I bought a Grizl:ON CF 9, AMA

[Catalyzt]

I shouldn't be reading this thread.

* From a very cursory review, it seems like swapping to a flat bar is not something people do, though folks do swap to other drop bars, drop bars with a rise, etc. Is there a reason for that? Apologies if this is a stupid question. I can ride drop bars still, but not for long-- too much osteoarthritis damage to my hands. I need full leverage with the brakes as well.

* I worry about it having too much e-junk, being too proprietery.

The thing is, if I could resolve the bar issue, I could probably use this for 90%+ of my riding. The only thing it might not be able to do is Brand Park Motorway, and intermediate trail (probably ok) with some advanced segments (probably NOT.) No drops, rock gardens are generally small. Oooh, except for that one section near the top...

But the price of the 7 on sale is kinda tempting...

 

[stompandgo]

I shouldn't be reading this thread.

* From a very cursory review, it seems like swapping to a flat bar is not something people do, though folks do swap to other drop bars, drop bars with a rise, etc. Is there a reason for that? Apologies if this is a stupid question. I can ride drop bars still, but not for long-- too much osteoarthritis damage to my hands. I need full leverage with the brakes as well.

I have neck issues, which is why I can't ride a drop bar bike anymore. Right now, I am using riser bars instead of flat bars. Either way, your fit will be very different than with drop bars.

You can swap from drop bars, but plan on bars, stem, shifters, and grips at a minimum. If there are any switches or buttons on the bars themselves, they may also have to be changed.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The thing is, if I could resolve the bar issue

Perhaps have a look at Santa Cruz Skitch?

 

[Catalyzt]

Perhaps have a look at Santa Cruz Skitch?

I'd love to, but it's about $3,000 more.

For $4,500, the Griz ON7 is a lot of bike.

Yeesh. But it isn't like the Motobecane, which is a pretty standard implementation of pretty standard parts. I'd worry about getting it serviced, and there are some user reports of some of them having problems right out of the box.

But man... 35 pounds, 55nm of torque, some limited front suspension and that suspension seat post? Very, very interesting.

 

[gromike]

I have neck issues, which is why I can't ride a drop bar bike anymore. Right now, I am using riser bars instead of flat bars. Either way, your fit will be very different than with drop bars.

You can swap from drop bars, but plan on bars, stem, shifters, and grips at a minimum. If there are any switches or buttons on the bars themselves, they may also have to be changed.

Yeah, three cervical vertebrae fused here, but there are solutions:

 

[stompandgo]

The Skitch is a great looking bike, and is very popular here. If I had an unlimited budget, I would have gone for the Cannondale Tesoro Carbon 1. The range would have been very close to the edge, though, on long rides, even with a Power More extender. I would have had to add a Bosch head unit, as their wireless communication is not open. So when you add it all up, it would have been twice what I paid for my X Speed, even after all my mods, to save 20 pounds. I would have done it if I had the coin.

I believe that the development in this space is lagging compared to the general e-bike market. In a few years, the entry point will be a a few $K lower.

 

[Base]

Indeed nice bike.

those fenders work great, also with panniers.

Price is high

 

[Rás Cnoic]

I shouldn't be reading this thread.

* From a very cursory review, it seems like swapping to a flat bar is not something people do, though folks do swap to other drop bars, drop bars with a rise, etc. Is there a reason for that? Apologies if this is a stupid question. I can ride drop bars still, but not for long-- too much osteoarthritis damage to my hands. I need full leverage with the brakes as well.

* I worry about it having too much e-junk, being too proprietery.

The thing is, if I could resolve the bar issue, I could probably use this for 90%+ of my riding. The only thing it might not be able to do is Brand Park Motorway, and intermediate trail (probably ok) with some advanced segments (probably NOT.) No drops, rock gardens are generally small. Oooh, except for that one section near the top...

But the price of the 7 on sale is kinda tempting...

Sram and Shimano don't make it easy by technically not being able to mix and match road levers with MTB / flat bar calipers. Because mtb/flat bike sales dwarf drop bar bike sales it's much cheaper to go from drops to flats. Going the other way, as I've often pondered on my flat bar Vado SL, is horribly expensive. Things are improving with Microshift being cheaper option and new Chinese companies like L-Twoo having the same pull ratio etc on MTB and Drops so you can easily mix and match levers/brifters & calipers.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

View attachment 194104

Indeed nice bike.

those fenders work great, also with panniers.

Price is high

That is sweet looking. On sale in UK for £4100 (down from £4,999 looking on google) so not too bad I guess- never noticed this model before. Grizl model with mudguards & rack is £4679 on Canyon & discounted- I'm constantly inundated with adverts for that one on instagram! Vado SL Carbon is around £5,500? - so all three are in similar playing field with exception of Grizl having drops, with carbon frames, mudguards/rack, low weight and 50/55nm motor. Competitive area nowadays it seems. But I didn't know Cannondale did a carbon frame with SX motor as good looking as this and at around 16kg.

 

[Base]

the office in Woudenberg was 20 minutes riding ;D current roughly the same just into another direction. Also before moving to Harderwijk the office was even closer in Amersfoort

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Going the other way, as I've often pondered on my flat bar Vado SL, is horribly expensive.

Going the other way, you would need to find a way how to install a 22.2 mm flat handlebar remote on a 25 mm drop handlebar
Anyway, replacing the whole drivetrain, handlebars shifter, and brake levers to make a flat handlebar gravel bike would be a nightmare on a modern CF drop-bar gravel bike. I might even ask what to do with the road remote buttons.

"Render to gravel bike the things that are road bike's, and to flat handlebar bike the things that are MTB"

 

[stompandgo]

That is sweet looking. On sale in UK for £4100 (down from £4,999 looking on google) s

I saw that on Bike24. Not shippable to the US. I saw one Carbon 2 (mechanical drivetrain .vs. electronic) on sale for $3500, but it was a Small.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Going the other way, you would need to find a way how to install a 22.2 mm flat handlebar remote on a 25 mm drop handlebar

Oh that's easy. Here's a mechanic/youtuber who does the drop bar conversion - you can easily buy accessories mounts on amazon that are 22.2 and attach either on stem or bars for a fiver. See him do this at 12:20 mins in. Interestingly he simply changes the hydro brakes for mechanical disks he has already to hand to save costs. He's somebody who is always tinkering with bikes and has a shed full of spare parts.

And here's his test ride. All seems to go well (this was a couple of years ago) on his work commute.

See him use the power remote buttons on his test ride at 5:19

Iit might be a project I'll give a go to when I have free time & when I can get a cheapish drop bar groupset. With the steep descents here I'd definitely want to stick to hydro brakes. So for now I'm looking up 105 or GRX on eBay & doing more research into LTWOO.