Hello All - looking for some experienced feedback here regarding direction to take with purchasing a road bike.
Apologies if the post ends up being a bit long winded - want to provide as much background as possible.
Was bitten by the cycling bug just a bit over 2 years ago. Definitely wanted a road bike, so went to a local shop and ended up getting a Specialized Tarmac SL6. The main thing for the purpose of this thread is that it is a size 58. I am 6-6’1” and literally the only “fit” I did was just just sit on it at the store while they took a general look at me.
The bike is not uncomfortable (never had any soreness issues etc. that I was not able to address with small tweaks to the seat height etc.). No major complaints.
Fast forward to earlier this year - wanted to get a gravel bike for a couple of events in the spring. Just kind of got lucky in that someone my dad knows was trying to get rid of their Canyon Grizl. I really like the style of Canyons and loved the color but this time did a little bit more research into making sure it would be the right size.
I was honestly a little surprised to find my size recommendation fall right on the line between M/L for Canyon (was expecting L) with all of the reading saying that you should bias downwards if in a grey area. As luck would have it the bike is a M.
As soon as I started riding the bike - whether it’s on the turbo or outdoors I LOVED it. Fits like a glove. The best way I can describe it is it feels like I’m on top of or in complete control of the bike.
I’ve tried a couple of upgrades on the Tarmac to mimic the feel - smaller cranks (enjoy the higher cadence on the gravel set), narrower handle bars, adjusted the seat forward to minimize the reach etc. And just can’t seem to find it.
So my question(s) are for those more experienced:
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Is this “feel” strictly down to the size difference? Or more related to the inherent handling differences of a gravel vs road bike? A little of both?
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Going forward for road events in 2026 and beyond - would it be as easy as upgrading my road set-up to a M sized Canyon road bike?
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For an amateur would it really make that much difference if I just put some wider road tires on a Grizl?
Thanks All!
Comparing the frames in Bike Insights, the Grizl (white) is a much bigger frame in size large than the 58 SL6 (black). If you were looking for a similar size, I would suggest the M size pictured below.
Your other questions.
- the Grizl and SL6 are alike a sport race car and a truck, you can try to make a truck sportier but its like lipstick on a pig.
- It would work, and ride fine, if you just are going out for rides. If you want the snappy feel of your SL6, keep it as your road bike, Grizl for gravel and fun.
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Thanks! I had never used bike insights before -that helps a lot.
The crux of my question is - I love the grizl compared to the Tarmac. Do you think that’s inherent because of being gravel vs. road (i.e. built for comfort vs. speed) or more because I’m probably more a medium vs. a large?
And then stepping from that - does it make sense that if I love a Canyon grizl in a M, that a Canyon Aeroroad in M would feel similarly comfortable?
You are asking good questions…
I know you said you rode your Grizl on the turbo and you liked it there. Theoretically if you match up or at least get the contact points on both bikes close, they should give you a like fit for your body.
The geometry of these bikes is pretty different, this will contribute to ride feel. The rake of the front fork, the longer rear seat stays, and likely much bigger tires on the Grizl are there for more adventure cycling, makes it more stable over rough road, less snappy, rides in a straighter line. You might call this comfort.
If you wanted to look at a Canyon Aeroroad (below), the similar stack and reach is the L to the SL6 size 58. Their geometry is almost identical. I haven’t ridden either of these two bikes, I would guess they would ride almost the same in feel with similar wheels, tires, and components.
You might want to look at the Canyon Endurace if you wanted a bike to ride more similar to the Grizl. Also this is where people would suggest talking to a local bike fitter for proper bike fit stack and reach.
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Not a direct answer to your questions, but here’s my recent experience. I was a long time roadie but started mtbing more ~ 10 years ago to the point I was doing more mtb than road. Two and a half years ago I got a Grizl. It took over all my road rides and some of the mtb rides. Since getting the Grizl, most all my “road” rides include some dirt/gravel where the options exist.
