Canyon Grizl gravel bike rides bikepacking adventures on all-new Grail & trail inspiration

Canyon’s all-new, more capable than ever Grizl is a carbon gravel bike built for adventure, even outfitted with its own custom bags made by bikepacking specialists Apidura. Taking the best from their popular but controversial Grail, then adding more versatility and room for bigger tires, the new gravel Grizl is meant to fill out Canyon’s line-up between road and mountain bikes, where it’s only the ride that limits how far and how far off-road you wander…

All-new 2021 Canyon Grizl carbon gravel & bikepacking bike

The all-new Canyon Grizl gravel bike is unique in its normalness. Canyon’s first gravel bike the Grail caught our attention with a unique doubledecker bar promising more comfort with a crazy Double Decker handlebar cockpit that hovered your hands above the bumps. But that one-piece cockpit ultimately limited adjustability & adaptability, specifically for those bikepackers looking to head out on new, far-flung adventures. So the Grizl goes back to the basics, and packed into its rather conventional-looking frameset is a more capable gravel bike ready to mix it up over road & trail.

What makes an adventure bike? Does it replace the Grail?

Canyon understands that tires often end up defining where a bike falls on the gravel spectrum. Their Ultimate & Endurace road bikes can often fit 30-32mm tires to take on some light gravel at the edge of all-road. And the 42mm clearance on the Grail has been enough for most fast gravel riders and will carry on as their gravel race bike. But taking things further, the new Canyon Grizl gravel bike steps up to 50mm clearance for the occasional bits of trail riding and the extra cush to haul heavier loads for off-road touring – essentially room for narrow mountain bike tires.

But unlike many gravel bikes, Canyon doesn’t expect the Grizl to be the single do-it-all gravel bike. They decided on 45mm as the ideal tire size for this bike (no matter the wheel size) and don’t suggest that you go much larger or smaller, saying that really only compromises the bike’s handling & performance. Meant for rougher gravel & off-road riding adventures, Canyon calls 45mm the ideal adventure sweet spot where you can cover more mixed terrain.

A Canyon secret hiding in that one tire size is that small riders and 700x45mm tires are going to clash, so the two smallest Grizls get 650b wheels and still the same 45mm tires to deliver the same performance. It’s a small detail but great news for shorter riders, and tall riders too with a huge seven size range available (XXS-XXL). Compare that with most gravel bikes that usually get at best four sizes (S-XL).

Next up for adventure capability is hauling capacity. A bikepacking bike needs to carry more, so the Grizl adds 3-pack anything cages mounts to the fork legs, toptube bosses for a direct-mount bag, and a third set of bottle mounts under the down tube (not on the top-spec SLX frame though, which instead has Di2 battery mounts inside at that spot.) And working with Apidura, Canyon created a set of lightweight bikepacking bags semi-customized and co-branded just for this bike.

Based on the Apidura Racing series, the new Grizzly bags are available separately from Canyon or Apidura and include the excellent direct-mount 1L toptube bag (a personal favorite of mine), a 5L mini saddle pack, and either 2.4L or 4L frame packs depending on frame size.

UPDATE: Check out the full Apidura x Canyon Grizzly bag collaboration here.

And lastly, modularity. Canyon know that people want options, so the Grizl gravel bike sticks with a conventional bar & stem setup – albeit short stems & wider bars. The frame geometry and fit at the bars are essentially the same quick handling gravel position that was proven on the Grail, just with a conventional cockpit that gives bikepacking riders the freedom to adapt their setup as needed.

Carbon gravel bike – Tech details

Beyond all the new attachments, bags, normal cockpit & 45mm tires, the Grizl gets plenty of familiar Canyon carbon bike details. First off, two levels of carbon frame are offered – CF SL and a CF SLX layup with a claimed weight of 950g (painted M) – both apparently sharing the same forks.

The dropped chainstay carbon bike features a tapered steerer, 12mm thru-axles, flat mount disc brakes, integrated seatpost clamp, and internal cable routing with stealth dropper compatibility. The bike is spec’d with the minimum 160mm rotors (but can fit 180s as well, not 140mm) and is compatible with 1x or 2x drivetrains via a removable hanger and mechanical or electronic shifting (only the SLX includes a Di2 compatible battery mount inside).

The Grizl does also include hidden fender mounts, which Canyon says will fit with the stock 45mm gravel tires. All bikes are set up with tubes, but are fully tubeless-ready with rims pre-taped, just waiting for valves and sealant. And most bikes get Canyon’s VCLS bump-absorbing carbon leaf seatpost.

2021 Canyon Grizl – Pricing, options & availability

Generally, the new Canyon Grizl gravel bike will be available in a couple of top-tier CF SLX builds and five or so CF SL complete bike options, all available now. Colors & some spec vary depending on model and market around the world, for example with EU bikes getting Schwalbe G-One Bite tanwall tires, while US bikes get black Maxxis Rambler tires.

At the top, a 4500€ Grizl CF SLX 8 1BY gets built up with a Campagnolo Ekar 1×13 group and carbon DT Swiss GRC 1400 wheels in Kale Smash green at a claimed 8.6kg.

Its complimentary 4600€ Grizl CF SLX 8 Di2 build in Europe gets a Shimano GRX 815 Di2 2×11 build with the same carbon DT GRC wheels at 8.7kg complete.

In the US, the $4900 Grizl CF SLX 8 Di2 build keeps the same group, but swaps in alloy DT GR 1600 wheels and gets a US-only Grape Explosion purple paintjob.

The CF SL complete bikes cover an even wider range both in price and spec. The $3000 / 2800€ Grizl CF SL 8 with mechanical GRX 2×11 and 2700€ Grizl CF SL 8 1BY with mechanical GRX 1×11 top out the line in Matcha Splash green or Earl Grey.

The $2500 / 2300€ Grizl CF SL 7 is available in unisex or a Wildberry Splatter WMN women-specific with another GRX 2x mechanical group and alloy DT wheels (only the saddle changes on the WMN spec, available in just the 4 smaller sizes).

A US-only $2600 Grizl CF SL 7 1BY is the only complete bike to come spec’d with a 80mm dropper seatpost, pairing the GRX 1×11 mechanical groupset and a bar-mounted dropper remote on the Matcha Splash green frame.

And lastly, the $2200 / 2000€ Grizl CF SL 6 is the most affordable option with a Shimano GRX 400 2×10 speed groupset, and the heaviest 9.8kg weight claim of the Grizl family. And the US will also get a WMN version of this most accessible build.

And as for a more affordable option, an aluminum Canyon Grizl gravel bike will be coming soon too, likely to launch near the end of 2021.

Canyon.com