2026 is a weird year for gravel riders, because you have a choice between a gravel bike, or some sort of mountain bike crossover. A few pros have started using the latter, but the situation is as clear as mud, so Liam and I thought we’d shed some light on the situation.
The bikes on test
Canyon Grizl CF SL 9 ESC w/ Rift
Canyon’s Grizl is the brands adventure leaning gravel bike which focuses on providing tyre clearance, frame storage solutions, and a relaxed geometry for trail riding.
The model that we have on test is Canyon’s suspicion equipped Rift model, which adds 40mm of tuneable travel to the front end. This is nowhere near what even a lightweight XC MTB would offer, but it provides noticeable control over technical terrain.
The front of the bike features Canyon’s innovative Full Monty handlebar. Canyon has never been afraid to experiment with its bar designs after the infamous double decker on its 2018 Grail. Here however, the bar adds easily accessible top loading storage, which, while its not to my taste, does work well.
A custom Surly Sorceress
The Surly Sorceress is a mountain bike through and through, but keen for a bit of gravel without shelling out for another bike, or taking up more garage space than needed, I wanted to see how gravelly I could make it in order to quench my thirst for the odd gravel spin.
As it’s a mountain bike, it boasts 140mm of suspension at the front, far more than you’ll find on any purpose-built gravel bike. The geometry is pretty wild from a gravel perspective, too. On this large frame, there’s a 484mm reach, a slack 65-degree head tube angle and a 429mm chainstay. To wrap it up, it’s sorted with a 1,227mm wheelbase, so a gravel bike, this most definitely is not.
That said, Surly intended this bike to be super versatile. One day, it could be tearing up singletrack; the next it could be loaded up with bikepacking gear ready for a weekend in the hills. I wanted to push that versatility with tyres I’ve spotted gravel pros using, and a very wide drop handlebar with a neat brake conversion.
Back-to-back trail test
Our testing started with a section of single track trail, featuring flowing turns, larger roots, and plenty of overgrown brambles to cut into our legs. The Surly instantly feels at home on such terrain with the MTB ride position offering a very composed riding experience.
Being far back on the bike and using the dropper to get the saddle out of the way means that the numerous roots weren’t an issue, while any small drops didn’t leave either of us feeling like we were about to be buckarooed.
The suspension also really helps and combines with the high volume tyres to offer almost endless traction. You’d certainly have to push the bike hard to take it past what even such low profile tyres can handle.
This could all add up to a bike that sounds rather slow, but the Surly was by far the faster of the two bikes on such twisting singletrack.
The Grizl, with its comparatively narrow bar, shorter wheelbase and generally more aggressive ride position, simply has to be ridden a little more tentatively. Despite the 40mm travel from the DT Swiss fork, more of the trail can be felt through the bike while the narrower tyres are quicker to step out of line.
Things changed when the trail opened onto a fire road climb. Here, the Grizl was like a rocket ship compared to the Surly, with the lightweight and stiffer build surging forward easily.
The feeling of speed from the Canyon continued through a flat and flowing section of trail and out onto a short stretch of road to complete the loop.
So while the Surly is hands down the better bike for technical trail riding, and could easily have coped with much more difficult terrain, the Canyon was the better bet as soon as we were able to get the power down.
Prices
The Canyon Grizl CF SL 9 ESC w/ Rift will set you back £5,599. There’s no getting around the fact that the suspension, XO Eagle gearing and Full Monty bar add to the cost of the bike, but the package as a whole represents good value with genuinely well-thought through features.
I do find it a little annoying that there’s no option to add in the Eclipse system, as having a SON dynamo would surely make this bike the dream machine for long-distance gravel riders.
The Surly, meanwhile, starts life as a much more humble £999 frameset with a full bike (using most of the kit you see here) costing £3,100. Then I added a bunch of kit, like new wheels, the drop handlebar, AXS shifting and the tyres, which definitely bumped that price up significantly.
The Liams decide
Liam Cahill: The Surly that Liam built was exceptional fun to ride on the trails, but I’d have to have the Canyon for my gravel riding. While the gravel itself is an eclectic bag of fun, from super smooth dirt to large rocks, I have always got quite a lot of road riding to link it all together.
So for me, the efficiency of the Canyon – and the fact it is capable enough – wins for me.
Liam Mercer: I built the Sorceress up merely to be a little more gravel-friendly for when the riding called for it. So no, it doesn’t make the best gravel bike, but it does do the job and it’s rather fun, at that. If I were to spend my own money, though, I’d take the lack of garage space on the chin and pick the proper gravel bike. That’s mainly because it’s faster on actual gravel, capable of reaching higher speeds more easily, and it just makes more sense for its intended riding.
Would you use gravel bikes for gravel and MTBs for everything else, or does the latter serve all your off-road needs? Let us know in the comments as always.
