Canyon’s new Grail gravel bike comes with a radical bar design

Handlebar designed to increase flex when riding on the tops, rigidity in the drops

The most striking feature of the Canyon Grail, launched today, is its bar. Riding over uneven surfaces is more comfortable if there’s some bump adsorption in the front end and in the saddle, and most of the time you will be riding on the tops or the hoods.

But there’s a paradox, as the bar tops are most closely connected to the stem and to the rest of the bike and so are their least flexible part. On the other hand, the drops, where precision is most important, as you are normally riding faster, are the least rigid part of the bar.

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