Canyon Exceed vs Grand Canyon: Picking your perfect hardtail MTB

You’ve made a great choice choosing Canyon for your next hardtail MTB, but which is better for you? Grand Canyon or Exceed? They certainly look similar and they’re both light and efficient so you can go further and faster more easily. They each deliver excellent comfort, confidence and load capacity too. Each bike offers a clear character to connect with different riders though. So read on to discover which Canyon adventure hero you are. 

Simply put, the new Exceed is our fastest and most efficient adventure mountain bike. It uses a super light carbon fibre frame with 29er wheels on all models. That makes the whole bike lighter, keener handling, with less suspension travel and speed focused equipment for forest trails and singletrack. A sweetly floated ride, internal LOAD storage and comprehensive bikepacking features mean you can still take everything you need for the longest adventures.  

That makes it great for epic rides, races or long-distance off-road adventures where a gravel bike will struggle but a trail MTB will drag. 

New Grand Canyon is definitely more of an all-round mountain bike at heart. It uses a tough but slender alloy frame that’s light on the trail and light on your pocket. Naturally rapid for covering distance with ease, more suspension travel and trail style handling will let you take tougher terrain in your stride. A full set of bike packing fixtures is backed up with hidden utility features like rack and kickstand mounts too so you’re all set to go for wild camping or just down the grocery store. Different sized bikes also get different wheels and components for a perfectly balanced fit right down to the Young Hero 24in XXXS mountain bike.  

So, if you need a weekend explorer that’s also your daily driver with the most size options at the most affordable price Grand Canyon is your go to. 

The frame is the heart of any bike and the Exceed and Grand Canyon have a significantly different beat: 

• Exceed CF carbon frames use the same design as the CFR elite race bikes with a 1300g weight for effortless climbing on even the most epic rides.  
• Fatigue isn’t fast though so Exceed is engineered to let your legs deliver maximum power while keeping the rest of your body fresh.  
• LOAD internal storage hides essentials out of the wind and wet while keeping instant access. 
• Super clean headset cable routing and concealed seat post clamp are easy on the eye and super efficient if you’re watching the watts.  
• The IPU Impact protection unit stops the handlebar damaging the frame if the bike falls over. 
• 3 bottle mounts on all but the XS size mean you won’t go thirsty though and the frame syncs perfectly with our Canyon Bike Packing bag range.  
• All Exceed bikes use 29er wheels for maximum rolling speed. 

• Grand Canyon uses an all new alloy frame that weighs less than 2kg in a medium size but is still Category 3 ‘all mountain’ tough.  
• Unlike many alloy frames advanced tube sculpting creates a forgiving and friendly ride feel so bad vibrations won’t ruin your vibe however long your adventure.  
• Internal gear and brake lines don’t just give a super clean aesthetic they also make bag mounting easier as well.  
• With three bottle mounts on all sizes Grand Canyon clearly has a thirst for adventure. 
• Hidden rack and kickstand mounts plus trailer axle compatibility make Grand Canyon a great everyday utility bike too. 
• Most Grand Canyon bikes get 29er wheels for speed but smaller sizes and Young Hero bikes get 27.5in or 24in bikes so everyone gets the same sweet handling. 

Bike geometry is the carefully balanced blend of angles and dimensions that create the unique handling character of each Canyon. 

Exceed has a more speed focused ride position and faster steering feel that road and gravel riders will sync with straight away, but still gives excellent control deep into the dirt. Short head tubes and a 67 degree head angle are teamed with 70mm stems and flat handlebars to give a more head down position. Hiding you from the wind so you can haul on the flats but confident enough to hold that speed all day or tackle wild mountain pass descents stress free. 

Grand Canyon brings swagger to the singletrack and stable confidence to the steeps with true MTB handling. A laid back 65 degree head angle won’t get stressed on even the most challenging terrain, while a 45mm stem keeps front tire control accurate and immediate. A longer reach and wheelbase also centres you dynamically so there’s no drama on the downhills, but plenty of breathing space on climbs. Taller headtube and low rise handlebars give better visibility on trails or in traffic and extra top tube clearance is great when hopping off outside shops or rolling over rocks.  

20mm difference in suspension travel might not sound a lot but it’s a real defining characteristic between Exceed and Grand Canyon. 

That’s not to say 100mm of travel on the Exceed leaves you short on control as we’ve carefully picked our forks to be best in class at each price point. They’re dedicated cross country forks rather than trail forks though which means big weight savings compared to larger, longer legged units. That helps create the superlight Exceed complete package that loves to shrink hills and distances whether you’re just discovering riding or tackling the Great Divide. 

Because Grand Canyon is designed for true mountain biking we’ve fitted all but the smallest Young Hero 24in bikes with 120mm forks. They’re still light to keep the bike agile and efficient but offer extra control both in terms of suspension movement and stiffness. Young Hero 24in models get 80mm forks with a custom tune to keep them responsive for lighter riders. 

We’ve used our experience and your feedback to create the perfect component mixes to amplify the ride advantages of Exceed and Grand Canyon. 

Carbon frame, flat bars and more race based equipment means the Exceed CF9 weighs only 10.1kg in a medium size. Yes that’s right, comparable with a lot of gravel bikes but with 100mm of suspension and full size 29er MTB tires. The tyres we’ve chosen from Maxxis and Schwalbe are super quick rolling too. All creating a perfect package if you like to find freedom fast. 

Grand Canyon is a little heavier at 12.5kg for the AL8 but that still makes a lot of alloy bikes look and feel like they’re made of lead. While 120mm forks, riser bars (and dropper posts on AL 8 and AL 7) have been used for extra control we’ve still kept wheels and tires narrow and light. That means you get all the grip you need for all weather adventures without the drag you don’t want slowing you down. 

The wonderful thing about mountain biking is that it gives you the perfect tool to find freedom however or wherever you want. That means there’s no hard and fast rules about which bike you should choose.  

However if riding hard and fast at least some of the time is your idea of fun, then the Exceed is the lighter, more efficient way to make epic. Whether that’s lining up for an endurance challenge event or going solo with a full rig of bikepacking kit, we engineered the new Exceed to make speed not just easy, but super fun. 

If finding your forest flow or going shopping on your bike not setting a new ‘Fastest Known Time’ is more your vibe then Grand Canyon is the MTB hardtail for you. We loaded everything we know about escaping into the wild or just finding the joy in every day into every frame feature, geometry choice and component selection.  

More affordable pricing and the extended sizing range with wheels to match, also means that Grand Canyon opens up more of the world to more people!