My road bike is an older BMC SLR-01 with 25mm tires, and might fit 28s. The stack and reach of my “small” Grizl is very nearly identical to that of the “55 cm” BMC. I put the sizes in parentheses because they are only qualitative and vary between manufacturers. I compare bikes looking at the actual geometry numbers, and primarily stack and reach for fit.
On the BMC I run a 100mm stem with my bars ~10cm lower than the top of saddle. I initially tried that on the Grizl but changed to a shorter higher stem to lessen the load on my hands and wrists on rough terrain.
Just yesterday, I took the BMC out for a ride after not having ridden it at all in the past 13 months. It was interesting. Handling wise, the Grizl is longer with a slacker head tube angle and has 45mm tires compared to the 25mm tires on the BMC. This makes the Grizl much more capable on dirt and soft surfaces, and handle more like a moto on the road. The fat tires smooth the road and provide great cornering traction where road imperfections make the BMC feel skittish and less secure. Overall, the BMC might be called crisper. Steering is quicker, sharper, and more precise, and I feel much more of the road asperities. It was also somewhat faster weighing 5lb less than the Grizl spinning significantly lighter wheels and tires…and is certainly more aero too.
For me, the BMC is great for spirited road rides, especially with groups. The Grizl better for JRA and exploration. Dirt/gravel > pavement.
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Thank you guys for the detailed thought out responses. The bike insight is a great tool that I was not aware of before. And actually what that is making me realize is that just in terms of pure size alone there’s not really a difference at all in the two bikes that I have. With the thought being that any “feel” difference would/should be related to the natural differences between riding a road/gravel bike.
I had an inkling that once I rode/loved the Canyon and realized that there was a size difference to my Tarmac that mentally in the back of my mind I would get stuck on/be obsessed with that.
That’s hard. The way you write about it, you just seem to prefer it as a bike. I had a similar feeling when I tried an aggressive road bike for the first time (coming from an endurance road bike), glove meet finger.
Size-wise, it isn’t as easy as looking at your height. I have long limbs and prefer a frame that is on the longer side, for instance.
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For MTBs I am bang in the middle of M in most brands. Canyon I am S
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For what it’s worth, I have ridden road ‘race’ bikes for over 40 years, and liked most of them, but have definitely liked them less over the past 10-15 years. I think part of this is due to just getting older, but I also think that part of it is due to geometry changes to what is considered a ‘race’ bike over the past decade, or so. My feeling is that angles have gotten a little steeper, and wheelbases a little shorter, to make the bikes more responsive.
A few years ago I purchased a Canyon Grail, to give this gravel thing a try, and, to my surprise, I found that I was setting PRs on paved descents that I have been riding for years on my ‘race’ bike. (Truth be told, with my past few bikes I have felt a bit terrified on some of the higher speed descents in my area.) As I knew that my road a gravel bikes were roughly the same size (i.e. the correct size for me), which appears to be an area where you are trying to decide what’s-what, I knew that the difference was the geometry, and that the more slack/relaxed geometry of the Grail just made it feel more ‘solid’ to me on the downhills. However, since I didn’t want to ride my gravel bike all the time, I looked around for bikes with a sort of ‘intermediate’ geometry, and settled on a Canyon Endurace. And, at least in my case, it was the right decision. Not a relaxed as the gravel bike, but not a ‘quick’ as my other road bikes. IMO it is the most comfortable, and fun, road bike I have ever ridden (well, at least since the 90’s), and I’m glad I got it.
But, to the point @Saddlesaur is making, I do often wonder if, instead of getting the Endurace, I should have just invested in a second set of wheels for the Grail, and put some road tires on them, as I could certainly ride the Grail all the time.
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The quiver killer thoughts always tend to creep in…. for me my road bike is my jewel, the gravel bike is a tool, I don’t let them forget it 
. I like my blingy road bike, it gets washed, waxed, pampered, and displayed in my office on the wall. My gravel bike lives a much harder life, functional, but dirty, mixed groupo, dinged from gravel, thrown in the back of my car, stored in the corner leaning against the wall.
Both are loved, but they have different jobs
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