Which Canyon gravel bike best suits your riding style?
Although the Canyon Grail and Canyon Grizl are both gravel bikes, they are designed to cater for very different gravel adventures.
The Canyon Grail is on its second iteration, launched in 2023 and built for gravel racing.
The original Grail, with its double-decker handlebar, which Canyon introduced in 2018, was more of an all-rounder designed for the somewhat undifferentiated gravel category at the time.
In the interim, Canyon launched the Grizl in 2021. It’s a bike designed for outback adventures and bikepacking, with loads of mounts and go-anywhere capability – and available in carbon or alloy. There’s also an electric version, the Grizl:ON.
Canyon isn’t the only brand to have differentiated its gravel-bike offerings as the gravel field has matured.
BMC, for example, has the race-oriented Kaius and the URS family, updated in August 2024 and aimed at riders looking for greater capability over rougher ground. Likewise, Specialized has its Crux and Diverge ranges.
How do the Grail and the Grizl differ and what does this mean for their riders? We’ll explain the key features and highlight the differences between Canyon’s gravel bikes.
Key features of the Canyon Grail and Canyon Grizl compared
Geometry
| Canyon Grail | Canyon Grizl Carbon | Canyon Grizl Alloy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frame size | M | M | M |
| Seat tube length | 510 | 522 | 522 |
| Seat tube angle | 73.5° | 73.5° | 73.5° |
| Head tube length | 163 | 138 | 141 |
| Head tube angle – short | 71.5° | 72.25° | 71.5° |
| Effective top tube length | 586 | 565 | 574 |
| Bottom bracket drop | 75 | 75 | 75 |
| Chainstay length – short | 425 | 435 | 435 |
| Frame stack | 591 | 579 | 579 |
| Frame reach | 411 | 402 | 402 |
| Wheelbase | 1057 | 1037 | 1045 |
| Stack+ | 669 | 666 | 670 |
| Reach+ | 456 | 461 | 460 |
All dimensions in millimetres
Geometry-wise, the two carbon Canyon gravel bikes line up quite closely and exhibit typical gravel bike geometry.
Canyon quotes figures for reach and stack to the handlebar, which it calls reach+ and stack+, as well as the conventional reach and stack figures for the frame, because this better reflects the real ride position and compensates for component differences.
Despite its racy credentials, the Grail has a higher frame stack than the Grizl. That’s compensated by the difference in handlebar geometry, so there’s only a few millimetres difference in the stack+ between the two bikes. The frame reach on the Grail is longer, but the reach+ is a little shorter than the Grizl.
The Grail has a slacker head tube angle than the Grizl, so despite its chainstays being 10mm shorter, its wheelbase is 20mm longer than the Grizl in a size M.
The alloy Grizl is slacker than the carbon frame, with the same 71.5-degree head tube angle as the Grail, which results in a longer wheelbase still at 1,045mm. It has a slightly longer head tube and higher stack than the carbon Grizl, resulting in a slight increase in stack+ too.
The electric Grizl:ON is slacker still, with a 69.5-degree head tube angle.
Tyre clearance
A significant difference between the two bike ranges is in the tyre clearance they’re designed for and the tyres that Canyon fits.
The Grail has clearance for 42mm gravel bike tyres and Canyon fits 40mm tyres. That’s towards the narrow end of the current gravel bike tyre-width spectrum.
In contrast, the Grizl has clearance for 50mm tyres and is specced with 45mm ones. This potentially offers extra grip and versatility. The 5mm difference in clearance versus tyre width, as against the Grail’s 2mm difference, suggests Canyon expects the Grizl to be ridden places where mud accumulation is more likely.
Both bikes also enable you to mount Canyon’s own mudguards.
Gearing options
A corollary of the Grail’s narrower tyre clearance is there’s more capacity to fit larger chainrings. Canyon designed the Grail so riders could fit a 52/36t road double crankset for faster gravel races, although all full specs are fitted with gravel groupsets with smaller chainrings than this.
In contrast, the Grizl is designed for the wider chainline and smaller chainrings of a gravel bike groupset. Although Canyon specs Shimano GRX double-chainring groupsets on a number of Grizl models, the fitted cranksets never go above 48/31t.
Mounts
Another difference between the Grail and the Grizl, reflecting their different expected uses, is in the number of mounting points on offer.
Both bikes have mudguard mounts, while both have top tube mounts and enable you to fit a third water bottle under the down tube. All Grizl specs with a rigid fork supplement this with fork leg mounting points, which are absent in the Grail. The Grail enables you to fit optional ‘load fork sleeves’ though. These fit over the fork legs and provide mounting points for more stuff.
