Canyon’s new Grail bids goodbye to the Double Decker handlebar
Words Charlotte Head Photography Tapestry
Canyon Grail LEADOUT
Back in 2018, when the Canyon Grail was born, gravel bikes were expected to do a bit of everything. The discipline had yet to fully develop and riders tended to have one bike for all eventualities. The original Grail aimed to tick all those boxes, but the second generation’s focus is all about performance.
‘The Grail 2.0 is a race bike,’ says design engineer Matthias Bensolt. ‘Now that the category has split into adventure riding and performance riding, we’ve been able to make this bike all about performance and speed.’
There are some bold numbers to support this statement, with the new bike a claimed 9.1 watts more efficient at 45kmh than the V1.0 in wind-tunnel testing. As with the latest Ultimate, the Grail’s tube profiles are now deeper and more aerodynamically focussed in a bid to match the high speeds seen in pro racing. Canyon-Sram rider Kasia Niewiadoma’s Gravel World Championships-winning ride saw a staggering average speed just shy of 30kmh over 140km.
As with the frameset’s shape, its carbon layup has also been altered to make the bike both stiffer and lighter, with Canyon’s highest-grade CFR carbon layup now available on the top-tier model. Canyon says the CFR frameset is 118g lighter and 10% stiffer than the second-tier CF SLX, and the fork is a claimed 4.5% stiffer. The CFR Sram AXS model has a claimed weight of 8.04kg, while the CFR Di2 build is a claimed 8.3kg. The CF SLX 8 Di2 shown, for comparison, is a claimed 8.5kg.
Out with the new, in with the old
While the frame itself has changed, the new Grail’s most visible difference is the cockpit. The love-it-or-hate-it Double Decker two-tiered handlebar (whose design flexed for comfort) is gone, replaced instead by the Double Drop classic dropbar.
‘We removed the double bars for three reasons,’ says Besolt. ‘The first was aerodynamics, as it greatly increased the frontal area, but also weight and adaptability. Many pros wanted to use extensions, and this was not possible on the old bars.’
Canyon also offers proprietary TT-style extensions that fix into a groove in front of the stem. Although TT-style aero bars are now banned for the likes of Unbound and other UCI gravel races, the groove can be used as a mounting point for computer and phone holders, lights or cameras.
The seatpost too has been replaced, swapping out Canyon’s leaf-spring S15 VCLS 2.0
