I should post this in a Canyon or Bosch forum as well, because I think this is important:
Why you probably really need a remote for the Smart System and priorities for selecting one:
After riding the Grizl:ON for a couple of weeks, I am more and more convinced that the remote is a real necessity if you live in terrain with a lot of hills.
1) The inconvenience of shifting from the controller on the top tube, to me, is mostly just a nuisance, not a big deal except...
2) Having to hold down the power button for three seconds to decrease PAS is a serious problem. It's much worse than having to reach way down the down tube to shift an old-school racing bike with non-indexed shifters. There are two dangers:
a) Decreasing PAS later than you want to because you are waiting for an opportunity to ride with one hand on the bars safely. This is inefficient in terms of battery usage and not at all ergonomic. Three seconds with your thumb on the top tube is even less fun than it seems like.
b) You
will hit the power button by accident and shut the bike off occasionally, at least in the first weeks you are using the system. The power and PAS buttons are only about four inches apart.
That is potentially dangerous. It is kind of a big deal, and it's surprising that Bosch-- with all their irritating safety warnings both in the Flow app and in the Bible-thick manual-- did not really seem to consider this.
Okay, so now you want to select a remote. Which one? There are, in fact, so many options and compatibility issues that it may take you a few weeks to make a decision, so here is how I made mine:
I prefer the simplest and cheapest; I see no reason to add any weight or extra technology / distraction / for the Kiox readouts or even the Purion 200. All the information in the Kiox is in the Flow app on your phone, which you probably have to carry anyway, at least for any ride where you're concerned about stats. (For a ride to the supermarket, mailbox, or ATM, or a 20-30 minute fitness ride, you may not need the data, or your phone, and you can leave it at home. Yay!) For most rides, just put the phone in a holder on the bars, avoid the extra weight and complication of a secondary readout.
The Purion 200 seems like overkill because it just duplicates the information in the Smart System top tube display-- and while it's hard to press a button on the top tube for three seconds, checking the readout on the top tube optically is not distracting for me, if I need to at all.
The case for using the 3300 remote (22.2 mm clamp) instead of the 3310 remote (31.8 clamp) on (some) 31.8mm gravel drop bars for the Bosch Smart System:
If you use the 3310 as recommended, which would seem most logical, you may actually be more limited in the remote placement. You will have to put the remote near the center of the bars. But think about it: If you ride with your hands on the hood a lot, exactly how convenient is this? At a minimum, you have to take one hand away from the brake lever,
something I never had to do on my eMTBs.
However, if you use the 3300, you can mount the remote right under the bars, where you can operate it
even while squeezing the brake levers:
View attachment 195885
View attachment 195886
This gives you the option of doing wild James Bond drifts or power slides by making PAS changes while you have the brakes locked to escape from SPECTRE goons. (I am kidding, not even sure drifts or power slides are possible, let alone prudent, on a gravel bike.)
Potential drawbacks: You do have to remove some tape on the bars below the hoods. I don't like doing that myself, when I've tried it, it always ends badly, and for me, it's woth the extra money to have someone do this for me. Also: battery changes. The guy I worked with at C Street Bikes in Studio City mounted mine so the screw to release the clamp is accessible. In theory, the clamp should stay secured to the bars by the tape after unscrewing the clamp and flipping up the unit to replace the battery, so this may turn out to be a feature, not a bug. We shall see!
