Canyon GRIZL Review

I am very fortunate to have had the Canyon Grizl CF SL 8 on loan for the past couple of months.

Want to know how I've found it? Make sure you watch!

Spoiler alert - I love it...

Huge thanks to Canyon UK for the loan, and I can't wait to get my hands on one of my own!

Let me know what you think, and if you've ever been on a Grizl yourself.

[JamesStevensonPhoto]

Great to see this, thanks for sharing Steph. I've been on a wait list for one of these for some time now in Canada, still holding on! Currently I have a heavy steel framed touring bike, which was great for bikepacking with a heavy load, but I'm looking forward to changing to something that's more fun to ride and good for lighter bikepacking adventures.

Keep up the great work, I'll check out more of your videos. It's nice to see UK roads too (I moved away from the south of England 10 years ago now but still visit whenever I can)!

[Mrfiveone]

Greetings from Minnesota! The Grizl will be my next buy! Great video!

[garymartin]

Got one of these delivered at the beginning of the year. I got the version with RockShox forks and a dropper post and absolutely love it. Such a fun ride on pavement, gravel and snow as we've plenty of that out here on the west coast of Canada.

[chrisblanchard]

I enjoyed the review. I am looking at either the Canyon Grizl or Specialized Diverge. One question I have is, do you think the suspension option on the Grizl is necessary?

[GB-foce]

Thanks for posting this video. I agree with some of the points but there are issues to be considered.

Here is my 500 mile review of the Canyon Grizl CF SL8. I’ll post this also on other videos about this bike.

Positives:
• The bike is responsive, essentially like a road bike.
• The bike is light and climbs well even with the quite heavy wheel/45mm tire combo (DT Swiss/ Maxxis Rambler).
• The tires roll well and give decent traction in gravel
• The flex seat post provides some additional comfort, but there are some downsides to it (below).

Negatives:
• There is overlap of the front wheel and my shoes which can be disconcerting in a U-turn or in more technical trails. My shoe size is 45 and the bike has a large (L) frame. This should not happen. I have ridden and owned numerous bikes, and this is the only time this has ever occurred. Why not increase the distance between the bottom bracket and the wheel just a bit?
• The geometry is essentially that of a race bike as evidenced by the specs and it feels that way. I would have preferred a slightly more raked fork (may also help with the shoe/wheel overlap) and longer trail for stability.
• The spring mechanism of the seat post can be a pain. To adjust the seat angle, one has to take the seat post out, loosen a screw at the bottom of the seat post that holds the two leaves together and then slide the leaves against each other by a millimeter or two at the time, then tighten the screw, put the seat post back on the bike and try it out. Repeat this procedure until it fits. I think the flex design is overly complicated for what it achieves and can cause problems (see below).
• The color looks nice at first, but a bright tone and matt finish makes every smudge and fingerprint visible. It is a bit of a pain to clean.
• I have the version with two chain rings and am not a fan of the gearing. The way it is set up, at around 10 mph is the speed at which one needs to switch between chain rings to avoid crossing the chain too much and avoid rubbing. This is a speed often traveled on inclines or more technical sections. In hindsight I should have opted for the 1by.
• There is a lot of lateral flex in the frame and the bottom bracket is quite narrow. Even when just pedaling hard, one notices some flex. I am 63 years old and not very strong. Not sure how the frame fares under a stronger rider.

Quality issues:
There were quite a few and more than I ever experienced on any bike. The new-bike joy was squashed almost instantly with quality problems.
• On my first ride the rear brakes were dragging. Not really Canyon’s fault I thought, because during shipment things might get out of whack. I aligned the brakes and the dragging stopped, but they made a screeching noise to wake the dead (friends called it choking geese), which was not only aggravating but also embarrassing every time when coming to a stop. I cleaned and lightly sanded the pads, and cleaned rotors, which did not really help much. It took over 200 miles until the noise finally abated and the pads were bedded.
• At about 150 miles or so, a crackling sound emerged from the frame. I feared that the frame might have a crack somewhere. It took me a while to figure out that the noise came from the seat post and saddle and projected through the frame. I re-tightened all the fasteners to exact torque specifications but to no avail. I then realized that the saddle was just loose. I could rattle it with two fingers up and down and sideways. The two hinges that hold the seat clamps in place were not of the same width, preventing the screws from getting the hinges snugly attached to the seat post. It took me a while to find some properly sized nylon washers that I could insert. That fixed that problem.
• Another problem followed soon. On every downstroke of the right pedal there were some clicking noises but only when the chain was on the small chain ring and when pressing hard, like on a steep climb. Friends with whom I was riding noticed this too. It sounded like the bottom bracket. Again, it took me a while to figure out what was wrong. It turned out that noise came from the two chain rings which are attached to each other with Torx screws. Once I tightened all of them the noise went away.
• Some of the internal cables rattled when riding over uneven terrain. I had to adjust the cables to correct that problem. Also, the rubber grommets that guide the cables into the frame were not placed properly in the factory. Lots of little signs of poor assembly.

