Canyon Grizl is an all-carbon gravel bike designed for adventure. Grizl is equipped with mounts for various accessories, including mudguards (fenders), and a tire gap of up to 50 mm wide. It is a stronger counterpart than Canyon Grail CF SL. Canyon Grail CF SL is a A bicycle famous for its unique cockpit setup.
Grizl has fully normal handlebars, and the model tested here has a complete Shimano GRX RX810 1× kit.
According to current bicycle industry standards, it is priced very high, and more importantly, it is absolutely pleasant to ride, offering versatility, the latest geometry and the fun of riding on mixed terrain.
Before we start to comment, please don’t miss our news report, which contains all the details of the 2021 Canyon Grizl series.
The carbon fiber frame of the Grizl CF SL 8 is matched with a sturdy full carbon fiber front fork, which has a 1 ¼ inch to 1 ½ inch tapered steering tube, which is shared with the more expensive CF SLX model.
Plenty of luggage racks and wide tire clearances are the main selling points of bicycles, and the front fork of the Grizl CF SL has three bottle cages, a top tube bag and two cargo cages, which can carry 3 kg of luggage on each side.
According to Canyon, the secondary CF SL frame is about 100 grams heavier than the top CF SLX, which is said to weigh 950 grams, including paint and hardware (the difference depends on the paint job you choose).
The more affordable frame is slightly less rigid, and only SLX is officially compatible with Shimano Di2 because the battery is installed in the down tube. However, the existence of this mount will cost you a set of bottle cage bosses-there is none under the SLX down tube.
Grizl accepts Canyon’s own fenders, but installing standard fenders will be a challenge because there is no bridge on the seat.
The frame set is designed for 45mm tires with mudguards (installed on stock models), or 50mm tires without mudguards-this is more useful than many gravel bikes currently on the market.
The chainstay is produced by a longer chainstay (435 mm for 700c bicycles and 420 mm for 650b) and a very significantly lowered drive side with a large metal protective plate to prevent damage when the chain is sucked.
Canyon matches the wheel size to the frame size, so sizes S to 2XL are only suitable for 700c, while 2XS and XS are 650b.
With lines similar to Endurace, Grizzl is undoubtedly a Canyon, which uses a hidden seat clip design that is very similar to other models that come in contact from the rear. The clip is located 110 mm below the top of the seat tube to allow more forward and backward bending of the seatpost.
The frame is designed to accept 1× or 2× transmission systems, but because this model has the former, the boss of the front derailleur mount is blocked.
Although Grizl has a press-in bottom bracket instead of a threaded bottom bracket, the overall mechanical friendliness of this bike is much higher compared to many bikes that have just entered the market.
The cockpit layout is very standard (well, 1 1/4 inch steering gear is not very common, but it is easy to source from many brands) and the wiring is internal, but not completely hidden from sight, so it is not confused with proprietary headphones To accommodate awkward routing.
It also has a standard 12mm road axle (unlike the Focus Atlas, for example, which uses a strange road supercharging “standard” that has not yet been widely adopted), so wheel compatibility is simple.
Considering the difference in stem length and cockpit layout, the geometry of Grizl is very similar to that of Grail, which is not a bad thing, because the latter achieves a good balance between agility and reassuring stability balance.
The combination of long arm span, short rod and medium wide rod is the key here. This is a trend borrowed from mountain bikes. It gives you confidence when off-road and helps create the necessary toe clearance for those big tires.
For context, the wheelbase of the mid-size Grizl is about 40 mm longer than the Endurace road bike, 1,037 mm, and 8 mm longer than the Grail.
As I discussed in my review of Grail CF SL 7.0 and Grail 6, Canyon and I have always disagreed with the size of its gravel bikes.
According to Canyon’s sizing guide, I should ride one size smaller, but my seat is 174cm tall and the seat is 71cm tall (from the bottom bracket to the top of the seat), I always prefer the medium size, as tested here. On the small Grail, I felt like I was hanging on the front wheel hub, unable to stretch comfortably and lose weight when needed.
The size is personal to some extent, but it shows the importance of doing your homework when buying a bike online, where you may not have the opportunity to try it out.
If your size is somewhere in between, consider buying a suitable bike and make sure you really understand the geometric numbers and compare them with your current bike.
