When gravel bikes first appeared on the scene, there was an overused cliché about them being “just like 1990s mountain bikes.” With the launch of Canyon’s latest version of their Grail gravel race bike today, this cliché is likely to pop back up again as the Grail RIFT is fitted with a lightweight 40mm travel carbon fibre suspension fork. Is it just a reconfigured 1990s MTB or is this the future of gravel racing?

Canyon’s newly launched Grail CFR RIFT race bike is actually a slight misnomer. The bike per se isn’t new, but the front end certainly is. Available everywhere except the USA from today, the Grail CFR RIFT offers everything the aspiring pre-racer could want, including suspension. The frame is identical to the existing non-suspension models, but comes with updated (narrower) cockpit, power meter and some smart new graphics. With the frame itself unchanged, the focus is really on the new suspension fork. 

Those of you with sufficient numbers of grey hairs and very long memories, might remember the iconic PACE RC35 suspension fork which appeared in 1992. It was constructed partly in carbon fibre, had the brake arch on the rear and offered 40mm of travel. Now skip forward more than thirty years, half close your eyes and the newly launched Canyon DT Swiss F132 ONE gravel suspension fork could be its younger, better looking and more talented off-spring (ha ha). Interestingly, DT Swiss purchased the suspension part of PACE’s business back in 2006, so there might actually be some ancient RC35 heritage in the new fork….

There’s nothing really new about a gravel suspension fork – Lauf, Rockshox, Fox, Cane Creek, Cannondale, MRP and others already offer models designed specifically for the gravel world. So what’s so special about the Canyon DT Swiss F132 ONE suspension fork? Canyon and DT Swiss engineers have been jointly working on the fork for over four years and the time spent on the development shines through. The clever visual silhouette, with the brake arch mounted behind the fork legs, means the suspension aspect of the fork almost disappears and from a distance, the outline of the suspended versus the non-suspended Grail are almost indistinguishable. The brake hose is routed down through the steerer tube of the fork before emerging behind the crown and running down the non-driveside fork leg, further smoothing out the silhouette. Removable cover plates on top of the crown allow riders to access the air valve for pressurising the fork’s air cartridge or the damper cartridge (for servicing/maintenance).

The fork offers riders 40mm of air sprung travel, with an internally routed remote lockout allowing riders to switch the suspension on and off.  Riders are offered nine ‘clicks’ of rebound adjustment, made via an externally accessible dial at the bottom of the non-driveside fork leg. In a very clever twist, the design allows a “universal mounting adaptor” to be fitted to the rear of each leg which enables riders to carry up to 3 kg of weight per fork leg. While we doubt this feature will be used by aspiring UCI gravel world series racers any time soon, it does offer a huge amount of flexibility for riders keen to use their bike for more than just race day outings. The fork has clearance for running up to 700x50mm tyres, further increasing the versatility of the Grail. 

Canyon have exclusivity on the sale of the fork until the end of 2025, after which, DT Swiss will be able to licence it to other brands or to sell it as an aftermarket add-on. At present, it’s only available on the top-of-the-range CFR version of the Grail. The fork adds €800 to the headline price and just over 1kg in weight, but the benefits of extra comfort and reduced fatigue are sure to appeal to racers. It’s not hard to imagine the new Grail CFR RIFT appearing on numerous gravel race start lines around the world soon.

You can find out all the details of the Grail CFR RIFT and the new suspension fork here.