# Anyone bikepacking with a Canyon Grail?



## konamd (Jan 18, 2005)

I picked up a Grail planning on doing some bike packing and (of course) Canyon doesn't seem to be selling their custom bags at the moment. Anyone out there ride a Grail who can share their bag setup?


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## Skeeno (Jan 14, 2009)

Those handlebars are cool
Looks like a fun bike.


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## mikesee (Aug 25, 2003)

konamd said:


> I picked up a Grail planning on doing some bike packing and (of course) Canyon doesn't seem to be selling their custom bags at the moment. Anyone out there ride a Grail who can share their bag setup?


Sorta looks like they're doing you a favor in that their bags don't look super optimized for the chassis. I'd check out Revelate Designs -- specifically their Ranger frame bag, Terrapin seat bag, Jerrycan (or two), and Yakataga dry pocket for under the bars.


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## konamd (Jan 18, 2005)

Skeeno said:


> Those handlebars are cool
> Looks like a fun bike.


It's a super fun bike. I tried a couple different gravel bikes and this one is by far my favorite. I can't tell if the handlebars are going to make finding a bar bag easy or hard. They're aero-shaped so standard circular bar mounts aren't going to be compatible, but fabric ones should be fine.



mikesee said:


> Sorta looks like they're doing you a favor in that their bags don't look super optimized for the chassis. I'd check out Revelate Designs -- specifically their Ranger frame bag, Terrapin seat bag, Jerrycan (or two), and Yakataga dry pocket for under the bars.


Thanks for the tips. A lot of the frame bags I've looked at are too long (even in the smallest size) to fit my XS (~52") frame, but I'll check those out.


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## idbrian (May 10, 2006)

Just got the Grail about a month ago. I have never even ridden a drop bar bike of any kind and wasn't sure if I'd like it. I'd been contemplating getting a gravel bike because it would allow me to do more from my front door. I saw that the large was available from Canyon. I saw it had more of an aggressive geometry than the other gravel bikes I looked at. I found a couple of reviews to support my preconceived decision to buy it, and bought it.

I have been looking for a forum somewhere where fellow Grail riders are sharing their setups, experiences, and upgrades. If anybody knows of one please let me know.

Regarding bike packing. I have no immediate plans to do that, but I like the option if I can find a friend to do it with me in the future. I recommend checking out the European Canyon site. They show some accessories on there that aren't shown on our website. For instance, there is a mounting holes underneath our bars for a GPS mount that Canyon Europe sells.

Somewhere on either the euro or USA site they have a picture of a three Topeak pack arrangement that they recommend. There is a slider on the pic so you can see what the bike looks like with and without that loadout. Have you seen that?

I only just noticed yesterday that there are mounting holes on the inside of the fork and the same on the back. Is this for mounting racks? I've never seen mounting holes on the inside before.

The only possible complaint I can have at this point is that I have no idea where to go and ask stupid questions. Here, I know I can find a thread for every MTB bike under the sun.

Maybe there is enough MTBers with Grails to start a general thread? I'll give it a shot. Is there an Mtbr like forum for gravel riders? 

Gravel riders seem to be a pool of mountain bikers and road bikers. I feel like it is more road bikers though. I was able to do some pretty technical climbs on the bike though. 

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## konamd (Jan 18, 2005)

Congrats on picking up a Grail! You're right about it being a more aggressive geometry - it's quite fast on road, and agile off road. I've been really enjoying mine! 

I ended up ordering a couple Ortlieb bags from REI for a bikepacking trip in a couple weeks. The handlebar bag is the wildcard... it seems like the small roll bag will fit, but it's not quite the standard orientation the bag is supposed to sit in. The triangle on my XS frame is pretty short and it was hard finding frame packs small enough to fit. I ordered a Topeak Midloader 3L which seems like it should work. I'll let you know how they work out. 

The mounts on the frame are for fenders


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## idbrian (May 10, 2006)

I bought a phone mount for using ridewithgps. It replaces the headset cap screw to mount. Should sit well on the setup. But of course Canyon has a non standard size. I plan on just but a long bolt of the same size.

I want to get a bike mounted pump mounted along the underside of the top tube (I need both water bottle cages on). Having trouble finding one that will mount well. 

I went on a longer (for me) ride of 33 miles in the north shore of Massachusetts today. I followed a summer organized ride event route that was on Ridewithgps. It included roads, trails, gravel, rain, up to a foot of water at some points. The bike is a beast. I never wanted anything to do with road riding; I thought. But this bike on this bike is fun on the road, and then riding 1/8th of a mile in water. I'm just really stoked that I found a new type of biking activity other than just mountain biking all the time.

I do not like mountain biking in the rain but actually liked it on the Gravel bike.

I also like that I can ride a gravel bike on wide shoulder littered with stones and debris. My main reason for not ever wanting to road bike is being on roads where I would impede vehicle traffic.


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## idbrian (May 10, 2006)

Konamd, I'll be curious about how your experience goes. I'd like feedback on those bags. I did check them out as well.

Do you have a clever solution for mounting a headlight? My existing light has a round mount. I'd like to mount on the lower deck but it looks like it would need a special oval clamp. I was thinking of trying to do something with the front reflector clamp that came mounted on it. 

Where you doing your trip? 

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## konamd (Jan 18, 2005)

I have a daytime-style light that has an elastic strap. I imagine there are some other similar mounting options. I also have a light that mounts to my helmet, but I don't plan to be doing too much riding in the dark -- at least not yet. I live out in CA so will be doing some riding around the San Francisco bay area.


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## Rhorth (Dec 8, 2018)

*Canyon Grail lights and bags*



konamd said:


> I have a daytime-style light that has an elastic strap. I imagine there are some other similar mounting options. I also have a light that mounts to my helmet, but I don't plan to be doing too much riding in the dark -- at least not yet. I live out in CA so will be doing some riding around the San Francisco bay area.


Hi, as a fellow Grail owner I thought I would chime in. For headlights, I found the Cygolight Dash Pro works great on the lower handlebar near the stem. I have the 600 and am happy with it.

I would note that I received a set of the Canyon frame protection stickers for the Topeak bags, which the light sits on. Not sure if they usually send them with the bike. I found some matte protective tape on Amazon (lumin-x) later on that I plan to switch to as the Canyon tape is very shiny.

I also received Canyon's under bar computer mount which I adapted to mount a Wahoo. I would think about getting the Wahoo version from Wahoo if I was doing it over, but the Canyon one is really nice. Note that this doesn't work with the front handlebar bag.

The bags for the Canyon Grail are not custom. On my size medium frame the 4.5 liter Midloader bag fits as though it is made for the bike (thought the straps don't match the sizes of the ones in the Canyon video, wider in real life). The saddle bag and handlebar bag canyon shows are the standard Topeak Frontloader and Backloader. I have used the Midloader for gravel riding and commuting and it works great even with bottles in place (with sideloading SKS cages).

Still loving the bike and even more so since I switched to tubeless. I also bought a second set of wheels from Nashbar's 30% off deal (Vuelta Corsa SLX) which I have set up tubeless with Panaracer Gravelking smooth 32 tires and a smaller cluster for commuting

Fenders are a real pain on the Grail...I keep waiting for their custom ones but they still have no date for availability ( I called them recently to check). I bought some SKS Bluemels, but ended up having to make rod extensions and custom 3d printed a pseudo brake bridge to make them work.


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