Summary:
In the end after solving all the above problems, the bike rides well. But I am not sure I would buy it again. In hindsight I should have taken advantage of their 30 day return policy. But that period had elapsed when some of the problems occurred.

Curious what the experience of other riders is.

[Thosama]

Hi, thanks for the nice video. My Grizl arrives this week (excited) and I plan to do bikepacking with it. Therefore I ordered the Ortlieb Handlebar Bag, the fork bags, as well as the Ortlieb Saddle- and framebag. Think that will be enough space to go exploring incl. overnightings. Hope you enjoyed the bike and I'm looking forward to see more videos. Ah, my Grizl will be the CF8 with hardfork and 2by shifting (no Di2) Best, T

[AnythingButRound]

When you were saying it didn't have a good range for you were you talking about the low end or the high end?

[alanhill]

Great review love the scenery and most definitely subscribed

[andreteixeira]

Greetings from Brazil and thank you for the review. I am thinking about buying a grizl myself. But how about the comfort at the front end when riding off road and over rocky surfaces?

[tigertoo]

Revelate from a firm in Alaska we’re shipped to a friend in USA who brought them over to me. Good quality - frame bag, handlebar bag, saddle bag with removable dry bag to take and unpack / pack in your tent, a Joey downy tube bag that can go on the CFX Di2. There are no mounts on down tube as the battery is housed there.

[Murpien]

I'm also 5'7" (171 - 172 cm) and wondering whether to get the small or extra small. I do want however to get the 700c wheels but I'm slightly worried about the longer reach. How does the bike feel for you?

[ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP]

Restrap or apidura make some good frame/saddle bags. Or go for tailfin for a 'saddle bag' that's fixed in place and doesn't wobble

[avenpace]

You are 5'7, what is your inner leg lenght? I am 5.78 (176cm) with 84cm inner leg lenght, and looking at your bike, I would prbably lean more twards size M, even if the Canyon recommends me to go with S. My seatpost would probably stick out quite much on S, so I'd rather go with M, that has higher stack first of all, and order it with 70mm stem like it comes with S instead 80mm like on M, Thanks

[onenotesolo]

Nice review! 100% agree on how it changes your mindset. Got my first gravel bike in Dec, and immediately felt like a boy on his BMX riding up and down the hills in the U.K. countryside, a feeling that hasn’t diminished yet. Any road with a sign saying “Not suitable for heavy goods vehicles” is perfect, and I have a go at horribly surfaced roads and tracks that I would never attempt on my road bike. I’m using 700cx35 gravel tyres and a 1x SRAM drivetrain: I don’t really miss 2x, bar the odd long downhill, so I’m switching from 11-42 to a 10-50 mountain bike cassette - the “mullet” setup with road shifters and crankset - to give me a bit more oomph on tarmac plus a rescue gear for cycling up the side of buildings. I still look at my top and average speeds but I’m not chasing PRs all the time, even though it’s not, I’ve slower than the road bike on twisty, hilly country roads.

[MarcEstrella]

I order mine in a size small too and I’m 5’8, should be coming in just under a week

[thelifeofjessejames]

I'm also 5'7" and Canyon says I'm an XS yet you're riding a small. Did you feel that the bike fit you well in that small frame size?

[rasmus_mattsson]

Thank you for the review, it’s very well made! You almost seem to bump up and down in the saddle quite a bit from that seat post, does it disturb you in any way?

As for bags, I’ve been using a Revelate Design Spinelock 10 saddle bag which is amazing. All other saddle bags wobble back and forth, up and down and side to side but the Spinelock is rock steady thanks to a different mount. I can highly recommend it.

[jorgepradagast]

Great review! Do you think that this bike could be a acceptable road bike with narrow tires (28mm)?

[BrutallionStallion]

Nice review, thank you, Steph.
I'm planning to buy this bike with 2x chainset, and want to buy extra pare of carbon wheels to be able to ride on smooth surfaces like tarmac. Also planning to buy a bags for backpacking, so my friends highly recommend to pay attention on Apidura bags. They do pricy though, but they are the best what the market can offer they said.

[Adam-qwkc]

Thanks for the review. I wish there were more for this bike. I've been wanting one since last July, but availability in the US has been sketchy.

How much of a detriment is 1x on pavement? I've never been on that setup, but the majority of my riding is there. I feel like I'd miss the tighter gear steps.