36-52 crank 11-28 cassette

Personally, I'd find the granny gear on a 11-32 far too "easy". Obviously, it differs from person to person; I switched from a 12-28 to a 12-25, which is great until about a 25% gradient where things start to get a little tricky.

Take it from me that cycling 145 miles from Barnstaple, through Exmoor and all the way back to Bristol with a 12-25 cassette is no fun at all. The hill at Crowcombe was a particular challenge...

I'm switching out to 11-28 next time...

May I suggest a different bike choice? The usual reason for going for Canyon is its amazing value. I would hesitate a guess people do not buy it due to having ridden it (and several other models) side-by-side and decided its the best bike (which it may well be, but their selling model means most people buy Canyon on price and reviews)
With the chainring changes, RD change, cassette change, etc its probably going to be cheaper to buy an alternative model that comes with a compact crank?

I've been running an 11-36 on a standard 105 rear derailleur (for cx) fine for a long time. I can only use 16 out of 20 gears but in practice (cross chaining) that's not an issue. So it depends if you want to buy a new rear derailleur or live with losing some gears and saving some cash.

Just ride it and see, making a mountain out of a molehill tbh.
Train a bit more, loose some weight and you won't notice it!

Shimano short cage rear mechs work up to 28t. You'll need a medium cage rear mech.

It might not, but you won't know till you try it!

Let us all know whether it works or not.

hope the front can cope too !!!

that would exceed the max capacity for most front mechs wouldn't it ?

Why not just change the cheaper smaller inner ring to your favoured 34?

That would give you 52/34 and 11/28. Shimano gear set-ups are very tolerant of misfits like this. It should work fine!

Under a tenner at Rose Bikes: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/shimano-ultegra-fc-6800-chainring/aid...

And if it doesn't work, you've only wasted a tenner.

Running Ultegra 6700 50-34 can I just whip both old chainrings off and replace with the 52-36 or is the BCD of the mid compact the same as 53-39 and not compatible??

Agree with most comments here. 36-28 will get you up most hills no bother, works for me fine and i'm no climber.

36-28 may be enough to get up Huez or Galibier, but it obviously depends on how young and fit you are. I'm 56 years old and have a 30t on the back for my usual rides in the Yorkshire and Derbyshire peaks. I got up both Huez And Galibier climbs on that gearing during six rides in six days in the Alps. But there were times i would have liked a get-out spinning gear when my age caught up with me. This year we are off to the steeper Dolomites and the Stelvio. This time Im going armed with a 34 on the back. Its easy enough to use a chainwhip and put your normal cassette and chain back on when you get home. But all this is for old weary legs like mine. Please ignore if you're a young whippersnapper!

I started with a compact and swapped to a 52-36. I think you'd be able to run a 32 rear cog without changing the rear mech.

You can get 32 on the Canyon Ultimate CF 9 SL. I think it is the only canyon bike with this gear. Odd really, as they dont even offer it on the endurance models. 52/36 with 11-32 on a 11 speed is a reasonable substitute for a triple, giving a good spread of gears. The key isnt just what the lowest gear gives, it is also the pattern of ratios through the cassette. It is worth thinking what ratios you regularly use on your current setup, and work out how these would translate into your new setup. For example i often use 39/16, on a compact this would be either 34/14 or 50/20. Lots of manufacturers are now giving 11-32 in 2015, this makes more sense with 11 speeds to play with, and starts to make triples seem less necessary.

Going from a 34-32 to 36-28 is likely to change in the way you cycle hills. I'm not sure all of the other comments have spotted that you will be losing on both cogs. With 36-28 it will basically be like your current 34 with the largest cog on the back being a 26 or 27 (26.4 to be precise). Can you climb comfortably with that?
I do a fair bit of weekend mountain climbing (just club, no competitions) here in Japan and I have compact on the front with a 26 largest on the back so it is quite possible - but my cadence is in the 66-78 range (I'm guessing you currently like to spin up a hill at 80?).

I'd happily change to a mid compact (36) on the front with a 28 on the back - I find I swap too often between the front cogs on a compact when things flatten out. So I'd say keep the 52-36 crank and if you want to spin up the hills get a 32 cassette with the Ultegra GS long cage 6800 RD (you can always swap back in the 28 cassette for winter riding!). You'll still be losing a bit to your current set-up but 36-32 isn't as signifigant as a 28

Going from a 34-32 to 36-28 is likely to change in the way you cycle hills. I'm not sure all of the other comments have spotted that you will be losing on both cogs. With 36-28 it will basically be like your current 34 with the largest cog on the back being a 26 or 27 (26.4 to be precise). Can you climb comfortably with that?
I do a fair bit of weekend mountain climbing (just club, no competitions) here in Japan and I have compact on the front with a 26 largest on the back so it is quite possible - but my cadence is in the 66-78 range (I'm guessing you currently like to spin up a hill at 80?).

I'd happily change to a mid compact (36) on the front with a 28 on the back - I find I swap too often between the front cogs on a compact when things flatten out. So I'd say keep the 52-36 crank and if you want to spin up the hills get a 32 cassette with the Ultegra GS long cage 6800 RD (you can always swap back in the 28 cassette for winter riding!). You'll still be losing a bit to your current set-up but 36-32 isn't as signifigant as a 28

At the risk of repeating myself, you're focusing on the chainset but it's the cassette that is going to make the difference here, not 2 more teeth at the front.

With an 11-28 you will be losing your bottom gear, your lowest gear will be pretty much the same as to the second lowest on your current bike. If you can live with that then I wouldn't fret over it.

The difference in gear inches between a 36-28 and 34-28 is minimal (36 v 34 funnily enough?). If you can live without your 32 on your compact, you can live without it on the semi. 36-28 is more than enough on Huez or Galibier.

bung the sram chainset on the ultegra bike ... it'll work (look pants mind you !!)