The Grail also has mounts in the front of the main triangle for proprietary frame bags, which use strapless Fidlock magnetic fasteners to secure them in place. Canyon claims fitting a frame bag makes the Grail more aero than without it.
There’s also a Fidlock bag system for the electric Grizl:ON, while the non-assisted Grizl uses straps to mount Canyon’s own or third-party frame bags. The Grizl:ON also has an optional mudguard set with a built-in rack at the rear and a front guard, which works with the ebike’s suspension fork.
Handlebars and extensions
The V2 Grail has what Canyon calls a double-drop handlebar. It’s a one-piece carbon bar/stem, designed to make the bike’s front end more aero. It includes a ‘gear groove’, which can be used to add Canyon’s purpose-designed bar extensions, a computer mount or a light mount.
The cables and hoses on the Grail, although not fully enclosed, run close to the stem and are fed through the headset bearings.
The Grizl, meanwhile, has a more standard separate alloy bar and stem, potentially offering more adjustability. There are external cable runs, rather than semi-integrated.
Both bikes have a 16-degree flare to the bar.
Frame grades
Canyon differentiates its carbon bike frames into three grades: CF SL, CF SLX and the lightest, stiffest, priciest CFR (Canyon Factory Racing).
Both the Grail and Grizl can be bought in CF SL and CF SLX carbon, but only the Grail also offers a CFR-grade frameset. Only the Grizl is sold with an alloy frameset though.
Aerodynamics
The V2 Grail is designed to be aerodynamic, with Kammtail tube profiles. The seat tube and seatpost mirror those on the Canyon Ultimate road bike, with a D-shaped profile.
Canyon has also aero-shaped the handlebar and integrated the cabling to reduce wind resistance, and included in-frame storage in the down tube, so there’s less gear in the wind. As mentioned above, the Grail frame bag is claimed to make the bike more aero still.
In contrast, the Grizl has standard round tube profiles and external cabling, with a two-piece bar and stem. The seatpost is also round, so it’s not a bike targeting aero benefits.
Suspension
Although both the Grail and Grizl ranges mainly comprise bikes with rigid forks, the Grizl can be bought with a RockShox Rudy XPLR suspension fork with 30mm of travel. All specs of the Grizl:ON electric bike include suspension.
Although there’s no rear suspension, higher specs of the Grizl are equipped with Canyon’s VCLS split-shaft seatpost. The Grizl frame is also compatible with a dropper seatpost, although only the Grizl CF SL 8 Trail and Grizl:ON CF Trail come ready-fitted with one.
In contrast, the Grail has a lightweight carbon seatpost throughout the range. It’s D-shaped and similar to that fitted to the Canyon Ultimate road bike, although the Grail’s seatpost offers more flex.
Electric assist
If you’re looking for electric assistance on your gravel rides, you’re looking at the Grizl:ON. While the Grail V1 offered an electric option, the current Grail’s emphasis on fast gravel and gravel racing means it’s pedal power only.
The Grizl:ON has a Bosch SX motor system with 55Nm of peak torque and a 400Wh battery housed in the frame, which Canyon says offers a 100km range. Motor plus battery weigh a claimed 4kg. You can fit a range extender to increase battery capacity by 250Wh.
The battery also powers a Lupine front light and two Lupine rear lights, which are built into the seatstays.
Price
The Grail range starts with the Grail CF SL 7. At current UK prices, as of October 2024, this costs £2,499.
It rises in eight tiers to the top-spec Grail CFR XPLR, priced at £7,899. Although that sounds a lot, the range-topping bike has the latest 13-speed SRAM Red XPLR AXS groupset, with a list price of almost £4,000, and Zipp 303 XPLR SW wheelset, with a list price of £1,600.
The Grizl AL starts at a more modest £1,449 and the top Grizl AL spec costs £1,799. Carbon Grizls range in price from £2,349 to £4,849, while the Grizl:ON is priced from £4,649 to £7,449.
To sum up
If you are into gravel racing or fast gravel riding on less extreme terrain, the Grail is probably the Canyon gravel bike for you.
Although you can fit Load Fork Sleeves to the Grail, if you are into bikepacking the Grizl is likely to be a better bet. You’ll probably like it more for extreme terrain too; the larger tyre clearance and the option to choose a suspension fork and dropper post should add competence here.
If you’re looking for an all-rounder gravel bike, the Grizl is likely to be a better choice as well, and it’s the only Canyon gravel platform to offer a more affordable alloy option to compete with the best budget gravel bikes, or an electric gravel bike if you want a bit of extra support for climbing.