It’s hard to argue with a quality, affordable hardtail for getting new mountain bikers hooked, and Canyon’s 2021 Grand Canyon lineup adds great new options for young trail riders, women, and anyone else looking to step up their trail riding game. With prices starting at just $600/600€ with a new Deore 1x group, and building up to an XT bike with 120mm Fox 34 fork & dropper post, there really is something for everyone in this alloy hardtail family.
2021 Canyon Grand Canyon aluminum MTB trail hardtails
Low price, high value specs & the simplicity of an aluminum hardtail make it easy to understand why the Grand Canyon has long been Canyon’s “best-selling mountain bike” and their ” first choice for beginning mountain bikers and experienced trail riders alike”. But that’s not to detract from a bike that really opens up trail riding to tons of new mountain bikers.
And now with a few key updates and two aluminum frame levels, the 2021 Grand Canyons offer ten model options from riders as young as 8 years old and up – with 1x drivetrains for all.
New Grand Canyon Young Hero edition kids’ trail hardtail
The first big update is the all new 27.5″ wheeled Young Hero addition to the Grand Canyon line, designed to scale down the regular 29er to fit riders in the 8-12 years old range (141-162cm/4’7″-5’4″ tall) in new XXS & XS sizes that get dramatically sloping frame shaping to still fit in a 100mm SR Suntour XCR fork. And at a price of $600 / 600€, the Young Hero looks like a killer deal with a new wide-range Deore 1×11 drivetrain & hydraulic Shimano disc brakes.
Grand Canyon 5, 5 WMN, 6 & 6 WMN AL hardtails
Sharing the same standard AL alloy frame as the Young Hero, just scaled back up to larger sizes, the Grand Canyon 5 & 6 stick with 100mm forks, tapered steerers, quick release axles, threaded bottom brackets, semi-internal cable routing & hidden rear rack mounts. Slightly different geometries are offered in otherwise similarly spec’d unisex (five sizes XS-XL) & women-specific WMN models (four sizes XXS-M) – both opting for smaller 27.5″ wheels for S and smaller sizes, and 29″ wheels for M are larger bikes.
The $800 / 800€ Grand Canyon 5 & 5 WMN both bump up to new, wide-range Shimano Deore 1×12 drivetrains, with the WMN models getting women-specific cockpits & saddles in addition to women-specific geometry.
The $1000 / 1000€ Grand Canyon 6 & 6 WMN takes it one big component step further, upgrading to a Shimano XT 1×12.
Grand Canyon 7, 7 WMN, 8, 8 WMN & 9 AL SL hardtails
Stepping up to the next level, the Grand Canyon 7, 8 & 9 hardtails get a lighter weight and more modern AL SL frame. These AL SL bikes bump up to Boost spacing, Canyon’s integrated Quixle 12mm thru-axle, semi-internal cable routing including stealth dropper routing, a move to pressfit bottom brackets, but still keep the hidden rear rack mounts.
The AL SL bikes are all built for trail-ready 120mm tapered steerer forks and all include dropper posts standard.
Again WMN models get women-specific geometry (four sizes XXS-M) and adapted cockpit & saddles, vs. the standard unisex geometry (five sizes XS-XL). S and smaller bikes use 27.5″ wheels, while M and larger bikes opt for 29″ wheels.
The $1250 / 1200€ Grand Canyon 7 & 7 WMN gets a SRAM SX Eagle 1×12 build, Truvativ Stylo cranks, Shimano MT400 disc brakes, a Canyon Iridium dropper post, and a RockShox Judy Silver 120mm fork.
The $1450 / 1400€ Grand Canyon 8 & 8 WMN offers probably the best mix of performance spec and value, moving up to 120mm Fox 34 Rhythm forks, a mixed Shimano 1×12 drivetrain with XT derailleur, MT400 brakes, and the Iridium dropper.
The top $1850 / 1800€ Grand Canyon 9 takes it one step further with the same Fox 34 Rhythm fork, but a more complete XT group including XT brakes, and a higher-spec Canyon branded alloy wheelset.
All of the new model-year 2021 Grand Canyons are able to be ordered starting today direct from Canyon. But availability varies widely based on stock in different sizes and colors – many bikes are expected to ship as early as the first week of September, while some aren’t expected to arrive until the second week of November 2020.
Note: Pricing listed here is for general EU & global markets, German pricing is actually even a bit lower now, thanks to recent VAT reduction.
Update: Canyon’s USA operations confirms that these Grand Canyons are not planned to come to the states, at least not at this time. They are focusing on meeting already high US demand for the rest of the current lineup, with more new bikes on the way, too.
