GRAVEL
ROAD
After refreshing its carbon Grizl last year, Canyon is now turning to the aluminium version with a new generation of the Grizl AL that seems intent on pushing the modern utility gravel idea even further.
And honestly, it is hard not to acknowledge that Canyon still understands the market very well.
Because at heart, this new Grizl AL is not trying to impress with flashy solutions or showy innovations. Instead, the German brand is betting on something much harder to pull off: a coherent, well thought-out bike.
A bike you can use for multi-day trips, ride fast at the weekend, commute during the week or simply explore tracks without making life complicated.
🚀 In brief:
Canyon finally updates its aluminium Grizl with a lighter frame and more mounting points.
The bike remains coherent: simple, practical, easy to maintain and keenly priced.
With pricing starting at €1,299, Canyon continues to hit the mark in the accessible adventure gravel segment.
The big change is, of course, the frame.
Canyon announces a new aluminium chassis that is 120 grams lighter than the previous generation, with a revised finish and, above all, a huge number of mounting points.
You get mounts pretty much everywhere on the bike:
Clearly, Canyon is pushing the Grizl further towards adventure and light touring.
But what is most interesting here, is the bike’s overall philosophy.
Where many brands today are trying to make all their gravel bikes premium, ultra-integrated and sometimes needlessly complex, Canyon is almost taking the opposite direction.
The first thing that stands out is the lack of fully integrated cable routing.
In 2026, that has almost become rare on a freshly launched bike. Even some aluminium gravel bikes under €2,000 are now starting to fully hide the hoses and cables.
Here, Canyon makes a different choice.
The cable routing remains external and relatively accessible.
Visually, some will inevitably find it less modern or less premium. And honestly, that point of view is understandable.
But in reality, for a bike designed for travelling, riding far or being easy to service, this choice makes a lot of sense.
Because a fully integrated cockpit is often:
Canyon therefore seems to have prioritised mechanical simplicity over showroom wow factor.
And ultimately, that is quite consistent with the Grizl’s historical DNA.
On the other hand, the total lack of internal storage is probably the most surprising point.
Because today, even aluminium bikes are gradually starting to integrate storage solutions in the down tube.
It is no longer reserved for the very high end.
And on a bike clearly oriented towards adventure, bikepacking and long rides, you could have imagined Canyon making that leap.
All the more so as the competition is evolving quickly on this topic.
Yes, the Grizl AL makes up for it with loads of mounts and proper luggage compatibility. But still, this little integrated storage space is gradually becoming something that many riders truly appreciate day to day. Its absence is not dramatic, far from it. But it is probably where the bike seems most conservative.
Canyon is, however, keeping what has long been part of the Grizl’s identity: generous tyre clearance.
The bike ships as standard with 45 mm tyres, but accepts up to 54 mm.
The Grizl clearly continues to assume its position as an adventure gravel that can go a very long way off tarmac.
The rest of the spec sheet follows exactly this pragmatic logic.
Canyon keeps:
Put like that, it might sound almost mundane. But that is exactly the point.
In a market where some brands are making their bikes hugely complex with proprietary standards everywhere, Canyon here seems to want to build a bike you can genuinely keep for a long time, repair easily and upgrade without fuss.
Where Canyon remains particularly strong is, of course, pricing.
The Grizl 5 starts at €1,299 with:
Yes, it is more expensive than a Nakamura gravel, but the concept has nevertheless been pushed further.
Then:
This new Grizl AL sums up the current evolution of gravel quite well.
You can sense that Canyon is no longer just trying to make a “trendy” bike, but rather a bike you can genuinely use for a long time.
Yes, some will regret the lack of integrated cable routing or internal storage. And those are perfectly legitimate criticisms in 2026.
But conversely, many riders will probably appreciate this return to something simpler, more robust and easier to live with.
In the end, that may well be what makes this Grizl AL interesting today.
| Riding style | Versatile gravel |
|---|---|
| Frame | Aluminium |
| Electric assist | No |
| Gender | Unisex |
| Year | 2026 |
| Model | Canyon Grizl 5 (2026), Canyon Grizl 6 (2026), Canyon Grizl 7 ESC (2026) |
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