Even up to a couple of years ago, the launch of a new e-gravel bike might have generated more than its fair share of eye-rolling and sucking in air through teeth, but hopefully with 2024 in full swing, attitudes to electric assistance on gravel bikes have mellowed? Gravel riding is all about a carefree, anything-goes attitude after all isn't it? With the launch of their new Grizl:ON Canyon have raised the stakes in the e-gravel world - lots of smart features as standard, it looks great and the prices are pretty reasonable too. 

Launching a new bike in Spring makes a heck of a lot of sense in terms of sales, but for some of us, winter has been a succession of cold, wet days one after the other and all our gravel trails seem to be under water. So when a new gravel bike is launched, one model of which is described as being "foul weather ready", we might have done a little jig of excitement in the Gravel Union newsroom. OK, maybe we're just easily pleased!

It's not just the mudguards/fenders which made us excited though - the list of 'tech' included in the new bike is very impressive:

• A light weight, light assist motor which should offer up to 100 km of assistance (in the right conditions).
• Rockshox Rudy gravel suspension forks included as standard.
• Integrated lighting front and rear (co-created with Lupine) which is powered off the main battery, but which keeps running for two hours after the main battery is empty (just in case...). Cabling is kept as slick as possible and there's a physical control button on the handlebars.
• Canyon's VCLS seatpost is fitted as standard on all but the top model (which comes with a dropper post instead).
• Mudguards/fenders fitted as standard on the Grizl:ON Daily model. Includes the first "full coverage fender ever developed for the RockShox Rudy fork."
• Rear carrier rack fitted to the same model which can carry up to 15kg of load.
• 45mm tyres fitted as standard across the range.

There's also lots of options:

• 250 Wh range extender.
• Fidlock-based "Quickloader" in-frame bag.
• Waterproof pannier bags co-created with Ortlieb.

There's two models that we really like the look of - the Grizl:ON Daily, which comes fitted with mudguards and the rack for all-round adaptability and the Grizl:ON CF7 which is the slightly more pared-back option for anyone who lives/rides in drier climates. Both come with with a Shimano GRX groupset and are priced at €5499 and €4999 respectively.

You can find full details of all the models in the new Grizl:ON range at Canyon's website.