This is quite radical. In fact, it's radically different. Odd looking, futuristic to say the least. Jaw dropping and eye brow raising.
How do I start to tell you about this bicycle, when it's raised so many questions, caused people to stop right dead in their tracks, even leave a wife's hand to admire the bike. Ok, let me start somewhere, from the bottom up.
This is the Canyon Grail CF SL a demo bicycle from Canyon SA labeled as 008. A bicycle set for the adventure seeking explorer, the person looking for one bicycle that could complete both disciplines, namely road cycling and gravel cycling which is predominantly on open dirt roads, roads you’d not often get on with a road bicycle but also not with a mountain bike because it might feel a bit to dull and not technical enough. A fairly relaxed geometry with some handlebar and seat post modifications to add to the comfort but still at a decent weight. A beautiful 8.7kg including pedals, two water bottle cages and a Wahoo Elemnt bolt mount. It is the carbon fiber version of the grail which is set to be the more popular version to sell than the aluminum versions due to the comfort and weight.
The Canyon CP01 Hover Bar was something quite different, very very comfortable yes, but you’ll have to get used to the placement of the lower bar. You have to realise that went you’re going in to the drops, you have to bend your elbows slightly more than usual. It’s not uncomfortable but would take some adjustment. I also felt the back piece of the drop, behind the lower bar to be somewhat a tad too short… Price wise, it’s not bad at all. According to the website they’re selling for about 2599 pounds. Added to that is a 6-year warranty (as advertised on their website).
Bike Specifications
The groupset was the Shimano Ultegra Di2 version of the R8000 series with a 175cm compact crankset (50-34T). The rear derailleur was the normal Di2 version in a long cage form to accommodate the 11-34T cassette. I really enjoyed the 2x11 with the di2. It handled well over rough bumpy sections and as you can imagine the shifting always works. I however agree that the RX version that appears on the 2019 versions of the bike is a step in the right direction.
The wheelset. Dt Swiss' C 1800 Spline wheelset is claimed to weigh about 1750g and has a 22mm inner rim with which accommodates tubeless tyres with ease. I loved the sound of the freehub body but know it might be a bit too loud for some folks. With rotors being the center-lock option, you either like it or don't. My reason being that if you wanted to fit some different designs for look or performance purposes, you’d be limited as to what you can find in the center lock options. The shimano rotors on there are the same as what I have on my every day road bike and braking performance is at a norm and I can’t say I’ve felt something much better.
I simply don't "gel" with Fizik's saddles at all. I often try out the newer ones, but still haven't found one to be comfortable for more than 2 hours. The bike came with the Fizik Aliante R5 and I chose to ride the bike stock standard to really see what the ride feels like out of the box. The first few rides throughout the week was alright, not much discomfort but as soon as the 3hour mark neared I had to move around a lot and often get out of the saddle. For someone riding 2hours or less, this saddle isn't a bad option in their range, but always test before you buy.
That seat post! I love it, it's thin at the 27.2mm width and just looks futuristic. I wondered how much comfort it would give, but from the first ride I knew it was doing the job. I base my feelings on the similar concept of Trek bike's IsoSpeed that I’ve tested on the pro-caliber and the checkpoint gravel bike. According to their website you get about 13-25mm of "flex". Throughout my week and bike packing trip, I never felt it moving to much or bobbing. The frame is stiff and out of the saddle performs well, but sitting down, it feels so smooth and soft over rough terrain which I can only conclude is to the seat post on the bike.
Enough about the little few specifications. You can find most of them on Canyon’s website or by clicking here.
My idea behind this bike was that I could do it all. It’d fit my lifestyle of road riding in the week and the occasional dirt road I’d add into the loop. I really wanted to see if I could do 3 basic functions on this bicycle; Ride gravel comfortably, Ride road and keep up with mates, lastly, go on the ultimate micro-adventure - bike packing.
Perfected my setup on the bike and off I went on a little gravel loop around Somerset West and Stellenbosch on a miserable and wet Sunday morning. Leaving from home, I had to cover about 10kms of tar road before the first gravel sector came up and leaded me into the mont mare trails just outside Stellies. I ended up getting slightly lost in the misty conditions and very dirty. I was thrown into the deep end with rain and mud. A scenario I grew accustomed to when I raced in Spain… We always had 1 out of 3 race days in rain, well that year for that matter. I ended that day with another 2-hour ride, totaling to about 4hours and 108kms. The afternoon was full of sunshine and made for the perfect temperature to test some climbs out in Jonkershoek. After simply rinsing the bike the morning and applying some Squirt lube, it moved as if I’d never even been out in the mud that morning. I was surprised, I knew the gear ratios would be fine, but the comfort the hover bar delivered on them was stunning. The ridged frame made for a pleasurable experience flying up the climbs and still maintaining control over the machine.
