Ridley claims that the new Grifn is the only road and gravel bike you need

Halfway between its Kanzo competition gravel bike and the Fenix gran fondo, Ridley adds to its catalogue this Grifn with which it seeks balance with a bike that can perform as well on the road as on the trails. The bike born to satisfy those who just want to have only one bike at home.

Ridley Grifn, the bike for everything

With the launch of its new Grifn, Ridley is taking a step back from the gravel concept, seeking to recapture the versatility with which this discipline began to enter the market. Looking back a few years, 35mm tyres were the norm, and the bikes were designed for use on both asphalt and trails.

However, little by little, gravel has been moving towards off-road, which has perhaps taken away some of that versatility, at least in terms of use on asphalt, with geometries more oriented towards good off-road performance or adapting them to use tyres with more and more balloon.

Positioned in Ridley's range midway between the grand fondo Fenix SLiC road bike and its acclaimed Kanzo Fast gravel bike, this Grifn brings together the best of both to prove itself as competent on the road as it is off the road.

First of all, it is a light bike, with a weight of 8.5 kg in its top of the range set-up with Shimano GRX800 Di2. The geometry dimensions are halfway between the aforementioned models, once again demonstrating the search for a balance of qualities. As far as tyre size is concerned, 40 mm is the maximum accepted size, in a single chainring configuration. If we use 2 chainrings we can only mount 38 mm.

In any case, it does not renounce the possibility of mounting mudguards and other accessories, or the availability of extra screws on the frame, such as the top bolts, discreetly camouflaged under a plastic cover if not in use, to fit a top tube bag. Even its fork is designed to mount a dynamo hub and route the cables inside it.

On the road side we can consider its integrated handlebar stem set, which obviously guides all the wiring internally from end to end.

As with other Ridley models, we have at our disposal the customisation program of the Belgian brand with which we can choose the colours of the frame and the set-up that best suits us, including the size of the Cirrus Pro handlebar stem set, available in 4 options of length and width.

Ridley Grifn: set-ups and prices

As usual with Ridley, there are no clearly defined set-ups, instead it's up to the user to choose their own using the configurator on their website. This Grifn can be fitted with gravel-specific groupsets, the top-of-the-range option being based on the Shimano GRX 800 Di2 groupset with the addition of the integrated cockpit and Forza Levanto Gravel DB wheels fitted with Vitoria Terreno Dry 700x35 or 38 tyres. The price for the standard paint designs is up to €6,224.

On the other side, we can choose, in gravel configuration, the Shimano GRX 600 option, which with Shimano RS171 DB wheels and a set of conventional handlebars and stem, is €3,199. In between are the Shimano GRX 800 mechanical and SRAM Force eTap AXS WIDE options, which are priced at €4,199 and €5,499 respectively.

In the case of the road option, we also find Vitoria tyres, although in this case the Corsa road model in 700x32 mm size. Its top mount uses SRAM Force eTap AXS, with 48/35 road chainrings. However, we find again the same Forza Levanto Gravel wheels. An option that costs €5,499.

Below that, we can choose between the Shimano 105 in both Di2 and mechanical versions, priced at €4,699 and €3,199 respectively.