The Grifn RS is a brand new, lighter, sooner model of the Grifn all-road bike which has been round for just a few years now. We examined a Grifn again in 2022 and had been instantly impressed, so now it is time to see what the newest iteration can do.
I attended the Grifn and E-Grifn launch occasion in Tarragona, Spain to trip the brand new Grifn RS which makes use of lighter, stiffer carbon fibre, reducing the body weight and aiming to offering a sooner trip.
The Grifn RS is offered in each street and gravel variations, however with the ability to trip each builds again to again actually helped me perceive what the bike brings to the desk and the sort of trip efficiency it offers.
Ridley says the carbon gravel bike market section is exploding for them proper now, with prospects taking a look at these sorts of bikes as an improve or to fill the position of an all-rounder providing street, gravel, and anything-else-you-can-think-of functionality.
The Grifn RS might be out there in six completely different builds, three street and three gravel, with costs ranging from €4,999 by to €7,999. You might in fact purchase a construct after which equip it for street and gravel use your self together with your most popular wheels, tyres and elements.
Head to our Grifn RS information piece to trip all concerning the new fashions.
Design and Aesthetics
Aesthetics-wise, the Grifn RS seems good when arrange for both gravel or street for me. The Ridley brand tends to fill a downtube properly and and there’s a complete vary of customized colors to select from ought to prospects want. My black and gold Grifn RS take a look at bike seemed nice with the tan wall Corsa Pro tyres.
The body design would not characteristic something particularly ‘on the market’; there are semi-angular tube profiles, dropped seat stays and an built-in Forza cockpit that retains issues just about bang on pattern for street and gravel bikes proper now. Importantly I believe, the body seems good with street or gravel rubber fitted which is good. It would not seem like a gravel body with skinny street tyres fitted when in street mode. Wider inside wheel widths in all probability assist right here, however it all helps visually.
I used to be fortunate sufficient to get assigned a Sram Force outfitted Grifn RS gravel bike to trip, a 1X setup, completed off with DT Swiss ERC1400 wheels with Vittoria Terreno Dry Endurance tyres.
In the street spec the Forza handlebar and stem remained in place however my bike had a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset fitted which offered predictably stable efficiency. The similar DT Swiss ERC1400 wheels had been current fitted with Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres.
I’ve had the prospect to check the bike with two completely different gear configurations for each gravel and street, however I believe it might be fairly straightforward to decide on the proper drivetrain and gear configuration to cater to your terrain and the kind of driving you wish to do.
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Performance
I had the chance throughout the Grifn launch occasion to trip a Grifn RS in each street and gravel setups again to again. This offered a fantastic comparability and perception into what the bike can supply. I used to be impressed, inside a brief area of time at how succesful the bike feels on each forms of terrain.
The first trip I did on the Grifn RS was on the gravel model of the bike so it is smart to start out there. I put in the pedals on my Grifn RS gravel, and set my seatpost peak and saddle angle and fortuitously issues felt just about spot on. The very first thing that jumped out rolling down the road was the very snug attain and front-end place of my dimension small bike. It would not occur all that always on take a look at bikes however when it does it is very good and I used to be at residence from the off.
The take a look at loop and terrain had been largely off-road and featured a variety of dusty, fairly rocky trails and tracks. There had been additionally some deeper sandy sections together with common tarmac roads. There wasn’t a large quantity of elevation acquire and loss so the descents tended to be shallower and carrying velocity and momentum was necessary and a very good take a look at for the bike.
I used to be just about capable of leap onto the Grifn RS gravel after only some hours of sleep after a really delayed flight and simply get caught into the trip. I felt snug on the bike instantly and the dealing with felt snappy and confidence-inspiring.
It is not an enormous shock given its twin use or all-road credentials that the Grifn RS sits within the extra nimble, racier finish of the gravel spectrum. It felt very succesful climbing and when driving on the street, however driving off-road, threading it by tough rocky descents or braking exhausting into deep sandy corners on the loop it felt succesful and planted. The Terreno Dry Endurance tyres helped too, gripping properly with out including a lot drag due to a really low profile centre.
It’s definitely a quick bike, I might see myself racing on it very simply, and as I’ll go on to debate, you might set up some street wheels and quick tyres and race on the street with this bike. The 46T entrance chainring will present velocity however might make gearing a contact giant for some riders who’re doing much more climbing, however that is a straightforward sufficient swap if desired.
It additionally ticks a lot of the containers when it comes to fascinating gravel options proper now for such a gravel bike. There’s a UDH rear hanger to get you out of hassle, plus there are numerous body mounts for further cages and body luggage. Ridley additionally let on that they’ve some aero-enhancing body luggage from Apidura on the best way that are wind tunnel examined and first noticed motion at Unbound a few years in the past.
Tyre clearance does max out at 42mm however this is not actually a motorcycle designed with beefy 50mm gravel tyres in thoughts. I additionally appreciated the 5mm hex bolt used on the seatpost clamp, the bigger dimension is only a bit simpler to work with and makes the job much less faffy.
My final trip of the journey was on the Grifn RS street setup, with Ultegra di2 outfitted. The street take a look at loop coated round 30 miles with about 2,500ft of elevation with an extended climb of round 20 minutes in addition to just a few different barely shorter climbs. This climbing offered some fast-flowing descents to check the bike and some miles of flat, quick run in again to city. It just about had all of it so far as take a look at loops go.
I labored the toughest on this trip following Erica from Ridley who rode the E-Grifn and it was a wonderful take a look at. I prefer to get cracking on when driving any take a look at bike to essentially see what it is about and did so right here.
This closing trip on the Grifn RS platform all however confirmed its versatility for me. Again, I felt snug from the off on my dimension small bike and as somebody who would not require a large attain on most bikes, I felt at residence just about right away with the cockpit setup, although I might have most popular a narrower bar, significantly when within the drops.
In a roadgoing setup, the Grifn RS delivers stable dealing with and I might push it into sweeping corners with confidence. The bike responded properly when sprinting exhausting uphill or on the flat however will not present the stiffness and outright aggressiveness a extra thoroughbred race bike will. This stands to cause as that is an all-road bike, not a race bike. It’s maybe a testomony to the on-road efficiency that I point out this level as with a quick set of wheels and tyres the Grifn RS actually does appear to supply wonderful street bike efficiency too.
Early Verdict
I really feel I’ve been capable of get a reasonably clear thought about what the Grifn RS platform is about after just a few quick hours of driving it, and with the ability to trip it on each forms of terrain has been precious.
I used to be impressed after my take a look at rides with how properly the Grifn RS carried out on each gravel and street. Ridley appears to have a wonderful geometry platform for the Grifn and what it’s designed for. The RS takes that and provides further velocity and pleasure. I’m fascinated by seeing simply how a lot the Grifn RS can take each on and off-road and precisely the place its limitations lie.
If you need one thing that might present robust efficiency on street and gravel and possibly even take care of winter coaching duties I really feel the Grifn RS won’t disappoint. It’s a enjoyable, succesful bike that may do quite a bit and do it properly.