It is because of the front derailleur (or lack thereof). On bigger tire sizes, it hits the FD.
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The electronic front derailleurs, with their motors and batteries are the biggest examples of this. They’re often longitudinally behind the seat tube, even if they’re laterally outside it. But wide tires are much wider than seat tubes.
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Agreed, it’s annoying that the SL models don’t get frame storage. I have a nice wheel set and I don’t really care about ability to mount an aero bar, so the $$$ for the higher tier is not really well spent for me. I’d be into the Rival AXS bike, but no frame storage is a bummer.
I guess frame storage probably requires different and more expensive carbon work. Canyon’s general lack of frame-only options and lack of any customization in build or sizing configurations (e.g. stem length, seatpost setback) is presumably the tradeoff for the direct-to-consumer price point.
But there was at least two bikes like this in top10 of this year Unbound, so probably wasn’t a problem w/ tyre clearance.
Let’s not forget that the conditions experienced by the leaders early in the race differ from many other riders further back. Sections that were initially ridden with minimal issues turned into bogs later.
I think that pointing to those higher finishing people and bikes cherry picks and misses the worse conditions and demands many others went through on some of the same bikes.
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Agree. The pros also had more incentive to just ride through mud, if possible, vs your average joe rider. I’d be curious to see how many pros had frame damage from the mud.
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There were pros that DNF’d because of the mud section too. It def got worse, but it was already terrible, even for the first people through it.
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Sure, and part of my point is that picking out a few who managed to get through doesn’t negate the issues and damage experienced by many.
Back to may initial comment here before the tangent… Adding some frame protection tape to the likely areas of mud contact is a great idea for those with carbon (and even aluminum?) frames & forks at the least. Could be worthwhile as well for anyone aiming to protect the finish of other more durable materials (titanium and steel).
ETA: on my recent Ti bike gravel build with a carbon fork, I covered the upper/inner area as well as the upper/rear section of my fork with frame tape for protection. Cheap protection that will be far better than nothing if I get into some messy stuff.
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During Gravel Worlds (NE), Borstelman and Wark said they were able to ride through the mud section without stopping. Riding Ventum GS1 and Lauf respectively.
To the convo here, will be interesting to see how OEMs balance Fast vs Mudclearing. You can be as fast as you desire to be in dry sections. But you might end up losing it all in the mud.
Fast, with lots of tire clearance seems to be the holy grail.
I think you also have to factor in the frequency / likely occurrence of mud…realistically, most people aren’t gonna ride in the mud, unless forced to at a race. And even then, it doesn’t happen very frequently.
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Yeah, I find this curious. Even my Endurace has the VCLS. Perhaps they are relying on tire size / frame compliance on the Grail. But seems like a cost cutting measure more than anything.
For some reason, Stetina’s current look, voice, and the overall vibe of that video made me think it was a Saturday Night Live skit, fake commercial, starring Kyle Mooney. 
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They are claiming the D-Shaped seatpost will offer compliance…although clearly it will not come close to the VCLS.
I do think this was a miss for them, spec-wise. I have the Ergon VCLS post on my Aspero and it is fantastic.
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Yeah. It feels like a little over-acting, even by Stetina standards.
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Creating a non-round VCLS specifically for this bike was probably an engineering challenge too far. And I believe this is the same non-round post shape from their road bikes, but they claim a more compliant carbon layup.
Personally I’d prefer a round post in pretty much all cases, as the proprietary post locks you in to their setback choice and annoying 1-bolt saddle clamp.
More generally it seems like most race-focused gravel bikes are on the stiffer side. Possibly another “rough feels fast” situation, like how we all used to run 21mm tires at 100+ PSI because they “felt responsive”. I tend to think more compliance is actually faster, especially when fatigue is factored in.
I think it was more realistically a volume issue…you would be limited to only Canyon gravel bikes. A round post has a larger potential audience, so more opportunity for volume which leads to lower costs, etc. And if it was developed in conjunction with Ergon, then you have shared costs, etc.
Ergon would have zero incentive to work with them on a post that only worked on Canyon bikes.
Still amazes me that more people don’t run suspension seatposts on their gravel bikes…
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So, my Crux tore up Big Sugar 53. 
I rode 47 pathfinders and they were brilliant. I was also too lazy to change my tires to my 303 FC and just ran the stock Terra C wheels and they performed flawlessly (these wheels are seriously under rated).
The Crux climbed brilliantly, descended confidently and was so nimble and sure when riding through the “chunky” gravel. In fact, about half way through I was thinking “where is all the chunky gravel people say is at Big Sugar”. At no point was I thinking I was under biked or hit a section the Crux couldn’t handle
Compliance was brilliant with the 47s, I do have the ENVE gravel bars and I was in no way beat up by the end or had any hand issues at all. I didn’t feel at anytime I needed suspension seatposts or fork.
I was also to lazy to put on my aerobars and really wish I would have; there was plenty of free speed to be had with aerobars on the course.
For anybody still looking for a race bike, I would jump on the Crux on sale for $4999.
P.S. The 53 was a really fun course. I also appreciated the sections of tarmac. Will be back next year for sure.
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I just bought the Crux Expert for $4999. I thought it was a smoking deal. It came with the 38 Pathfinder Pros. So, it has plenty of clearance with the 47’s installed? If so, I need to get me a set of them. Also, are you running the ENVE gravel bars with the stock stem?
Yes plenty of clearance with 47s. Stock Crux stem.
Did look to me that Big Sugar winner Torbjørn Røed was riding Giant TCX, no?
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