Eberle303

Hello all. I am new to the forum and will be purchasing a gravel/cross bike within the week or so. I think I have it narrowed down to a top 2 or 3. I call upon the experienced field members here for comments and suggestions. I grew up on BMX and went to a GIANT hard tail MTB. I live in Colorado between Boulder and Denver. This next bike will serve as a short commuter and a weekend fun camping bike with a possibility of competing in a race for fun. I have decided to def go with a 1X setup. Spending no more than $2,000 I am unable to post the links because I havnt posted enough on here. The bikes I am currently leaning towards is the JAMIS Nova Pro($1899). The CANYON Grail AL 7.0 SL($1899). and The GIANT TCX Advanced($2000). 2 of the bikes have the exact same drive train and components of SRAM APEX 1. The CANYON having the SRAM Rival 1. The only one I was able to test ride was the GIANT. Thank you again for any suggestions. All will be considered.

Hmmm

I have the TCX and I love it. The Grail might not be as harsh of a ride than the TCX. To me the TCX is very quick handling, which is why I like it so much. I don't know anything about the Jamis Nova Pro. There are a few Grail riders on here I'm sure they have great info. The AL Rival Grail looks awesome.

TCX can take 700x45c tires. I don't know what the others max tire size is.

chas58

Grail is a great bike, but check to see if it is in stock before you get your hopes up...

Eberle303

yeah, they were in stock when I was doing the research on bikes. They are out of stock in my size now unfortunately. Signs seem to keep pointing me to the GIANT. I will try to be patient and see what happens.

Eberle303

I was surfing the CANYON site and stumbled across the Inflite AL SLX 5.0 race bike and it is in stock and on sale for $1499! I think this could be my bike

chas58

Yeah, that was their goto bike to "serve as a short commuter and a weekend fun camping bike with a possibility of competing in a race for fun"

Its not quite as aggressive as the Carbon Inflite, maybe moderately more aggressive than the Al Grail. As I recall, the biggest difference (between AL Grail and inflite) was tire clearance. Might want to check what that is on the AL Inflite these days. I think it may be 35mm? The grail would probably take 40mm.

Eberle303

You're exactly right. 35mm would be the biggest tire. Which is my only gripe I think. Aside from that, it meets all other marks for what I am looking for. Plus it's several hundred Dollars less. I just ordered it 5 min ago. Hopefully the tires aren't a huge problem. I think I will be ok.

chas58

Congrats! Hope you will love it. Set the tires up tubeless and it should be fine. I find the stock 33mm tires a little narrow for knobby tires (silly UCI CX rules). I tend to use slicks in that size. You might be able to squeeze a 37 or 38mm on there if you wanted to go bigger (should work fine in the front, I'm not sure about the rear).

Hmmm

Awesome! The AL Inflite looks like a lot of fun. Enjoy!

Eberle303

Thanks! the bike arrives by monday. Very excited. Looks like a solid "bang for the buck" bike! I have only heard good things about CANYON.

chas58

just looking at the geo charts

for aluminum (medium), the Inflite has steeper head angle (more road like at 72.25 vs 70.25 for the grail) and a higher BB offset (66mm vs 75mm).

The Inflite is fairly similar to a large tired road bike, were the AL grail is a little lower and slacker (tending more towards mountain bike stability).

Eberle303

Yeah Im pumped. It seems perfect for me. It arrives tomoro! Going tubeless ASAP. May test fit some 35s on there and try for 38s. We will see.

green123

Any feedback on the Inflite?

Zaskar

I do love my Grail! And handful of guys in my club have Canyons - everyone loves their bike. The only complaints are the one you see in every Canyon thread - this one included:
- They don't have my size... wait, now they do... nope, not anymore
- Sizing is a challenge. For some, the online tool nails it. For others, the bike they land on isn't even close - usually bigger than expected.

Best advice I can give - having purchased and helped purchase a few: Unpack the bike like you know it's going back in the box - go slow, take pics of how things are arranged, label the parts (to which other part they're lashed) with masking tape and a sharpie, e.g. front wheel to frame, seat to seat stay)