Canyon Grail 2019

Received my Grail C.F SL 8.0 about a week ago and did so far about 120km.

The coolest bike around, at least aesthetically.

I'd like some advice, if possible, from Grail owners:

-Possible to swap the 11/34 for an 11/36 cassette? (think yes, but just to be sure..)

-Would it take a WTB Riddler 700/45 tyre? (which is apparently 44mm wide)

-What if I get an extra spacer for the handlebar: would I be able to stick it in?

-What kind of support for a Garmin or similar GPS can one install?

Thanks!

@longassballs:

I've got about 1600 km (1k miles) on it now, use it also for my daily commute.  First impression is good, you get a lot of bike for the cash with Canyon, easily 500-1000 euro more than with the other brands imho.

First about the cockpit and the double-decker handle bar.  Good news is that it works...sort of.  It does dampen vibration and road buzz but only when riding on the tops, which (for me) is only about 5% of the time, if that.  Trouble is that you don't have ready access to the brakes and less control.  I can imagine it would make a real difference on the sort of gravel they have in the States, with long stretches of washboard without major bumps/potholes and not too much traffic.  The dampening effect pales in comparison with the dampening that you get from the seatpost (excellent) and what you get from judicious adjustment of tyre pressure though.  Frankly, I'm not convinced that the marginal gains of the hover bar compensate for the severe limitiations it imposes (zero adjustability, impossible to pick your own components etc).  I could be wrong but I don't think Canyon will continue for very long with it.  They should also tidy up the cable routing a bit.

The frame geometry is a bit of a mixed bag:  I found it to be very stiff and road-bike oriented but a bit less sharp handling, which can be either a very good (holds its line very well, extremely stable) or a bad thing if you like a sprightly bike.  It's essentially an endurance bike in its ride behaviour but almost a race bike in its geometry and stiffness (and also, should you fit 28 mm tyres, in the way it transfers shocks).  The ride behaviour might have something to do with the tyres too, I've got the stock Schwalbes under it, going to swap them out for the Compass Barlow Pass.  The Schwalbes are good but I don't like the noise they make at speed on tarmac and have the feeling they somehow make the bike more unwieldy.

The only other bike I can usefully compare it to  would be the Scott addict gravel 10.  Stiffness-wise it's about the same (which is saying something) but the Scott handles more aggressively/lively, to the point that it becomes too much of a good thing on trails.  The Scott also costs 6K Euro compared to the 2.8 k of the Grail (or the 4k for the CF 8SLX in 1x), huge hat tip to Canyon for that.  I'd guess that the Scott addict 20 comes closer, price-wise but I haven't ridden it.

So, would I purchase the Grail again?  Probably yes, firstly because the size M fits my 1.82 m frame very well and second because it's almost impossible to beat, value-wise.  I think the Grail's a good bike if you mainly ride tarmac (potholed or not) and like relaxed handling.  For hardcore trail/off road riders I think it's too much road bike, for speed freaks who like riding on the edge it's too lazy.  Were it not for the 3k price difference, I'd probably go with the Scott addict 10.  If you want to stay with Canyon and don't absolutely need the possibility to mount mudguards/luggage nor tyres >33mm then perhaps the Inflite could be a good alternative.

I got sick of the constant delays and cancelled my Grail order. 

Now seriously looking at the Giant Revolt Advanced 0 2019 which is in stock at my local dealer. Then I would put some compass 700x44c tyres on it - https://www.compasscycle.com/shop/components/tires/700c/compass-700c-x-4...

Yay, received the bike last friday!  All good, assembly was easy but I'd recommend taking a look at their Youtube vid of 'Grail unboxing' rather than reading their brick of a manual that's not model specific (good luck with finding out how to tension the seatpost reading their bible).  Happy to say that their sizing tool is spot on, I was worried that a size M would be too small for my 182 cm but it's actually perfect.  Will post a review once the new toy syndrome has worn off.

Ordered mid August as soon as the 2019 models went on sale for a mid Nov delivery. Delayed 3 times already with the estimated dates just passing with no contact. CC was finally billed so I thought it must be close to shipping, but now estimated date has gone out to mid March... Not keen on the giant revolt, so may just buy a new road bike instead.

