Canyon Grail Unboxing and Assembly - The Best Gravel Bike for 2023 and Beyond?

Canyon Grail Unboxing and Assembly

When it comes to value bike brands, Canyon needs no introduction. They’re a consumer-direct bike brand, which means you won’t see their bikes in your local bike shop. By cutting on the middleman (LBS), Canyon can offer more value for less money.

Truth be told, I’ve always wanted a Grail but was hesitant about spending thousands of euros on a bike I can’t try out before buying. I’ve finally pulled the trigger, and everything looks promising after assembly and the first ride.

The option I opted for is Canyon Grail CF SL 7 eTap, costing around EUR 4000. For that price, you get a full carbon frame, carbon handlebars, carbon wheels, carbon seatpost, and a completely wireless Sram Rival 1x12 drivetrain system. It’s a lot of perks to say at least. You won’t get anything near that specification level with brands like Giant, Trek, or Specialized.

But let’s back things up for a minute and discuss what it actually looks like to order from Canyon.

Upon ordering, Canyon Grail was in stock, which typically means you’ll get it delivered in 3 to 10 working days. A lot of Canyon bikes are not available or only available for preorder, so your mileage may vary on this one.

Nevertheless, you’ll get an email like this one as soon as you place the order:

The next step in the delivery process is collecting and packaging your bike and its parts. Canyon calls this step In Picking. In my case, the order went from confirmed to picking state in a matter of 2 and a half hours:

This picking and assembly phase typically lasts between 1 and 5 days, so be patient.

I was lucky and got the email that the bike was shipped the same day - only around 19 hours after first placing the order:

The bike was shipped on Wednesday afternoon, and I knew there was no chance it will get delivered before the weekend. Still, not the end of the world, since I got it Monday morning via UPS:

Few things to consider:

• For my country, only standard UPS shipping is available. Your bike will likely get delivered faster if there are express shipping options available.
• Total standard shipping costs are EUR 60 - EUR 20 for the box, and EUR 40 for delivery. Sounds like a lot, but it’s way less expensive than ordering bulk goods (e.g., bikes) from other webshops.
• Canyon put the Grail on sale one day after I placed my order. I’ve contacted their support, and they were happy to refund the price difference. Big kudos to Canyon!

I’m happy to report that the packaging and the bike itself were delivered free of damage.

The delivery box is quite large measuring 140cm long (55"), 79cm tall (31"), and 31cm deep (12"). I’m quite a big guy with long arms, so I was able to move it across three flights of stairs, but it was a Zone 3 workout.

Anyhow, here’s what the delivery box looks like:

The box is easy to open. and you’ll immediately see another box with tools and instructions:

Here’s everything you’ll find inside this box:

• Torque wrench with adequate bolts
• A 5Nm L-shaped torque wrench
• Headset tightening tool
• Carbon grip assembly paste
• Instructions and getting started guide
• Reflectors and a bunch of other things you won’t ever use

Overall, this tool box is neatly designed and packs everything you need to assemble the bike:

Let’s go over the assembly process briefly.

When it comes to assembling a Canyon bike, there’s not much to it. You can have the bike ready to go in about 15 minutes, but the process lasted 45 minutes on my end. That’s because I’ve swapped a couple of stock parts, including disc brake rotors, cassette, saddle, and installed pedals and different mounts for water bottles, Garmin Varia, and head unit.

As mentioned previously, you get a carbon grip assembly paste in the tool box, but every part that requires it had it applied. Also, through axles had grease already applied to them, so it’s one less step you have to think about.

The wheels are tubeless-ready and have tubeless rim tape installed, but ship with regular tubes. That’s the first thing I’ll change when a new set of Specialized Pathfinder Pros arrives.

After configuring the wheels, it was time to pull the bike out of the box. Here’s what it looks like:

The cockpit area has been neatly tied to the fork with a lot of protective padding. The handlebars won’t move an inch before you untie them:

The chain was also zip tied to the chain stay, which was also wrapped in protective foam. Nothing to complain about here:

Everything you have to do now is install the seatpost, wheels, and cockpit, and make sure the eTap battery is charged. The rear derailleur and shifters were paired by Canyon, so you don’t have to think about it.

It won’t take you long before you have a fully assembled bike:

Up next, it was time to take the Grail for a spin.

The day was rainy and full of thunderstorms, but I couldn’t resist taking Grail for a test ride, even a short one.

Here’s the pro-con list based only on the 20km initial ride:

I’ve already placed the order for Specialized Pathfinder Pro tires (700x38c) which I’ll configure tubless, and also for a DT Swiss Ratchet with 54 Engagement Points. These will solve both of the “issues” I have with the bike as of now.

That being said, I’m yet to take the bike for a decent test. Stay tuned to the website, and I’ll make sure to share a review from a longer ride.