Throughout the week I had two days of intervals, these I love to do on the kickr but came to one serious downfall in this bikes design, it doesn’t allow you to fit it onto the kickr… I tried but the spacing left some movement on the frame and kickr. However, I don’t think if I was buying this bicycle, I’d be spending days on the trainer with it. I just thought I’d see how it handles that option. On Wednesday morning, a friend and I set of to tackle the local hill climb in Somerset West. Yes, off course I took the grail, no I didn’t with the road wheelset or tyres, because this would be my ultimate test of this machinery against a fellow cyclist with similar body weight and power as me. The segment currently is at 8mins of the fastest time. I did my best time at 8min55sec on a gravel bike and my friend, well he did it in about 8min 7sec. My conclusion, it’s about 1min slower that a road bike, but there are a lot of variables, tyre choice and how you feel on the day. It was nice to test it out in that way though.
Get to the weekend and man what a weekend it was! I set off on Saturday afternoon to the little town of Greyton, to a new campsite that’s busy developing there on the Kleine Eike Farm. Kitted the bike out with an Apidura frame bag, First Ascent 2-man tent on the handlebar and a backpack with a sleeping bag and little mattress. I carried everything I needed for that one night with me, had the bike really loaded with two water-bottles, a small gas stove and all my food supplies that I’d need that night. The guys Diverge was kind enough to supply the tent, cutlery and mattress for me to make it that much more comfortable. I basically did a road ride all the way there, got to Greyton where I took a dirt road and followed for about 6km out of town to Kleine Eike where I set up camp, lit a fire and enjoyed the calmness next to the river.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of rain drops on the tent, birds chirping in the background and water flowing down the river. Peaceful to say the least. Made some breakfast and a beautiful cup of coffee with the famous aero press that Ground Central Coffee Roastery has kindly supplied for all the adventures. Packed up and hit the gravel at about 8am and headed on towards the Theewaterskloof Dam. This day was about 40% gravel roads, rough, smooth and very sandy in some places. I think there was one section of corrugation where I rode at about 8km/h just to keep all the luggage in tack on the bike. Rode past the Helderstroom Maximum Prison in what I would say is the middle of nowhere. Luckily the road became tarred there before the turn off to Theewaterkloof dam. This was the hardest and most difficult gravel section of the day. It had a few short and steep climbs but was very corrugated and dusty. I think it was the slowest section of the day except for Franschhoek pass. Once back on the tar, I road over the Theewaterskloof dam bridge and climbed the Franschhoek pass. Settled down for lunch at the River Restaurant and cruised home for the last part of the journey. A total of 250km and about 3000m of elevation gain for the two days, including a camp overnight. It was a real experience and adventure. It honestly went so quick that I’m already planning the next one.
Back to the Canyon. Can this bike be the one for both?? Absolutely, it can climb, it’s comfortable, you can bike pack on it. Canyon has panniers that fit on these frames, if you wanted to do a few bigger adventures. If you have a spare road wheelset, you could easily pop them on and smack it out at your local road race. I love the look, but to me, it’s the ride feel that’s got me thinking about the ultimate bike that can do it all. This would be the next bike I’d hope on if I had the chance to for my every day riding.
Browse some photos of the actual trip. Unsupported and all necessary gear on the bike with me.
Back to the Canyon. Can this bike be the one for both?? Absolutely, it can climb, it’s comfortable, you can bike pack on it. Canyon has panniers that fit on these frames, if you wanted to do a few bigger adventures. If you have a spare road wheelset, you could easily pop them on and smack it out at your local road race. I love the look, but to me, it’s the ride feel that’s got me thinking about the ultimate bike that can do it all. This would be the next bike I’d hope on if I had the chance to for my every day riding.
Pros
Endurance and comfort fit
Lightweight and responsive
Di2 electronical shifting that works on all terrain
Tubeless compatible
Cons
Integrated handlebar and stem allow for no reach adjustment
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