Social media can be a horribly toxic place nowadays, but occasionally, it throws up something useful. In this case, via a video posted on Threads by Canyon-sponsored athlete Mateu Cavallé, showing something very useful indeed. It appears to show an unreleased new Canyon gravel bike, possibly a new Grail, the German brand’s gravel race bike, featuring a Canyon branded front suspension fork.
While the changes to the current Grail frame appear to be modest, the addition of not only a suspension fork but an own-brand model is certainly significant. This is the brand’s first foray into its own suspension systems, though it has in the past specced the RockShox Rudy XPLR fork on its Grizl Trail and E-gravel gravel adventure bikes.
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Here we can see most of the new bike, with the suspension fork being the key change. (Image credit: @mate_cavalle on Threads)
Here you cna just make out a lockout lever on the left hand drop of the handlebar. (Image credit: @mate_cavalle on Threads)
And again here, a lockout lever is highlighted against white bar tape (a rogue choice for gravel it must be said). (Image credit: @mate_cavalle on Threads)
Canyon-branded suspension fork
We may as well kick off with what’s clearly the most significant development, a Canyon branded, reverse arch, gravel-specific suspension fork. We can’t tell a great deal from the images, but given the racy leanings of the Grail model, it’s a relatively safe bet to assume having the fork arch behind the steerer is for aero reasons.
It appears to have travel of a similar length to current aftermarket gravel suspension forks, so expect to see something in the region of 30-40mm of travel. Why go to all the trouble of developing in-house suspension products then? Well, this is speculation, but the shoulders and crown of the fork do bear a resemblance not only to the current Grail fork, but also those of the Ultimate and Aeroad road bikes, and it’s entirely possible Canyon may be cooking up what may turn out to be the first aero suspension fork. The tube shaping of the frame is similar to that of its road bikes, particularly the Ultimate, and the fork crown of that bike is designed aerodynamically to work with that frame.
We also learned that long-time suspension guru Jose Gonzalez, officially joined Canyon as director of suspension technology last month. Though the brand’s press release focused on the development of MTB suspension platforms, it also mentions collaboration with suspension brands like Rock Shox, Fox and DT Swiss. It may be fair to assume that Gonzales had a hand in developing this new gravel fork, or at the very least that developing in-house suspension tech has been a priority for Canyon for some time.
Is it a Canyon product entirely? Well, perhaps not. Back in September 2024, Bikerumour ran a story about DT-Swiss and Canyon collaborating on a gravel fork. The model on the bike we see here is slightly different, with a cleaner-looking fork crown. The photos were of another Canyon-sponsored athlete, Peter Schermann, who has also handily posted some photos of this earlier iteration of the fork. His bars appeared to show an extra lever, and as he wasn’t running a dropper post we can assume this was to actuate a remote lockout for the fork.
The more recent shots from Cavallé’s posted video appear to show this lever remaining, so we can infer that a remote lockout will be a feature on this fork.
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Here’s that lockout lever again on the left, with a better look at the fork crown shape and tyre clearances. (Image credit: @mate_cavalle on Threads)
Hiding in plain sight, what looks to be an all-new Grail. (Image credit: @mate_cavalle on Threads)
Modest frame changes
The fork is going to take the headlines, but can we see or infer anything else about the new Grail? My colleague Tom recently reviewed the current Canyon Grail, and while he praised it very highly, the maximum 45mm tyre clearances do now seem a little dated. The fork certainly looks able to take a larger tyre, and while it may be a little tighter, it appears that the rear end has greater tyre clearance too. Given that our own tyre testing showed that wider tyres are faster this will be a boon to gravel speed fanatics.
There will undoubtedly have been some geometry tweaks over the current Grail so that the additional length in the fork doesn’t unduly affect the handling, but visually, these are impossible to discern.
While the internal downtube storage seems to be remaining, the bosses into which an integrated frame bag can be bolted have gone.
The cockpit also looks relatively unchanged, with external but neatly routed hoses until the head tube and internal thereafter. This is something Tom praised on the old model, so it’s heartening to see it remaining.
Beyond that, it’s hard to tell what else might be new, so for now, we will have to sit tight.