With Grizl, you may be bothered by the long distance and the number of upper tubes (402 mm and 574 mm respectively), but you need to consider the very short stems that are standard installed-my medium test bike has 80 mm, which is 20 Mm or 30 mm is shorter than a typical road bike stem.
The 579 mm mid-size distance is in the category of endurance road bikes, although not as high as popular models such as the Specialized Roubaix.
Grizl’s frame is unisex, but Canyon offers a style-Grizl CF SL 7 WMN-which is designed for women with different modification kits. This is available in sizes from 2XS to M, while other models are available in 2XS to 2XL.
Grizl CF SL 8 1by is equipped with a complete Shimano GRX RX810 kit with 40 tooth sprockets and 11-42 freewheels.
The wheels are DT Swiss G 1800 Spline db 25 aluminum open clamps that are very suitable for gravel. They have an internal width of 24 mm, which is perfect for thick gravel tires-in this case, 45 mm Schwalbe G-One Bites.
Canyon offers bicycles with inner tubes, but all parts are tubeless compatible, you only need to add valves and sealants (sold separately).
The cockpit includes a very common alloy rod and stem, while the seatpost is Canyon’s unique leaf spring S15 VCLS 2.0. Its two-part structure is designed to provide a lot of flexibility-will be described in detail later.
Since it is a gravel bike, you will get a (of course) saddle dedicated to gravel in the shape of Fizik Terra Argo R5.
The entire bike weighs 9.2 kg without pedals, which is a pretty good number considering the fat tires and wide rims.
Canyon provided Grizzl with a set of bicycle packaging bags designed in cooperation with Apidura. The upper tube bag is directly bolted to the frame, while the seat bag and frame bag use straps.
Realizing that the bag may ruin your cute paint, Canyon provides frame protection stickers as a standard.
This is a very good touch, but I found that the stickers provided do not match the risk areas of the upper tube and the frame bag, although there are enough extra stickers in the set, you should be able to solve this.
When I’m picky, the frame bag makes getting into the front bottle cage tricky. However, Canyon and other companies sell side-mounted cages, which will completely solve this problem.
My setup didn’t show a large number of columns—a side effect of choosing a medium frame—but, between the column itself and the low seat clip, it did work.
With such a high degree of curvature, I need to increase the height of my saddle to compensate for sagging slightly. Even if my seat leans forward, I need to adjust my nose slightly downwards because sitting will cause it to tilt slightly upwards.
The post provides a useful reminder that although the cleverly increased compliance frame technology is useful and popular, a curved seatpost is still one of the most effective ways to make the rear end more comfortable, as well as the correct tire pressure.
At this point, Low is the day here. Under my weight of 53 kg, the psi feeling in my 20s is correct. If in doubt, I like to refer to the tire pressure calculator to get a starting point-SRAM is a good example.
Here, grizzly bears are completely harmless. The bar is wide, but not funny, and there are not many flares, so it feels normal.
At the same time, Schwalbe G-One Bite tires will not drag too much on the tarmac. They are fat versions of those installed on Grail, and they are still my favorite, providing a very good balance of grip on gravel and dirt without being too slow elsewhere.
Despite having a longer geometry and adjustment for gravel, Grizl is very satisfied on the apron, and it would be better if thinner, smoother tires are used.
Gravel is certainly where Grizzl really shines. It is very suitable for a typical British gravel ride, which requires a mixture of actual gravel and dirt, whether it is a light monorail, a forestry road or a road in between.
Canyon talked about “underbiking” and I understand-the relatively mild monorail, on mountain bikes with shock absorbers, may feel unremarkable. It becomes a technical pleasure because it keeps on the roots and bumps. Motivation requires concentration and accuracy.
Perhaps this is a psychological effect to a certain extent, but the extra tire width that Grizl provides for Grail and other bicycles does inspire additional confidence.
When you dabble on the rougher end of the gravel range, the extra rubber on the track gives you more leeway and encourages you to test the limits of your bike.
Long geometric shapes work well, but they never feel clumsy. This bike is a super stable rider, but squatting down during a fall and keeping your weight low, you can choose your own way on awkward, winding trails.
But, as always, don’t mistake Grizl for a true mountain bike, because it’s not.
Post time: Nov-15-2021
