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- LeBron James scores his very own, custom Canyon gravel bike with 32-inch wheels.
- The bike, a 3XL to fit James’ 6’9″ stature, is fully functional.
- The entire thing was engineered from the ground up, requiring specialist manufacturers from Southern Germany.
LeBron James is a big guy – standing at a colossal 6’9″ might have helped him become a legend on the court, but, when it comes to activities like cycling, he’s usually far too tall to ride. That is, until now: Canyon have designed the basketball legend a one-of-a-kind, custom-built, fully-functional gravel bike, just for the big man himself.
The 32-inch-wheeled Grizl CF, a size 3XL to accommodate the man’s stature, was designed in Koblenz, Germany, is an homage to James’ childhood spent riding around his hometown of Akron, Ohio. But, with James being a key investor in Canyon since 2022, this supersized bike was engineered from the ground up to suit James’ needs.
LeBron James Custom Canyon 3XL Grizl CF Key Specs
| Component / Measurement | Specification |
|---|---|
| Bike Specifications | |
| Drivetrain | SRAM Red AXS XPLR, 38T chainring, 10-46T cassette |
| Wheels | DT Swiss XR1700 32″ |
| Tyres | Schwalbe G-ONE RX |
| Handlebar | Canyon Gravel Cockpit CP0039, 16° flare |
| Frame Size | 3XL |
| Bike Geometry | |
| Seat Tube Length | 625 mm |
| Top Tube Length | 642 mm |
| Stack Height | 680 mm |
| Reach | 470 mm |
| Head Tube Length | 194 mm |
| Chain Stay Length | 476 mm |
| Wheelbase | 1,201 mm |
| Head Tube Angle | 71.2° |
As you can see, engineering a bike that’s perfectly suited to someone LeBron James’ size requires fine-tuning every last detail. The layup of the bike is made of bespoke carbon that was developed specifically to withstand the weight and pressure of someone of James’ stature, with extra reinforcement offering him a sturdy and stable ride.
Additionally, because the carbon manufacturing was custom, the seat clamp and thru-axles needed to be too. In fact, when it comes to the thru-axles, they are custom CNC-machined with boost spacing, and built to better support that custom carbon manufacturing.
Because this build was such a special, unique process, Canyon made the most of the opportunity by using it to test new processes that will allegedly help them with future builds. On top of that, a specialist build requires specialist manufacturing partners, and that meant Canyon were able to engineer the bike in ways they wouldn’t usually be able to. Anything for The King, I guess.
“This was an opportunity to make something genuinely cutting edge and it took a full engineering team to do it,” said Wolfgang Kohl, Canyon’s lead engineer for gravel bikes, in a statement.
“Every part we made for him taught us something we’ll use again. By testing with the fastest or strongest athletes in the world, we get critical feedback on rider feel for those at the more extreme ends of size and power dimensions. That feedback certainly informs and improves what we do for the more typical Canyon rider.”
In case you were wondering, this wasn’t simply a case of just click-and-dragging an existing model to fit James’ size.
“Creating this bike was not merely a case of taking the current frame design and making it bigger,” Kolh said.
“The geometry might land in the right place, but the loads don’t scale the way the dimensions do. Everything needed to get re-engineered or the bike simply wouldn’t function as a responsive system to the rider.”
But, what does LeBron think of it? It’d be a shame to go through all those custom and bespoke processes only to end up with a prototype that was unusable or, worse, James hated. Luckily, James said this is the first bike that he’s truly felt one with.
“On most bikes I’ve ridden, I was aware of the bike, where it didn’t fit me, what I was working around,” James said in a statement.
“This is the first one that I didn’t have to think about. That’s what I love most about riding. It’s just you out there and everything else is gone.”
How Much Is LeBron James’ Custom Canyon 3XL Grizl CF Worth?
First of all, the only way you’re getting your hands on this bad boy is if LeBron himself offers you a ride. And, unless he soon offloads it on Facebook Marketplace, this is a bike you’ll never be able to buy.
That being said, enthusiasts online have put together pieces of the puzzle to try and estimate how much this bike would be worth. The team at Fanatics put together a rough guess of how much LeBron’s newest toy would set you back, and you better believe it’s steep.
| Component | Cost |
| Frame | Approx. USD$3,000 (AUD$4,161) |
| Groupset | Approx. USD$3,000 (AUD$4,161) |
| Wheels | Approx USD$1,600 (AUD$2,219) |
| Saddle | Approx USD$100 (AUD$138) |
| Total | Approx. USD$7,700 (AUD$10,680) |
Of course, we can’t know for sure how much this bike would retail for if it hit the market, but Man of Many has reached out to Canyon for comment.
This isn’t the first time The King’s been involved in a custom ride. Earlier this month, it was announced that he’d partnered with Maybach to unveil a bespoke Mercedes-Maybach S 680 at Pebble Beach. That car will be headed to auction later this year.
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