Which bike? Salsa Warbird CF vs Canyon Grail CF SL 7?
Which bike? Salsa Warbird CF vs Canyon Grail CF SL 7?
Hey y'all! Wondering if people will share their opinions please on these two new Gravel bikes I am looking at.
First, I ride casually, on the weekends. I want to spend equal time on- and off-road; there are lots of compacted gravel and dirt roads near me I want to ride. I have a road bike now, but its 25mm wheels and its slicks don't do dirt and gravel like I want.
First, the Salsa Warbird C GRX 600 1x:
https://www.salsacycles.com/bikes/2024-warbird-c-grx-600-1x
$3300 USD MSRP but a LBS has one for $2800.
Warbird C GRX 600 is a carbon gravel bike with a few tricks you won’t find anywhere else. The frameset features our gravel race geometry, a perfect blend of stability and comfort that only comes from decades of gravel riding experience. Our Class 5™ VRS (vibration reduction system) cuts chatter — and fatigue — from rugged roads that would otherwise beat you up.
OTOH, the Canyon CF SL 7:
https://www.canyon.com/en-us/outlet-bikes/gravel-bikes/grail-cf-sl-7/3095.html
Actually a mix of GRX 600 and 800 parts and an FSA Crank.
If you need to shake up your riding routine, then gravel is the answer. The lightweight Grail CF SL 7 is a hugely versatile bike ready for all your year-round off-road adventures, and comes complete with Shimano’s GRX810 gravel groupset.
I'm leaning toward the Canyon, but would appreciate any feedback / other ideas you all have for a gravel bike in the same price range, available new in the US. Cheers!
Edited for clarity.
The canyon has a 1 1/4" (1.25") steerer tube. This will make replacing the stem more difficult because almost all other brands use 1 1/8 (1.125"). Ritchey makes a stem for 1 1/4" steerer tubes if you get the canyon and need to replace the stem.
I'm also skeptical of the integrated seatpost clamp, but that's just a gut feeling rather than personal experience.
Also consider the kind of riding you really want to be doing. Are there even rougher trails you would like to get on if your bike could handle it? If so a hardtail mountain bike is worth considering.
Oh good calls on the steerer tube and the seat post. I'll keep them in mind.
The Salsa looks like a normal no-nonsense design. Clamps, handlebars and all. The Canyon has got some too fancy for comfort things. For example I don't know what's gonna happen if the handlebars are too low for me. It doesn't look like there's much possibility for adjustment. On the Salsa I can even replace the fork if I need to for more drastic changes.
Also seconding the opinion that generally aluminum is much easier to live with than carbon. Steel can be totally great too, it adds less than a kilo to the total. For some idea - my previous cyclocross frame was aluminum and it weighed about 1.7kg in large. My current steel frame weighs 2.07kg - a Soma Double Cross. You'll have to think about rust however. Most modern steel is painted on the inside to protect against rust. I still internally washed mine with ACF-50 prior to assembly.
Trade you my Poseidon X for either 😅
They both look great - enjoy the ride whichever you decide on!
I just looked those up and see they're under 1000usd. Do you like yours? Do you ever avoid riding some trail because you might break something? Someone else said my two ideas were overkill for my uses.
I like it, but it's a complicated answer. First, I really like it as I'd been away from any kind of cycling for some years and this was one of the first bikes that had fit me for some time (not a weird size or anything, I was just riding old bikes I'd outgrown or second hand). For the price point, it was a great reintroduction.
I've had mine for a year in mid-August. I ride ~50mi/wk on a combo of paved multi use tail, gravel roads, and single track. At the moment, it's my only bike and because of that I'm also taking it places it probably shouldn't go, like rough/rocky single track. But...at the lower cost, that's something I'm more willing to do with that bike than say a $3k carbon gravel bike.
I see a lot of people out on more expensive bikes that look barely used and I'm keeping up with them just fine.
I have put some work and money into this, but nothing too outside to norm for maintenance in a year's time - standard saddle and pedal swap, tires, replaced the brake cables and re-wrapped the handle bars in the process.
I recently had a spoke break on a ride, and I think that's kind of turned my attention to wishing that there were just better components as a whole on the bike. Things like hydraulic disc vs mechanical would be nice.
However much I'd love to have a better gravel bike though, my focus is on getting a mtn bike again as I think I'm currently just treating this bike too rough. I've just found I'm really enjoying riding again and want to do it all.
If you're not sure how much you'll actually ride gravel, I'd say it's worth checking out. I believe their current line addresses some of the issues people have had with brake cables and they've moved to thru-axle as more standard, but I honestly haven't kept up with them much. It's been great for my all-around use. You just may find yourself wanting an upgrade if you get into riding gravel. But if not, at least you haven't overspent.
Hope that helps!
Idk man that canyon looks a bit unusual. Unless I'm missing something on the pictures, I don't vibe that double handlebar thing going on. The salsa looks like the more understandable bike but I think they're both pricy.
What kind of riding are you planning to do on it?
The Canyon is a previous year's model, on sale and luckily, in my size. Here's the current one, without the funky bars: https://www.canyon.com/en-us/gravel-bikes/performance/grail/cf-sl/grail-cf-sl-7/3575.html?dwvar_3575_pv_rahmenfarbe=R119_P01
I ride alone and with small groups, on streets and dirt paths and in one place, on real gravel. I ride about 12 - 15 MPH on average, between 10 and 50 mile routes.
I'm open to cheaper ideas too.
Out of those two I would personally go for the canyon every time. For a start I've never heard of the other brand where as I've only ever heard good things about canyons bikes. I also love those bars as well though and always wanted to try some out to see how they are.
However for a casual weekend bike I think both of these are massively over kill and feel you could save money as well as getting a better ride by ditching the carbon frames.
Unless you are really chasing times and are at peak fitness levels you really don't benefit from the weight savings when it comes to carbon. Again stiffness is great for some situations but if you are riding some gravel I feel like you would be more comfortable with a frame set that has a bit more compliance in it which will make it a nicer place to be on longer rides.
You also don't have to worry about crashing it and writing off your expensive frame, you can get a really decent metal frame that will last for years and years instead. If you want to have something to brag about (if that is your thing) then get titanium as that will be lighter and stiffer than other metals but more durable and sexier looking than carbon IMO.
Basically I personally think carbon is massively over rated when you could get something that is less fragile and will last you a life time.
So, aluminum, then? Like a Specialized Crux DSW? I rode one of those too recently and liked it, but it seemed silly paying the same price for aluminum as carbon.
Aluminium, Steel, Titanium. They all have different feels and different prices points too.
I don't really keep up with different models of bikes unless I am in the market to buy another one but looking at that specialised it does look very well spec'd but you are also paying for the fact it is "the lightest aluminium frame ever". Why do you need the lightest bike possible? I'm not saying heavy is good but paying over the odds to shave off some grammes is diminishing returns and also only really necessary if you are competing at top levels.
Also whilst it did mention price for me that wasn't the key point. I just don't understand the fascination with carbon personally, you then need to factor in buying a decent torque wrench, some assembly paste etc. Always torqueing everything perfectly, being worried about the integrity of the frame from any bumps or falls, I just don't understand the allure especially for a casual weekend bike.
I think you'd benefit massively from riding a few bikes over some off road terrain like you would be doing if you could just to be able to compare the differences between the different materials and how they feel when you ride them. Ultimately I just don't particularly like carbon and that skews my opinion, maybe you would love it!