The Cayon Grizl CF SL is Canyons entry level carbon "Adventure" gravel bike, in contrast to the Grail which is race oriented bike. The "Adventure" monicker means that the bikes geometry is less aggressive and the frame is packed with mounting points for bags and other accessories. The bike comes stock with GRX 11-speed mechanic groupset (in 2022, the newer version have the GRX 12 speed or SRAM Force AXS), an iridium dropper post, G1800 DT Swiss Alloy rims wrapped in Maxis Rambler EVO 45mm tires. As you can see from the image above, my bike is anything but stock, let me list the things I've upgraded and accessories I use on most of my rides.

Upgrades

• GRX 12-speed mechanical groupset (SLX CS-M7100 Cassette 10-51)
• GRX RX810 Cranks (170mm vs 175mm that come stock)
• Reynolds ATRx Carbon Rims
• Fizik Argo Adaptive 3D printed saddle
• Zipp Service Course SL stem
• Ritchey Supercomp Alloy Handlebars
• Shimano XTR RT-MT900 Rotors
• Wolftooth Aero Chainring for GRX 800 cranks (50T)

Accessories

• Silca Gravelero Mini-Pump
• Silca Mattone Seat Pack
• Lyzne Strip Drive Pro Rear Light
• KOM Stem Mount with GoPro Computer Mount
• Bontrager ION Pro RT Headlight

The Good

There is a lot to like about this bike, first the price is very competitive compared to other similarly equipped gravel adventure bikes, but this is to be expected for a direct to consumer brand like Canyon (I'll touch more on this later). The frame is light, the components are good quality and the geometry of the bike seems to fit the style of riding I enjoy.

It seems, unlike other brands, that Canyon understands riding wider tires is just faster (blog post on this coming soon) and have given this bike 50mm of tire clearance. Currently I am running 50mm tires and you could actually go larger on the front, the rear would be close as any mud would lead to frame rubbing. This is a huge advantage, especially over some of the "race" oriented bikes that sometimes only have clearance for 40mm tires or thinner.

The mounting points are a plus as well. I am sure that the have some aero penalty and including them most likely increase the weight of the bike, but being able to hold bags on the top tube, on the fork, under the bottom tube and running a rear pack means you can seriously pack this bike full, like any other modern adventure bike.

I've also found that while the geometry is not as aggressive as the Grail, you can set it up to still be very fast and put you into an aggressive position. Or you can stack spacers under the stems and get a nice, comfortable position for all day riding. There are times where I wish I could get even lower on the bike, but at this point I am pushing the geometry of the bike past what it was intended for so I can't really complain about this.

I also want to mention the stock groupset, the GRX 11-speed. By no means is it a bad groupset, as far as gravel specific groupsets go this is probably one of the best. That being said I did end up upgrading it to the new GPX 12-speed, mainly for the gear range. The 11-speed can only go up to a 42T cog and down to 11T, meaning that if you want to prevent spinning out you need to run like a 46-50T chainring which makes steep climbing on gravel a challenge. Moving to the new 12-speed groupset allows you to run a 10T low cog and 51T large cog which makes the gearing on a 46-50T cassette perfect, as you get a < 1:1 ratio for climbing. I should mention this is not the only reason I swapped groupsets, I crashed the bike and landed on the derailleur, which made shifting horrible for months. I replaced the derailleur hanger and tried to adjust the derailleur as well as I could but it never shifted properly again after that, most likely the derailleur itself was bent.

The Bad

While I do enjoy this bike a lot, many of the pain points are simply a consequence of Canyons direct-to-consumer model. Specifically for me the 1-1/4" steerer tube diameter is a frustrating design decision that makes finding new stems, top caps, compressions plugs and headset spacers almost impossible. Couple this with the brittle plastic top cap and you have a recipe for disappointment if you are not paying very close attention.

For me when I was able to find a stem to fit the 1-1/4" steerer tube I did not realize it was about 1mm shorter than the stock stem and as such the spacers were not tall enough to make good contact with the headset top cap, meaning you could crank down on the plastic top cap and break it very easily (which is what I did). Then you are left with two options for replacements, one is to reach out to Canyon and pay them for the POS plastic cap or to find a third-party that sells them (there are not many of these, I suggest kapz.com).

The last issue I want to talk about is the wheels and tires. If you are trying to go fast on this bike the best thing you can do it replace these. The bike comes stock with DT Swiss Alloy rims and these are HEAVY, the difference between them and a relatively inexpensive carbon rims is night and day. Combine the alloy rims with the slowest tires I've ever ridden, the Maxis Rambler EVO and you are in for a bad time. If you do have this bike do yourself a favor and spend the extra $200 to put a decent set of tires on it, even if you don't upgrade the rims. I would suggest the 45 Continental Terra Speed or the 50mm Continental Terra Hardpack. Check out bicyclerollingresistance.com if you want to know how I pick fast tires.

The Ugly

I think the way Canyon has made some many parts proprietary is frustrating and not in the spirit of right-to-repair and as a consumer who works on their own bike this has been an eye opening experience. I know in the future if I do buy from a direct-to-consumer brand I will pay much more attention to the standards used and make sure it's something I can live with.

The only other negative on the bike for me has been the paint. I do not like the matte paint as it stains super easily. Everything from sealant, chain oil, dirt. Eventually it will come clean but it takes so much more effort to keep this type of paint clean than the gloss finished bikes I've owned.

Should you buy this bike?

For a gravel adventure bike this is one of the best price-to-performance bikes you can purchase, but it's not without negatives. I would be very cautions if you are someone who likes to play around with different components on your bike, or if you are someone who is prone to loose/breaking parts on your bike. With Canyons direct-to-consume model all spare parts need to be purchased through them. So far I have had to buy two spare parts, in under a year of owning the bike, and it cost around ~$90 for both with shipping (and those were for cable grommets and the steerer tube top cap).