Canyon today doubled the breadth of its gravel lineup with the introduction of the new Grizl.

Alongside the existing Grail, the Grizl targets those who are ready to tackle rougher terrain and take it further into the wilderness with a combination of wider tires, more mounting points, dropper post support, and off-road-friendly components.

More notably, in the midst of this pandemic, Canyon states that the bikes are in stock and available for immediate order.

In terms of the Grizl's focus and direction, Canyon talks heavily about its off-road capabilities, modularity, and adaptability, but contrary to the route other brands have taken, the Grizl has no flip-chip geometry adjustments or adaptive wheel sizes. Rather, it is simple.

"If you build a bike that runs both 700C tires and a wider 650B setup, you're probably cutting corners somewhere when it comes to geometry," the press release claims. [Instead, Grizl will be available in Canyon's tried-and-true seven frame sizes, with 700C wheels on all but 2XS and XS.

The geometry itself is borrowed from Grail, but to aid off-road performance, each model in the Grizl series is given a shorter stem and wider handlebars. They also eschew the two-story cockpit in favor of a more traditional bar and stem setup.

Aside from the cockpit, one of the biggest differences is the space between the stays. All models come from the factory with 45mm tires, but the clearance can accommodate up to 50mm wide tires; Canyon admits that this does compromise on-road efficiency somewhat, but Grizl claims that the off-road performance makes up for it.

Additionally, the off-road oriented frame is also compatible with dropper posts, can accommodate 1X or 2X chainsets, and can fit disc rotors up to 180mm.

However, Grizl's clear focus is to maximize off-road reliability, and the bikes' weight remains competitive in the gravel bike scene. The top-of-the-line CF SLX frame weighs in at just 950 grams, and Canyon says the entire bike weighs in at "slightly over 8.5 kg. For reference, our review of the Canyon Grail CF SLX weighed 8.68 kg for the L size.

This should make it an attractive proposition in the search for the best beginner gravel bike, as its off-road capabilities and competitive weight give it plenty of potential to be a versatile, do-everything machine.

Adding to this versatility, the Grizl is given numerous mounting points throughout, including three on each fork leg, a mount for a top tube bag, and two traditional bottle cage mounts The Grizl CF SL model has a down Grizl CF SL models also have mounts for additional bottles on the underside of the down tube.

There are also mudguard mounts on the fork and rear stays, and Canyon guarantees fender clearance when using tires up to 45 mm wide.

For those who want to take advantage of these mounts, Canyon has collaborated with Apidura on a series of bikepacking bags, including a duo of saddle bags, top tube bags, and frame bags.

The Canyon Grizl looks to be a contender for our best gravel bike guide, at least on paper, but our esteemed Scotsman Graham has already been riding it for a couple of weeks and his early impressions in his Canyon Grizl CF SL8 review You can read his early impressions in his Canyon Grizl CF SL8 review.