To be fair it accepts a standard stem/bar setup, unlike their newest road models.
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Ah. Okay. I missed that
The grail is the race gravel bike, it doesn’t need huge tire clearance. That’s why they have the grizl.
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Looks cool, all gravel bikes should have internal storage
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re: tire clearance, I don’t really see that as an issue as they are gearing this bike towards racers vs. the rowdier side of things…and if it has clearance officially for 42’s, you can most likely use 45’s with no issue.
As noted, if you want a wider tire, you can go with their Grizl.
I like the fact that the cables are more “concealed” vs. integrated. You get the aero benefits w/o the hassle. Also makes making the bike for travel more realistic. Unfortunately, Canyon specs their stems too short (for me) and doing a HB swap with them is near-impossible…and expensive. Yes, you can apparently run aftermarket stuff, but if I am paying for a part that comes on the bike as spec, I want to be able to use it or get replacement credit.
ETA - my current bike (54 Aspero) has a S/R of 555 / 388. With my 120 stem, the reach is 508. On a comparably sized Med Grail, my overall reach would be 481…way too short. If I went to Large, the overall reach would be closer at 497, but still a full CM too short and the stem would be slammed (which is fine).
The Aero Pack System is interesting, but would want to try it on the bike as I tend to have an narrow q-factor for my knees. All frame bags that I have tried have resulted in me constantly brushing up against them.
The one odd thing I saw was this:
The fork legs also get indentations molded into the carbon that allows for a secure Fork Load Sleeve adapter to add fork bag or water bottle mounting, without the need for conventional threaded mounts
they went to seemingly great lengths to make this a gravel race bike, so this spec seems a bit out of step with the overall design / intent of the bike.
Pricing seems to be really good…$3K for a GRX 12 spd mechanical is a very reasonable, IMO…as is the $5K SLX w/ GRX Di2 (although that would be 11 spd).
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The 42MM is likely conservative. On the Ultimate, for example, I could put on 35mm tires comfortably even though official clearance was 30mm (or maybe 32).
Just don’t go to Unbound w/ that mentality or you might not have a frame/fork left by the end.
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The mud has rarely been an issue there…I think there have been 2 editions (?) where mud has played a prominent role. Just have an extra set of wheels / tires and be prepared to size down if necessary.
With that peanut butter mud at Unbound it’s tough for any bike. I rode a lauf Seigla with 45mm tires and I clogged up in seconds. Others who just ride without stopping to clear it out did serious damage to their frames.
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If people haven’t already learned from that and at least added MTB style frame protection to the tire/mud adjacent areas of the inner fork, chainstays & seatstays on their carbon bikes and forks as a preventative measure… there is no hope 
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If there is mud, I’m walking
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there’s little hope. At unbound, one guy rode by as I was clearing out mud from my bike and there’s was just this low constant hum from the tire rubbing the mud against the frame.
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I would be seriously looking at this if it had 45mm tire clearance, but I feel that’s a minimum for me. And I want to lean more into a racing gravel bike if I get a new one, but 45 just isn’t crazy wide, even for racing now.
Too bad, I like a lot about this bike otherwise.
Note that in the Escape Collective article below, they note that the 42mm clearance number includes fenders. There should be more than enough room to run 45’s if the bike otherwise appeals to you.
Tire clearance is technically unchanged at 700x 42 mm, but Canyon points out that’s with fenders, so the effective maximum tire size is closer to 700×45 mm (40 mm-wide tires come stock across the board). There’s also a dedicated – and impressively, thoroughly engineered – full-length front and rear fender kit.
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Tire size is trending in one direction and that is larger. 45 clearance was definitely short sighted, even though it’s a relatively good amount of rubber. For myself, I just purchased a set of new Pathfinder Pro’s in 42, but that’s because that’s the reported max on my Diverge which happens to be a mud magnet and I’ve had issues running 42 mm Nanos. I really wanted to size up to the 47’s but it just won’t work with my current frame.
When I do purchase a new gravel rig, I will definitely test out the larger rubber fitting rigs out there and chances are I’ll want that capability. Accommodating larger rubber and an increasing range of gears seems to be the problem that many bike makers are making in the realm of gravel bikes.
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The new grail won unbound this year on the women’s side, so I think it would be okay.
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It depends on your design criteria…this is absolutely true if you want to use a 2x drivetrain. But if you want to use a 1x system, you can get bikes like the new Stigmata that can take a 50mm tire. Keegan ran a 52t front ring with a 10-52 cassette at SBT this year, so was still able to achieve a 1:1 bailout gear while having enough top end gearing to average over 23mph. You just have to be comfortable with the gearing jumps in between cogs.
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Here’s some Canyon propaganda.
Why did they lock the internal storage behind only the CFR and the SLX models?
I was hoping there would be a 2x SRAM AXS system as well.
Considering the GRIZL has the VCLS seat post and the previous GRAIL had them on most of the high end builds, none to be seen here.
I guess they’re sticking true to this “race” gravel thing and leaving the GRIZL for everything else. I was really hoping this would be my next bike but the lack of internal storage on the lower trims and GRIZL has me reconsidering Canyon in general. Now I’m hoping an updated GRIZL with internal storage and cleaner cable routing will be released soon.
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Is this true because a 52t on a 1x sits further out, or is it because with the lack of an inner small ring, there’s more room for rubber? And I agree that the 1x systems do allow for more clearance - so I guess in regard to the Canyon, is the tire limited by the seat post clearance, drive side chain stay, or crankset?