I’ve yet to take the Grizl off-road, but I thought I’d chime in on my impressions so far.
Love the bike, but I’m finding it much like my Fender American Pro II Strat in that it’s a beautiful thing to look at, quality components too, but it’s just not as amazing as I thought it would be. IE: This bike isn’t cheap, neither was my US made guitar, and both are things I’ve always desired, but now that I own them I’m not sure they live up to the hype.
IE: I still love my old beat up Giant Reign and my Korean Fender Squire much more. Both have so much history, and they both just fit me so well and above all they both just “feel” perfect.
The Campagnolo gear shifter is a strange thing. Works better when you’re in the drop bar position, but I mostly ride on the hoods and down-shifting from the hoods is far from ergonomic as you have to move your hand away from the hoods in order to press the gear lever. The shifting is fine, but it feels far from buttery smooth. I’d assume this is because it’s got more of a MTB cassette on the back with big jumps in gears vs. a much more tight gear ratio on a road bike?
Love the look of old school road bike cassettes!
Initially I was worried about the Grizl rolling as slow as a MTB as it’s got super fat tyres, but to my surprise it rolls really well, and has confirmed that this isn’t a 90’s MTB with drop bars, but a road bike with fat tyres. I didn’t miss not being clipped in to SPD pedals at all. The MTB pedals on the bike have big (quite sharp) pins so I had plenty of grip there (and it’s nice to be able to micro adjust foot placement on the pedal too).
The hydraulic brakes work well but they’re not as amazing as the brakes on my Giant Reign in both feel and stopping power, but hey they’re a shittonne better than the brakes on my old Paino road bike that’s for sure!
Part of me still wants a modern road bike (endurance, race and aero, they’re all rad to me!), and an e-bike (I’m looking at both road and dual suspension e-bikes), and a fixed gear… but in reality I have more than enough bikes to ride right now and I think all in all buying the Grizl was a good choice. Straight off the bat it’s just SO much more comfortable to ride than my 80’s Paino road bike as I’m in a more upright position, it’s also a lot safer to ride too (the Paino literally can’t stop as the brakes are so bad!).