Ridley’s do-it-all all-road to fast gravel Grifn family just got a lot bigger with a lighter, faster carbon Grifn RS, a more affordable alloy Grifn A, and an e-Grifn ebike. Even the original carbon Grifn adds more sizes to fit smaller riders. Ridley saw a great response from their bike that rides fast like a road bike but has the comfort and ability to go anywhere like a gravel bike. So, they’ve doubled down on Grifns for everybody…
2024 Ridley Grifn RS carbon gravel and all-roads race bike
Last season’s Grifn was a success for the Belgian bike maker, slotting into a wider tire all-road category that manages to slip back and forth from tarmac to fast gravel. While it’s certainly not an adventure gravel bike – leave that for the Kanzo ADV – the Grifn offered real-world versatility. Now, this new Ridley Grifn RS is everything that Grifn was, just lighter and faster.
What’s new?
At first glance, the two bikes are almost indistinguishable. But the new Ridley Grifn RS does add some more aero tweaks for a claimed 5% less wind resistance at 36km/hr over the Grifn. It’s mostly just a deeper aero D-shaped seatpost and aerodynamic seattube with a tiny rear wheel cutout. Because from an aero perspective, the Grifn already had the integrated fully internal cable routing, aero-optimized front end, and dropped aero seatstays.
But the new RS also manages to shed a bunch of weight thanks to a higher-mode carbon layup, even with the boosted aero shaping. The new Grifn RS frameset is said to be a full 195g lighter than the standard Grifn. With the new Ridley Grifn RS frame at a claimed 826g (unpainted medium), plus 414g for the fork.
And it even edges up an extra couple of millimeters of tire clearance to 700 x 42mm tires. That pushes it over the edge to real fast gravel race capabilities really. And Ridley says the all-road bike is actually a “Race Proven Gravel” platform too, care of their Classified Ridley Factory Team
Into the details
The Grifn RS builds off the original with a ‘diffuser fork crown’ design that is meant to smoothly direct airflow around the spinning front tire and around the downtube for lower aerodynamic drag.
All of the Ridley Grifns are built for versatility (including the Grifn AL & e-Grifn below). So you get things like full coverage fender mounts, and wiring ports to route integrated dynamo-powered front and rear lighting.
The bikes all feature adaptable cage mounting without going full adventure mode. You get 3-bolt mounts on top & bottom of the downtube, and on the seattube so you can mount anything cages or just put your regular bottles exactly where you want them. Ridley also includes a recessed toptube bag mount that gets a flush cover if you don’t need it. But it also means the most stable & secure bag mounting we’ve ever tried, if you do use a bolt-on bag.
Similarly, the new Grifn RS (and E-Grifn) gets a removable front derailleur mount with a flush cover for smooth 1x or 2x setups. Or even a direct mount Wolf Tooth Lone Wolf aero chain guide made just for Ridley. Cable routing is internal through the headset, with CeramicSpeed SLT bearings for lifetime durability, and mechanical (1x-only) or electronic compatibility. Plus, a universal derailleur hanger (UDH).
Gravel-inspired All-Road Race Geometry
The new RS comes in a wide 6 size range (XXS-XL), with gravel-inspired geometry that is identical to the original Grifn that debuted last year. Riding that bike, I found the 72° headtube and short Reach + longer cockpit combo to be a bit quicker than their gravel-racing Kanzo family, without going for the full road race feel. The 420mm chainstays are certainly in between too, making this feel quite quick when off-tarmac once you max out the tires that will fit in the Grifn.
Riding the same geo on the Grifn, road handling felt neutral and stable. While gravel riding just felt quick. Now with less weight and improved aerodynamics, you are just going to go even faster – on- or off-road.
Ridley Grifn RS – Availability & options
The new Grifn RS is fully customizable now with Ridley’s online bike builder, and buyers can pick from road-leaning builds with 32mm slicks or gravel-leaning builds with 40mm tires. Pick multiple wheelset options, various 1 or 2-piece cockpit options, flare or no flare, in addition to regular groupset spec choices. Or a Classified Powershift 2-speed internally geared rear hub option. You can even get matching aero bikepacking bags or full-coverage fenders with your complete bike build.
Framesets start from 5000€, and complete Shimano 105 Di2 builds from just 5260€.
2024 Ridley Grifn A affordable aluminum alloy gravel and all-road bike
Just like the new Grifn RS and previous Grifn carbon bikes, an all-new aluminum Grifn A delivers the same do-it-all all-road versatility. Road bike speed with gravel bike fat tire comfort, grip, and mixed-surface riding flexibility. And of course, now at an even lower price level.
Ridley built the Grifn A as a lightweight triple-butted 6061-T6 aluminum frame, with a claimed weight of 1542g (M, unpainted). Even with the rare UDH in an alloy frame. It features the same 445g full carbon tapered fork of the standard Grifn.
Here max tire size is limited to 38mm to keep the same geometry with a 2x or 40mm with a 1x drivetrain. That limits the gravel abilities of it a bit. But it’s still meant to be a mixed-surface bike, just leaning more towards the all-road category. And leaving affordable gravel to the adventure-ready Kanzo A.
It comes in the same 6 sizes as the RS (XXS-XL), and in road or gravel-leaning bike builds. All are customizable like the more expensive bikes in the Ridley bike builder. Framesets start from 1000€, and complete GRX 2×10 builds from 2000€.
More sizes for the standard Ridley Grifn, too
It’s a relatively minor update for the original Grifn, but a big boon for smaller riders. The 2024 Ridley Grifn adds two new sizes XXXS & XXS bringing the size range up to 7 sizes for the do-it-all carbon all-road bike. More riders on versatile bikes is a good thing for sure.
Ridley’s first performance-focused ebike is the all-road E-Grifn
Lastly, with the all-new E-Grifn, Ridley debuts their first ebike designed for performance riding. Again, as an all-surface all-road ebike. The carbon ebike here is powered by a Mahle X20 rear hub motor and a 350Wh internal battery, and the option for an extra 171Wh range extender external bottle battery.
Geometry is again identical to the rest of the Grifn family, with max 42mm tire clearance like the new carbon RS. Really the biggest differences here in the carbon ebike version are the slightly larger downtube to house the battery, which means Ridley couldn’t include the same 3-pack cage mounts, or the lack of toptube bag mounts because that’s where the Mahle display controller is located.
Again, gravel & road builds are offered, with mechanical or electronic shifting. You can still customize your build online, and even add all the accessories like the rest of the Grifn all-road bike family. Complete ebikes with GRX 2×12 or 105 mechanical start at 5500€.
