If people haven’t already learned from that and at least added MTB style frame protection to the tire/mud adjacent areas of the inner fork, chainstays & seatstays on their carbon bikes and forks as a preventative measure… there is no hope 
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If there is mud, I’m walking
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there’s little hope. At unbound, one guy rode by as I was clearing out mud from my bike and there’s was just this low constant hum from the tire rubbing the mud against the frame.
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I would be seriously looking at this if it had 45mm tire clearance, but I feel that’s a minimum for me. And I want to lean more into a racing gravel bike if I get a new one, but 45 just isn’t crazy wide, even for racing now.
Too bad, I like a lot about this bike otherwise.
Note that in the Escape Collective article below, they note that the 42mm clearance number includes fenders. There should be more than enough room to run 45’s if the bike otherwise appeals to you.
Tire clearance is technically unchanged at 700x 42 mm, but Canyon points out that’s with fenders, so the effective maximum tire size is closer to 700×45 mm (40 mm-wide tires come stock across the board). There’s also a dedicated – and impressively, thoroughly engineered – full-length front and rear fender kit.
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Tire size is trending in one direction and that is larger. 45 clearance was definitely short sighted, even though it’s a relatively good amount of rubber. For myself, I just purchased a set of new Pathfinder Pro’s in 42, but that’s because that’s the reported max on my Diverge which happens to be a mud magnet and I’ve had issues running 42 mm Nanos. I really wanted to size up to the 47’s but it just won’t work with my current frame.
When I do purchase a new gravel rig, I will definitely test out the larger rubber fitting rigs out there and chances are I’ll want that capability. Accommodating larger rubber and an increasing range of gears seems to be the problem that many bike makers are making in the realm of gravel bikes.
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The new grail won unbound this year on the women’s side, so I think it would be okay.
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It depends on your design criteria…this is absolutely true if you want to use a 2x drivetrain. But if you want to use a 1x system, you can get bikes like the new Stigmata that can take a 50mm tire. Keegan ran a 52t front ring with a 10-52 cassette at SBT this year, so was still able to achieve a 1:1 bailout gear while having enough top end gearing to average over 23mph. You just have to be comfortable with the gearing jumps in between cogs.
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Here’s some Canyon propaganda.
Why did they lock the internal storage behind only the CFR and the SLX models?
I was hoping there would be a 2x SRAM AXS system as well.
Considering the GRIZL has the VCLS seat post and the previous GRAIL had them on most of the high end builds, none to be seen here.
I guess they’re sticking true to this “race” gravel thing and leaving the GRIZL for everything else. I was really hoping this would be my next bike but the lack of internal storage on the lower trims and GRIZL has me reconsidering Canyon in general. Now I’m hoping an updated GRIZL with internal storage and cleaner cable routing will be released soon.
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Is this true because a 52t on a 1x sits further out, or is it because with the lack of an inner small ring, there’s more room for rubber? And I agree that the 1x systems do allow for more clearance - so I guess in regard to the Canyon, is the tire limited by the seat post clearance, drive side chain stay, or crankset?
It is because of the front derailleur (or lack thereof). On bigger tire sizes, it hits the FD.
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The electronic front derailleurs, with their motors and batteries are the biggest examples of this. They’re often longitudinally behind the seat tube, even if they’re laterally outside it. But wide tires are much wider than seat tubes.
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Agreed, it’s annoying that the SL models don’t get frame storage. I have a nice wheel set and I don’t really care about ability to mount an aero bar, so the $$$ for the higher tier is not really well spent for me. I’d be into the Rival AXS bike, but no frame storage is a bummer.
I guess frame storage probably requires different and more expensive carbon work. Canyon’s general lack of frame-only options and lack of any customization in build or sizing configurations (e.g. stem length, seatpost setback) is presumably the tradeoff for the direct-to-consumer price point.
But there was at least two bikes like this in top10 of this year Unbound, so probably wasn’t a problem w/ tyre clearance.
Let’s not forget that the conditions experienced by the leaders early in the race differ from many other riders further back. Sections that were initially ridden with minimal issues turned into bogs later.
I think that pointing to those higher finishing people and bikes cherry picks and misses the worse conditions and demands many others went through on some of the same bikes.
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Agree. The pros also had more incentive to just ride through mud, if possible, vs your average joe rider. I’d be curious to see how many pros had frame damage from the mud.
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There were pros that DNF’d because of the mud section too. It def got worse, but it was already terrible, even for the first people through it.
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Sure, and part of my point is that picking out a few who managed to get through doesn’t negate the issues and damage experienced by many.
Back to may initial comment here before the tangent… Adding some frame protection tape to the likely areas of mud contact is a great idea for those with carbon (and even aluminum?) frames & forks at the least. Could be worthwhile as well for anyone aiming to protect the finish of other more durable materials (titanium and steel).
ETA: on my recent Ti bike gravel build with a carbon fork, I covered the upper/inner area as well as the upper/rear section of my fork with frame tape for protection. Cheap protection that will be far better than nothing if I get into some messy stuff.
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During Gravel Worlds (NE), Borstelman and Wark said they were able to ride through the mud section without stopping. Riding Ventum GS1 and Lauf respectively.
To the convo here, will be interesting to see how OEMs balance Fast vs Mudclearing. You can be as fast as you desire to be in dry sections. But you might end up losing it all in the mud.
Fast, with lots of tire clearance seems to be the holy grail.