Should also mention that along with not 'going crazy' after a few months like Decathlon's cheaper small battery powered lights...(not responding correctly, or at all, to the on/off/sustain/flash button presses) the button's require more force to press. This means unlike their aforementioned lights, you won't find these flashing in your bag and pocket almost every time you take them out in the day to use later in the night.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/vioo-clip-500-usb-set-black-id_8501200.html

I've been using these cheerfully cheap decathlon usb-chargable lights for near 6 months now. Very powerful indeed in terms of brightness, especially for the compact size.
I really would not want anything brighter.
They are lightweight and a very compact tidy fit.
Each light can flash or sustain either red or white light which is handy when fitting the lights since you don't have to test which one is back and front (there is no back and front, both are the same).
Heavy rain resistant and battery life seems great. Decathlon claim 9 hours in flashing mode. Mine never start dimming even after a few hours.
I'll be picking up another set next time i'm in Decathlon.

Update:  Received word from Canyon that my bike will be delivered earlier than scheduled, I should get it around Feb. 4.  A lot more palatable than Feb. 28-Mar. 5 (but still a tidy difference compared to mid December as they initially announced).  

If anyone has a recommendation for a good, powerful headlight (preferably not too blinding for other traffic) that will attach to the funnily shaped cockpit, please shoot.  

I had exactly the same bike on order.  Ordered early September with delivery due first week December.  Week before delivery came the email delaying until end February/Early March.

Cancelled within the hour and got a Giant Revolt on order from my LBS.  Won't be going near Canyon anytime soon, thats for sure.

I ordered a CF 8.0 SL as well, at the start of September, with a delivery date of first week in December.  Having heard nothing I contacted Canyon yesterday - during the second week in Dec. - who told me that the bike would now not be ready until 1st week in March.  This has screwed up my plans and needless to say I'm really p**sed off with both the delay and complete lack of info from their customer services.  By the time I get the bike (if I don't cancel the order) I'll have waited 6 months for it and they will be announcing the 2020 models a few months later!

I ordered the CF 8.0 SL exactly 9 days ago in size M.  On the site it showed availability for delivery mid December.  Literally 3 minutes after hitting the button I received a mail mentioning delivery in the week of Feb 25 - 1 March.  Not that I'm pining away waiting for the bike but still....

@longassballs Can't remember the exact spec - not the top end carbon frame, but the next carbon frame down, Di2, alloy rims.  In grey + Large.

My date for Mid November moved last week to early March 2019......I thought Canyon had grown out of this?

Well the estimated completion date of mid Nov for my Grail has just been delayed 3 weeks. Now I don't know if I will receive it in Australia by the time I leave on my cycling holiday just before Xmas. May have to cancel the order if so

Congratulations on your order longassballs. Good to hear the mudguards are coming soon. If you want a Grail sooner and if you'd be happy with a 2018 SLX 8.0 Di2 model they have various sizes available in the Outlet section of the website. They're called "Pure Cycling" which is apparently the name of the brand in Switzerland. Instead of "Canyon" on the downtube they have "Grail". I guess they may have the brake levers configured the opposite way round from UK norm if they were built for the Swiss market.

Hi, just to clarify, it is the size 2XS and XS that come with 650B wheels, 140mm rotors and 52/36 crank. I believe the size S and above come with the specs on the website.

Longassballs, I bought the bike because of everything else about it and despite the cockpit but I do like the ability to hook my thumbs over the lower joint with the horizontal part when on descents. I spend most of the time on the hoods which are no different from those on a conventional handlebar. I haven't really tested the tops much yet so haven't noticed much difference from normal ones.

Thanks for the thoughts about mudguard fit. Please let us know how you get on with your mudguard fitting.

Great to hear that the Grail specific mudguards will be available soon! I have searched a lot online and so far have not found anything that would obviously fit the Grail using the eyelets. I have the 2018 model and I can say that the eyelets are not standard. They are smaller than the standard bottle-cage bolt size of M5. They must be either M4 or M3. Also, they are mostly not in standard places. At the rear there are a pair of eyelets part way up the seatstays on the inside, as well as one part way up the seat post around the height of the front derailleur attachment (not down by the bottom bracket as normal). There is no seatstay bridge nor a chainstay bridge so no fixing points there. At the front they are part way up the forks, again on the inside, as well as in the u at the top of the fork (i.e. facing down to the ground, not going horizontally through the bottom of the headtube).

Mine is size XS. It comes with 650B wheels. It also has 140mm disc rotors instead of 160mm and a 52/36 crank instead of 50/34. I have some 700C wheels with 25mm road tyres. The rims are quite wide with internal width of 21mm so the 25mm tyres actually come out at 28mm, and presumably smaller radius than on a narrower rim. The whole wheel and tyre combination is only 5mm larger radius than the 650B wheels with 40mm G-Ones. They fit fine on the Grail for me, with no toe overlap or any other problem.