Canyon Grail Al. - First impressions and changes

3 replies · 1,394 views

balles88
30 posts
#1Jan 17, 2020, 4:13 PM
Hello all!!

It's been a few months since I posted the last time. At that time, I decided to buy a Canyon Grail Al in medium size (M). I know I owe you some photos... I promise I will.

During this time with the bike, I have felt that I was missing a little bit a more aero/sporty position in the bike and not as fast as expected in road, of course with the 40mm tires from manufacturer.

I was reading a lot of information and I learnt that the Canyon Grail is indeed a "sporty" gravel bike (am I right?), so maybe I need to do some change to get that setup.

To improve aero/sporty position, I though that maybe I should have bought the large size (L), but maybe I am wrong and there are other ways of improving this.

Do you think that replacing the current stem (80mm) for a longer one (100mm maybe) I will feel a more aero position? Is there any other change I could make?

On the other hand, about being faster on road, I am thinking about setting thiner tires. I have been reading about this and many people advise to set a complete wheel set instead of just changing the tires. Besides that, some people is changing as well the cassette and rotors.... What do you think about this?

Last but not least, do you think that I should have tubeless tires?

By the way, I was yesterday in Trek store, and the new Domane is pretty nice, for those who are interested on the bike 🙂 (I really was and it is better if don't look at that bike too much.....)

Thank you a lot in advance for all your comments as usual.

Have a nice weekend 🙂

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chas
1,305 posts
#2Jan 21, 2020, 12:36 PM
Congrats on the bike!
Yeah, I have the fast race version of that bike (Inflite Carbon). It’s the fastest bike I’ve ever owned – fast enough that I do ‘crits on (and it’s a blast on a lot of singletrack – climbs like it has a motor).
I have a friend that thought the Grail was a little too low and slack for him – but as far as gravel bikes goes – it is fairly aggressive. To get more aggressive, you almost need a road bike (or maybe CX).
I would only do a longer stem if it made you fit the bike better. Fit is paramount (typically you want the handle bars to obscure the line of site to your front axle). A longer stem is going to slow down your steering a bit, although 20mm is doable. If you want to get longer, you could move the seat back a bit too.
I have 2 sets of wheels/tires. 32mm for road, 40mm for gravel. There wasn’t a huge difference between my 32mm Conti 4-seasons, and the gravel tires I use (G-one or Ramblers). All are fairly fast. I have to say, the new 32mm GP5000TL is noticeably faster though. That is my goto tire when I’m in shape. There is a bit of a weight difference which will help on acceleration and climbing, and just making the bike feel more nimble (and it reduces the trail a little bit too).
Your rotors shouldn’t be a problem with hydraulic disc brakes. As for cassette – I tend to have lower gearing on my gravel tires, cause I’m going slower on gravel ;-)

Tubeless is rather a personal call. The biggest benefit is that it allows you to run lower pressure (especially in dirt) without worrying about pinch flat. How often do you get flats? I find traditional tires/tubes to be super easy to change out, while tubeless can be a friggen nightmare, or it can be pretty easy – depending on how well the tire and the wheel match up – there is no standard and it can be hit or miss. The easiest tubeless tire I ever mounted was rated hard to mount on the review here, yet other tires I have given up mounting on certain wheels – they just don’t fit.
But when it works – the tire stays on there until its worn out – flats are just non existent for me (not that I ever got that many in the first place). That is pretty nice.

Enjoy the ride!

1
balles88
30 posts
#3Jan 28, 2020, 3:26 AM
Hello Chas!!

Thanks a lot for your answer!

Yes, I was thinking as well about the Inflite, but I decided to go for the Grail finally 🙂

About the stem, that is what I am thinking, to increase it a little bit from 80 to 100mm. I guess I could have a more aero position. The problem here is that I used to use an old road bike from my father and I believe that the position in the bike some years ago was different as well.

For the wheels/tires, 32mm will be fine for my second set. Any advise for the wheels?

For the cassette I understand from your comment that I should use as well something like 11-28?

Now is pretty clear to me what the benefits are of a tubeless tire 🙂

Thank you!!

chas wrote:
Congrats on the bike!
Yeah, I have the fast race version of that bike (Inflite Carbon). It’s the fastest bike I’ve ever owned – fast enough that I do ‘crits on (and it’s a blast on a lot of singletrack – climbs like it has a motor).
I have a friend that thought the Grail was a little too low and slack for him – but as far as gravel bikes goes – it is fairly aggressive. To get more aggressive, you almost need a road bike (or maybe CX).
I would only do a longer stem if it made you fit the bike better. Fit is paramount (typically you want the handle bars to obscure the line of site to your front axle). A longer stem is going to slow down your steering a bit, although 20mm is doable. If you want to get longer, you could move the seat back a bit too.
I have 2 sets of wheels/tires. 32mm for road, 40mm for gravel. There wasn’t a huge difference between my 32mm Conti 4-seasons, and the gravel tires I use (G-one or Ramblers). All are fairly fast. I have to say, the new 32mm GP5000TL is noticeably faster though. That is my goto tire when I’m in shape. There is a bit of a weight difference which will help on acceleration and climbing, and just making the bike feel more nimble (and it reduces the trail a little bit too).
Your rotors shouldn’t be a problem with hydraulic disc brakes. As for cassette – I tend to have lower gearing on my gravel tires, cause I’m going slower on gravel ;-)

Tubeless is rather a personal call. The biggest benefit is that it allows you to run lower pressure (especially in dirt) without worrying about pinch flat. How often do you get flats? I find traditional tires/tubes to be super easy to change out, while tubeless can be a friggen nightmare, or it can be pretty easy – depending on how well the tire and the wheel match up – there is no standard and it can be hit or miss. The easiest tubeless tire I ever mounted was rated hard to mount on the review here, yet other tires I have given up mounting on certain wheels – they just don’t fit.
But when it works – the tire stays on there until its worn out – flats are just non existent for me (not that I ever got that many in the first place). That is pretty nice.

Enjoy the ride!
chas
1,305 posts
#4Jan 28, 2020, 11:41 AM
I would think that 80 to 100mm change would be fine (I've done it on some bikes). Aero to me means getting low rather than long. But in general you want the handelbars to obscure your view of the hub - that basically puts you in the proper reach.

I had a guy from here build me a set of carbon wheels (olreiter - mill street cycles). He can get you just what you want at a good price (carbon or aluminum). I liked the size of the OEM wheels, so my road set is the same size. 22mm ID is a good size (width) as you can run 32mm well, and go bigger if you want (but you shouldn't' go too much smaller in tire size).

Just make sure you get a 12mm end cap on your front wheel. You can't put a 15mm on that fork (assuming its like mine). End caps are easy to change (usually).

Gearing depends a lot on where an how you ride. I have 11-28 for my road wheels, but I have 2x (36/46) and like the tight cadence jumps. I generally use the 36T for solo rides (generally less than 25mph) and the 46T for group rides (generally less than 40mph).
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