I went the opposite and went all in on the Slate, not sure how fond of it you are. I built a set of road wheels for mine and run 700x30 and 700x32s, which along with the suspension, which makes for a great bike on the bombed out roads we have in this country nowadays.
The geometry on the Slate is fairly aggressive, with shorter chainstays than most road bikes. The reach is short, but HT is slack and soaks up the bigger hits well. Some narrow(er) tires really livens it up for the road.
It’s still aluminum I guess, but I have mine down in the low 18 lb range with the set of climbing wheels and 40c Terraspeeds and the Lefty fork.
Xcadey powermeter spider with hollowgram cranks.
Roval terra CLX wheels. Will have to redish a rear wheel if i want big tyres though.
Will use for road throughout winter, and will use 32-34mm road tyres without any dishing.
Need to pick up some narrow flared bars for it though, probably the terra 38’s.
I bought the new Canyon Grail last week and rode it 50 miles Sunday on easy gravel and road. So far I’m really happy with the purchase. The bike is very stiff and accelerates quickly, but is also very comfortable with the flexing seat post and ergonomic bars.
At 5’9" or 175cm I’m at the limit for a size small and I’m happy I went with that instead of the medium. The bike is very long and with the short stem it fits me perfectly.
Unfortunately all the accessories are unavailable in the US store until about February. I am using the Garmin bands to mount the Edge unit on top of the bars for now, but it’s not ideal.
If anyone is interested I’ll post a follow up in a month or so after I put some miles on it.
Be interested how it goes - definitely under consideration from me as n+1. Only thing kinda holding me back is the lack of internal storage on the SL, and I can’t stretch above that! Having said that. when I mentioned that to someone with a diverge, they had issues with the internal storage getting wet!
I wanted 12s 2by GRX so I got the SL7 and I don’t think I’m going to miss the internal frame storage
I replaced the stock wheels with some gravel carbon ones (saving 650g), put a g-one RS on the back and got an ultegra cassette and xtr chain to get hyperglide+ and my favourite saddle. This week I received the PRO cockpit to get a narrower handlebar and a bit more aggressive position but I’ve still have to find some time to install it
I haven’t got another gravel bike to compare, but the bike flies and feels stiff for putting the power down but not harsh. I don’t think you’d regret getting one
I’ts a shame shimano doesn’t offer the GRX800 crankset below 170mm, I’m looking for a 160mm gravel crankset and I’m not finding anything. Best next think would be an ultegra one but with a 50/34 I might miss a sub 1:1 gear in steep and long climbs
IIRC, that was the “official” clearance with fenders. The general consensus was that 45’s would fit with zero issue and maybe even 47’s (depending on your rims)
No amount of clearance is enough for the peanut butter mud. The main thing I’d want is enough room to get a finger between tire and frame for pulling mud out when you hit those crazy mud spots (around ~15mm probably?). I’m not a fan of the mud sticks, slow and not as effective in my opinion. I’ve only done south, sounds like the north route (this year) has less of the peanut butter variety. And maybe it won’t rain this year after a couple wet years.
