Giant Revolt Advanced 2 2020

After returning from my first ride on the Giant Revolt Advanced 2, I couldn't believe it weighs nearly 10kg as it felt so light and agile off-road. The compact frame style gives plenty of stiffness for blasting around, while the amount of exposed narrow diameter seatpost offers loads of comfort.

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The ride: fast and fun

Not only does the Revolt look purposeful with its boxy carbon fibre tube profiles, it rides that way as well.

Many gravel/adventure bikes have more of an endurance theme going on in their geometry and tube choice, but I love bikes like the carbon Canyon Grail and Cotic Escapade, proper race bikes for the rough stuff that are an absolute hoot to ride flat-out with their tyres scrabbling for grip on loose material.

The Revolt is just like that. The harder you ride it, the more you get back. I spent huge sections of my rides through wooded trails or twisty gravel byways knowing that I was so close to the bike's limits that it could all go pear-shaped in an instant.

I just couldn't stop it, though – it was addictive.

The front end of the frame is more relaxed than a road bike, with a 70.5-degree head angle and a fork rake of 50mm, which stops the handling being too quick and twitchy off-road but feels spot on when on a loose surface: if you lose traction, there is so much feedback from the tyres being passed through the frame and fork that you can instantly catch a slide and just style it out.

The seat angle of 73.5 degrees is relatively steep and lets you really drive the power through the pedals from a seated position, which is what makes the Revolt feel so responsive even when climbing.

The seatpost is Giant's own D-Fuse, a narrow carbon post with a D-shaped profile. It does mean you can't upgrade to an aftermarket offering, but it offers so much flex, I don't see why you'd want to. Over the rough stuff it really takes out the worst of the bumps and vibration, so at speed you aren't getting bounced around in the saddle, which makes you more efficient.

The Contact XR handlebar is also D-Fuse and thanks to the subtle flex it controls comfort at the front end. After a few three-hour rides predominantly on gravel I felt very relaxed and wasn't suffering with any fatigue through my lower back muscles or wrists.

On longer rides, this added comfort along with how the Giant behaves means you can cover a lot of distance quickly, and when you reach the foot of a steep hill you feel fresher so you have the energy to get out of the saddle and blast your way up.

Many of us need to use the roads to string sections of gravel together, and the Revolt 2 works pretty well here too. Those slacker angles mean the steering isn't exactly rapid on a hard surface, but it is positive enough to allow you to push the Giant into the bends and still have some fun on the descents.

I rode quite a few miles on the road and the Revolt rolled along fine, even on the semi-knobbly tyres that it comes with. On the tarmac it isn't as fast or fun to ride as a road bike, but as long as you aren't in a hurry it works pretty well.

Frame and fork

The Revolt Advanced frames are created from carbon fibre produced in Giant's own composites factory. The front triangle is created as a single piece for stiffness and strength before the rear end is bonded to it.

It really is a very nice frame, not just in the way it looks but the way it behaves too.

A quality carbon frame needs to offer performance in one plane, stiffness and power transfer, and comfort in another; different parts of the whole frame have their own jobs. When it all comes together, the bike should deliver the whole package.

Not everybody achieves this, which is why some frames feel too stiff, too flexible or just don't have any feeling to them at all, especially at the cheaper end of the market.

The Revolt has none of that. To me it feels really well balanced, and by bringing the D-Fuse components into the mix Giant can get away with a slightly stiffer frame than it probably could have without their added comfort.

When you are in the saddle the complete bike feels just right, but when you get out of the saddle to power up a climb or accelerate hard, all the Revolt gives you is full-on power transfer through that rear end and bottom bracket area.

Speaking of the bottom bracket, Giant has gone down the press-fit route which a lot of people are avoiding these days because slight intolerances between frame and bearings can allow water and grit to get in, resulting in creaking. In the five weeks I've been testing the Giant it has been pretty wet, and I haven't had any issues with it so far.

Going press-fit has allowed Giant to go for an 86mm-wide BB shell to give a much larger surface area to attach the down tube, chainstays and seat tube to.

