Unreleased Bikes from Canyon, Ridley, Factor, and More at The Traka 2026

This year’s Traka was the biggest to date, with over 4,000 competitors lining up for one of the four courses over the long weekend — plus many more enjoying the atmosphere and parties. Now able to claim the title of the world’s biggest gravel event, the Traka has become the place for brands to showcase, preview, and tease new gravel products. For tech nerds like us, that meant a plethora of goodies on show. Let’s get into it.

Canyon has a new bike

First off, let’s start with the bike that seemed to get the most attention, partly because it was ridden to victory in the women’s Traka 360 by Rosa Maria Klöser. But also because the model we think it is, the Grail, is a hugely popular platform for the German company.

Rosa was aboard what we assume is the new Grail, Canyon’s gravel-racer leaning gravel bike. This, if it is what we think it is, would be the third generation of the Grail, and it certainly ups the ante in the race-oriented design stakes. Canyon appears to be aiming to have two very distinctive platforms in its lineup, rather than muddying the waters with two slightly similar models. Yes, the current Grail is kind of racy, but it also feels like a mild do-it-all gravel bike. The change with this new Grail would see it turn into a full-on race machine, with the current Grizl being their adventure bike. Oddly enough, Rosa Klöser chose to race the Grizl at last year’s Traka over the current-generation Grail. Was this down to the tire clearance or ride feel? Did that have a bearing on the new bike’s design? Questions we will have to ask her and Canyon once the new bike gets launched, whenever that will be.

Canyon was very reluctant to leave the bike out in the wild for us journalists to grab a snapshot or two, or were, until Rosa won and her other major sponsor, SRAM, decided to showcase it on its stand for an hour, much to the frustration of the Canyon staff (I’m sure).

The key takeaways from the bike are that it looks to have had a major overhaul, with it ticking many of the trends we saw on show at the Traka, with other prototype or unreleased race gravel bikes.

Tire clearance appears ample for those who prefer wider tires, and we estimate it will accommodate up to a 2.25” tire. The tubing closely resembles some seen on the new Endurace CFR, with the seat tube effectively carried over; the same goes for the rear stays — straight and slim, yet quite robust for a gravel bike. It will be interesting to see how Canyon explains how such deep stays can still provide comfort, but I suspect they’re counting heavily on the “comfort” provided by wider tires.

The downtube borrows elements from the Endurace CFR, though it is not as deep or as aggressive. There did not appear to be many mounting points, nor were any of the riders using frame bags, which the current generation includes as part of its aero-focused design. Another notable detail was the use of three handlebar configurations by the three teams riding the bike: the current one-piece setup, the CFR race bar, and what appears to be a new set.

I’m guessing this thing is close to production, as the bike looked very polished and was available in multiple sizes for the array of riders using it. If it’s present at the Traka and the fact that there was a near full fleet of bikes on show doesn’t scream “be public ready” then I don’t know what does.

Factor Gravel ONE, or ONE Gravel?

Elsewhere, there were more unreleased bikes. Factor was being even more tightly lipped than Canyon, with the bike it had many of its sponsored athletes on, including Romain Bardet. The new bike also borrowed ideas from Factor’s road lineup, especially up front. With the fork screaming Factor ONE. They recently released an aero race bike. The wide legs are all about aero gains, but on the gravel bike, they would allow you to fit tractor tires at the front; it was that wide. The staff at Factor did a great job at making it tough to get a solid look at the new bike, but a few other notable design traits were the very slim aero head tube and some outrageously skinny seat stays.

Ridley has a Noah Aero Gravel, or is it a Kanzo Fast?

That wasn’t it for unreleased bikes though, as Ridley had a new one doing the rounds, just not under use by any of its sponsored riders. Instead, its product manager, Burt Kenens, had the pleasure of racing the bike. Again, like Factor and Canyon, Burt and Ridley were tight-lipped. But aero and wide, just like every other race gravel bike we spotted, was the order of the day. The bike’s front end has copied and pasted the Noah Aero bike, a bike that, from all accounts, is one of the fastest-riding in the pro peloton. Reports are that Uno-X WorldTour riders have been exceptionally pleased with the new aero bike, so will that mean the new Ridley could be as fast? Is this a replacement for the Kanzo fast, its current race gravel bike, or is it something altogether new? As it’s a major design change compared to the Kanzo Fast.

Burt only revealed that there’s no release date and the bike is still in development. He rode it in the Traka 200 with 2.25” tires, leaving minimal room for mud. Is this the first version, or just a tease? We will have to wait and see.

You may not know Guava, but you should

Another new bike, and one that helped Canadian national champion Ben Perry to victory, was from Barcelona-based company Guava. If you’ve not heard of Guava don’t worry, it’s understandable. The brand has only been around since 2023, but has made quite a splash in Europe. It makes only gravel bikes, and the new Ace is its take on a race bike. The brand admits the bike has had zero wind tunnel testing, but instead Guava has worked with its pro-sponsored rider to refine geometry, fit, and comfort without getting bogged down in areas where they feel they couldn’t realistically compete at the moment, given the bigger brands’ budgets for research and development. For one, I find it a refreshing honesty. I really appreciate that, and I feel it shows that they know what they can achieve without getting sidetracked by trying to take down the Goliaths of the cycling industry.

I actually got to take one of the new bikes out for a spin on the roads used by the Traka and came away impressed at what the small Guava team, all of about six employees, has managed to put together. The geometry falls nicely between the racier everyday type gravel bikes and a full-on twitchy race machine. It’s exceptionally well-balanced and poised out on a variety of surfaces, which the surrounding area of Girona certainly has in abundance.

The bike also comes with a new cockpit, designed with the help of an engineer whose usual job is to design steering wheels for the VW Group. Though from a distance the new cockpit looks to be one piece, up close it’s clearly a bar and stem combo that allows you to chop and change sizes but still have most of the benefits and few of the drawbacks of an open-piece setup, much like Look has done with its aero cockpit for a few years now. Again, on the quick ride I took the Ace out on, I found the bars for the most part comfortable, and watching the mechanic for Guava change a cockpit set-up at 9 p.m. the night before the Traka 200 for a fussy rider showed that it looks to be a straightforward procedure that doesn’t involve cutting hoses or rebleeding brakes.

All in all, I think we can expect the Guava Ace to help bring the Barcalona brand’s name and products to a wider audience. It’s certainly got something about it that’s very pleasing — an unfussiness with what a bike should offer the rider, in this case.

Away from the new bikes, there was a smattering of new items and recently released bikes in use. Campagnolo had a select few riders on the new Record X groupset, which, if I’m honest, certainly looks a damn sight more slick in the flesh than it does in the press material that was sent out. The most notable name racing on the new groupset was ex-Olympic road champion Greg Van Avermaet. His Basso Palta 3 was decked out in Campag with Sislent wheels. Over at this year’s Sea Otter, the buzz in the tech world was the ride of the 32” wheel. Well, depending on what camp you are in, you’ll be either pleased or disappointed that it certainly wasn’t the talk of the expo area at The Traka. In fact, I only managed to spot one bike built up with the new wheel size, a French handmade titanium beauty from Caminade bikes, the wheels were from Neo, a French brand using Berd spokes and a DT Swiss dynamo hub. All very Euro!

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