At 69.5, the head angle is three degrees slacker than on its analogue counterpart, the reach shrinks from 478 to 416 mm in size L, and the stack grows by 25 mm. This results in a much more relaxed geometry that places the focus on comfort, not on performance, while offering more composure and more control, especially when going off-road.
The much more off-road focused CF TRAIL version comes fitted with 50 mm Schwalbe G-One Ultrabite tires, and a RockShox Reverb AXS XPLR dropper post with 75 mm of travel.
It features a mullet drivetrain consisting of SRAM Force AXS and XO Eagle Transmission components, with a large mountain bike cassette, which offers a wide gear range for those really steep climbs.
For long tours with lots of altitude gain, you should have a range extender on board, and avoid using Boost mode. At maximum output, the powerful motor can drain the 400 Wh battery rather quickly. In the more economical support modes, however, the riding experience is much more natural and closer to analogue riding, as the power output is coupled to rider input.
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