The lower half of the frame is all about stiffness, but other tubes have been slimmed down to create more compliance.

The top tube is curved and narrows in the middle to bring a bit of give, and the seat tube is slimmed down, which helps accept the larger tyres while keeping the overall wheelbase short for a faster-handling bike.

The seatstays are dropped low, which creates a stiffer and smaller rear triangle, though they are quite narrow in profile to bring a bit of compliance to the seat tube. We've seen Specialized do similar on its Allez road bike, which it says aids aerodynamics.

The fork is also carbon fibre throughout and is, of course, tapered to provide extra stiffness under braking and steering loads.

The Revolt does have mounts for third party mudguards and racks, so there are options here for commuting and light bikepacking if you so desire; for me, though, I'd just leave it naked and blast around everywhere.

Cable routing is fully internal, which makes the bike look smooth and uncluttered and keeps the cables and hoses out of harm's way.

Other than that, there are a couple of bottle mounts and, as you'd expect, the Giant uses flat mounts for the callipers and 12mm thru-axles for keeping the wheels in the frame and fork.

Finishing kit

The Revolt Advanced 2 is based around a Shimano 105 R7000 groupset paired up to the latest group-specific hydraulic brake levers/mechanical shifters.

To lower the gearing to a more suitable level for off-road use, Giant has specced a Praxis Works Alba chainset with a knee-friendly 48/32-tooth ring combo paired to an 11-34 cassette.

It's a good spread of gears for everything the Giant is designed to do, and even when riding hard off-road the smaller chainrings helped me keep my usual road cadence of around 90-95rpm.

The gear shifting from the entire drivetrain works absolutely perfectly, even when coated in dirt and grit, and the braking from the 105 levers is full of feel for modulation.

With the release of the gravel-specific Shimano GRX groupset it'll be interesting to see if this will start being specced on the Revolts as time goes on.

I've already mentioned the D-Fuse seatpost and handlebar, and it'll come as no surprise that Giant also provides the stem and saddle.

For such a minimalist saddle the Contact is very comfortable off-road. The shape is suited to fast riding, and thanks to the flex of the seatpost you can get away with it being quite firm.

Wheels and tyres

Giant also provides the wheels, as it does on the majority of its bikes.

The S-X2 Disc wheelset is a bit weighty but does a great job of dealing with all of the abuse encountered out on the gravel tracks. Bunny-hopping and jumping over obstacles in the woods and rocky descents caused no issue, and the wheels remained straight and true throughout.

The hubs also saw plenty of rain and grit but are still running smoothly.

All round, they are a decent set of wheels; I'd only upgrade when they wear out.

The Giant Crosscut AT 1 tyres are decent performers for a little bit of everything too. The knobbly tread is a bit of a compromise on the road but away from the tarmac they work better than something like the Schwalbe G-One Bites we are seeing specced on a lot of gravel bikes.

The Crosscuts are 38mm wide (the Giant will take 45mm max) and I found that to be fine in all of the conditions I tried them in. The bite of the tread gives you confidence when cornering on the gravel or even in slightly damp mud – only really soft mud or deep, small gravel will see them struggle. As for durability, I had no issues there either.

It was good to see the Giant turn up with a tubeless setup too – some money saved if you want to go down that route.

Value

The Giant Revolt Advanced 2 has an rrp of £2,099, which is pretty good value for a quality carbon frameset and a 105 groupset from one of the big brands.

For example, it's slightly better specced than the Marin Headlands I recently rode, which costs more at £2,195, and is definitely a more attractive proposition than the Specialized Diverge, which offers a carbon frame and Shimano Tiagra groupset for £2,100.

> Buyer's Guide: 22 of the best gravel and adventure bikes

It is very slightly undercut by GT's Grade Carbon Expert, equipped with 105, which David reckons is a very good bike, all for £2,000.

Conclusion

Overall, I think the Giant is a great bike. It has that racer feel to it, something that you can take out in the woods or on the trails and just smash about on. It's a laugh to ride, but when you just want to bimble back home you are reminded of just how damn comfortable it is.

Verdict

Properly fast gravel racer that blends stiffness and comfort very well