Canyon Grail AL 7.0 alternatives? aka what gravel bike for £1300-£1500

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road/grail/2019/grail-al-7-0.html

Ticks lots of boxes
40mm tyres and wide tyre clearance, through axles, 700cc, Shimano 105, lightweight @ 9.5kg

But Canyon customer service looks hideous, and the bike has a long lead time.

Any other gravel bikes I should be looking at which offer the above specs?

But Canyon customer service looks hideous, and the bike has a long lead time.

Just for me, got 100% great service, bike delivered on time and no issues on the carbon one. Lead times are what they are though, just find a bit more and go carbon 😉

Canyon prices and spec are hard to beat. I have found customer service to be absolutely excellent, knowledgeable staff, detailed replies, can-do attitude

Thanks guys, I was reading through this, which had an inordinate amount of negatives compared to most companies I deal with currently day to day

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.canyon.com

Canyon customer service amazing for me. Minor scratch on MTB when delivered, €50 off or a full swap. Went for the money.

Frame cracked, sent new frame to LBS, paid LBS £120 to swap components.

Couldn’t ask for more really. (Other than no sctatch or the frame not cracking).

Well a quick scan of the trust pilot is to only order what’s in stock. Super helpful in the shop too

Loving my Boardman ADV 9.0.

PX had good money off the Pickenflick and the Space Chicken last week.

Whyte Glencoe?
Canyon were very good with my order. But then it was an in stock item.

Thanks guys, some encouraging feedback!

The other bike i’ve been looking at for a slighter lesser price is the Ribble

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-al-orange-shimano-105-1/

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/ribblecycles.co.uk

What size?
Not 105 but still good spec and bit cheaper

On one space chicken is very good 🙂

Just a tad above your budget, but available interest free:

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Rondo/Ruut-AL-Disc-Adventure-Bike-2019/H8XP

Space chicken looks decent thanks adding to list

@wind-bag Never heard of Rondo, but thats a real svelte looker! adding to list

@mtbrob will need a L or XL @ 6’2″

Other bike find last night in budget was the new Cannondale Topstone 105

https://www.cannondale.com/International/bike/Productdetail?Id=bd5fdd80-6585-4d93-8380-2351f893d6c1

Have a look at Rose Bikes. Similar set up to Canyon. I got one of their CX/Gravel/Adventure bikes about 4 years ago. It has been brilliant. Well-spec’d, reliable and was very cheap. I chose it over the Canyon Inflite as it had better wheels for less money and was a little lighter. Their configurator is better than Canyon’s too.

Got the grail al 7. First ride last night and it went well ! steering is quite sploppy though, probably as it has quite a long TT (i think – i’m no expert).

I would go for the topstone if I didn’t have it.

I am selling an XL Viner Strada Bianca (Rival) for £750, only done a couple of hundred road miles, it’s a bit big for me, I am 6ft.

Thanks Meandyuk

Was comparing the geo of both of these and the topstone seems more favourable on geo

shorter TT, lower standover, longer more stable wheelbase, slacker head angle,

thanks yourguitarhero gonna have a browse on rose builder

I was looking to spend a similar amount to you but then I saw that CRC have most of the remaining 2018 Kona Rove NRBs for £899. The spec is a bit compromised with Tiagra and mechanical discs but what swayed it for me was the excellent geometry and massive mudguard clearance with 650b x 47c tyres fitted. I’ve put about 100 miles on it and it’s a lot of fun. The WTB Horizon tyres are good off road so long as there’s some texture to the trail and they’re smooth on the road. The geometry is surprisingly capable off road and much better than the twitchy CX bike I had in the past. It feels like a ‘90s MTB on slicks! It’s 3 mph slower than my S-Works Tarmac on the road but that’s fine. In size 58cm it weighs 10.9KG with pedals and mudguard fitted and fits me very well – I’m 6’ 2” tall and my Tarmac is a 61cm frame which shows the difference in geometry.

I purchases a Focus Mares as my “gravel” bike. Loads of clearance for 40mm tyres, guards and pannier mounts (on the AL variant)

https://www.focus-bikes.com/gb_en/95610-mares-6-7

Hi! I was very fixed on buying Canyon Grail AL 7.0 but they seem to not keep up with the market demand so I am losing hope. The bike will be used mostly for road riding, commuting, longer road trips. Maybe 15% of real gravel use. 2×11 and hydraulic brakes is a must, therefore there is not much to choose from.

I am also considering Topstone 105 and polish Kross Esker 6.0 (the weight was not announced yet).

– Topstone is a bit pricy for me and heavy. I work in a bikeshop, where they sell topstone, so i would probably get a better deal but it is still expensive.
– I could get Esker in Poland quite cheap. For the price difference (230eur) I could buy a second wheelset or/and lighter compact crankset. I like the looks, but it has very little mounts and cup and cone 105 hubs. My guess is that the weight will be similar to Topstone.
Kross Esker 6,0

I am not an expert in geometry, but the Esker by the numbers look very short, what do you think? Even the size L has much shorter top tube than the rest. Is there anything else to consider?