Giant Revolt X suspension gravel bike tested at Wild Horse Gravel 

You packed in a lot of quality content there. Thanks Ben.

I like how these vids are more about giving some sound advice,useful tips and sharing an experience than scoring bike on a good/bad binary.

Game changer. Put a Fox 32TC and PNW Coast squishy dropper on the GR300. So much comfier now. Back, butt, and hands thank me.

Nice piece! Both the bike and the ride look super fun! Thanks

I'm just not sold on suspension for gravel. For me the ideal setup is a compliant frame, proper tires, and dialing in air pressure to suit the conditions. From there flexy stems and seat posts can add even more comfort if needed. That said, if it adds more comfort, confidence, control, and keeps people on bikes then bring it.

Top content, as always 👍🏼

Solid review Ben as always. Seems like it might make a good adventure, possible bikepacking rig. Think Tour Divide.

Amazing videos always

Gday mate; so entertaining. Loved your review. Fit as for old fella

❤ great ride we had out there. My left hard tail gravel bike thing killed it out there and I feel like I’d do it again all over again with the Same set up

I got interested in the X after learning about it from a mate with a 23 model, which co incidentally are still available here for just over $4K New Zealand, so a lot of bike for the money. As with large parts of NZ there is a ton of gravel to explore on my doorstep. Sadly for years I have watched many cycling tourists risk life and limb riding within a hairs breadth of giant truck and trailer units on the highways as they attempt to see as much of the land as possible. With a bike like this at last they can get off the bloody roads if they are sensible enough to make the most of what is all around instead of trying to tick off all the major centres. Anyway enough of that already, I guess I’m just a bit disappointed you weren’t able to get onto gnarlier trails which would kinda be more representative of the poorly maintained gravel we accept as normal especially in such a hilly country where washboards and washouts are the order of the day.

Recently purchased the advanced pro 1 with 45mm tires and did notice a bit sluggish compared to my bmc urs AL one with 45mm tires. In a rock garden it performs well with the shocks vs. the rigid but on the road it's not as fast; i do like testing the limits with technical trails and enjoy hitting the tarmac in between. So for now i do enjoy the comfort of riding off road and do like the 10/52 cassette for steep off road climbing. I can only imagine what the 50mm tires would feel like as far as speed, probably even worse. Everything you shared about the dropper post lever location and the seat noise reigns true. Solid review.

Loving your reviews. Would love to see some entry level gravel bikes reviewed, Im biased but love my Salsa Journeyer!

It’s a cool offering. I hit some fierce washboard the other day and I could see the benefit of suspension. I bet a sus fork adds a lot to headset longevity.

The scenery is gorgeous. Your insight on Giant's dropper lever is also very helpful. I guess the bike didn't work so well in the race only because it was not a good match for the terrain it raced in.

I like the Manitou-style backward arch on the Fox fork. Because of its position it's shorter and stiffer and the arch blocks mud from the tire being flung onto the stanchions. Lauf gravel fork is nice too. Better for washboards, lighter, no maintenance, but not adjustable, nor can it be locked out.

Watched a bit before, enjoyable. Subscribed. Regards, A Surly riding Brit, from NE Thailand, 25 miles from the Mighty Mekong river and the Laos border.

Great vid mate. Love the Blunnies too. I wear them every day!

"Highest form of flattery". Very nice...

Love the content. Finger's crossed for a best tire review for Unbound 😂. Seems like a vary popular discussion in other social media platforms and enjoy other perspectives.

Have now also a Grizl Suspension. Ride it with 50 mm G-Ones. It’s perfect for the rough firetrails that are washed out and rough. Also for gravel downhills it’s great. I use it preferredly on longer training rides as it provides a lot of comfort. For faster and better conditions I ride a Grail. No hardtail MTB anymore.

I've found that the right tire width is the one that keeps your weight from sinking you to stalling or crashing in sand. That width goes up in weight. I need 48s.

Awesome :)

I’ve been thinking about my next custom gravel bike. Occasionally I’ll put 700x50c tires on my traditional gravel bike and share your same sentiment about feeling sluggish compared with my 700x40c tires. But the extra volume is appreciated when the road is not as smooth and easy. Coming from a Mtn bike background and riding my XC hardtail’s to the local trails is a completely different experience when I ride my gravel bike to those same trails. Obviously the roads are easier and faster on my gravel but the descents of the rougher trails are much more difficult. This is way I’m going to build up a custom gravel bike designed with 700x50c tires and a Fox fork, a dropper post and perhaps a flat bar or alt bar with a short stem and modified frame Geo that allows more clearance to avoid toe over. Thanks for sharing your experience with the bigger tires and Fox forked gravel.

love your videos, keep it up. you mentioned the 40/52 was a bit much on the steeper bits but not if the 40/10 was fast enough on the flat or downhill bits...? the hat on your web site is cool but a T shirt with "the ride" logo on it, that i would buy.

With all the various tech coming out like shocks and drop posts to improve the ride over various surfaces I’m surprised we haven’t seen more tire inflation tech like the Scope Atmos used by gravel pros/amateurs with large bank accounts to get optimal pressure especially on mixed road and dirt courses.

Go PERC!

I'm wondering if something like this would be good for Northern England, where the "gravel" is mostly rocky, muddy, rutted bridleways.

Actually sounds like my kind of gravel bike, but what do you want from a mountain biker! Still love my Revolt A1 though!

I've had my eye on the Grizl with the front sus fork. Seems like a no brainer for something to soak up some bigger bumps (relatively speaking).

How would a light weight carbon hardtail with farr aero extensions , with fast rolling tires and tighter gearing compare to the revolt in a race like this?

50 mm tires and 40mm front shock sounds similar to my second Mtb. with 1.9" tires and a Mag 21 (1.5" travel).

Come to VT for our local The Ranger.

Curious to see where you would put this vs a salsa cutthroat

I both a MCR and a revolt and I find I ride my dual suspension a lot more on gravel and my revolt a lot more on road. I should add I use my lockout all the time on mine and I don’t think that fox has that.

Just curious, are there many participants in these events riding electric bikes with gravel tires? Like the new 28 mph Domane?? Not trying to compete, it would just be blast to keep up with the fast guys at the front.

I think that the line between a gravel bike and a modern race XC bike is already pretty blurred so there's not much space for these suspension gravel bikes to have functional use case. I run an XC race bike on races that have extended bridle trail/ difficult terrain or single track sections and gravel bikes on courses that have a lot of road, fast gravel and limited technical sections. If i had enough disposable income I'd pick this up as a bike on races where I can't decide.

Hi there. You said you are riding a M/L , right? I am about to buy this exact model but not sure about the size...I am a little over 6 feet, any advice is appreciated :). Amazing video btw!!!

Ben thanks for the incredibly informative review and the wonderful scenery. I'm just curious on your thoughts/comparison of this Giant Revolt X vs the Santa Cruz Stigmata that you previously tested with similar suspension and seat post. I'm currently in the market for a suspension equipped gravel bike. I would change the tires to a narrower (say 40 - 45mm) on the Giant to be more in line to what the Santa Cruz comes with. What are your thoughts on the comparison of these two bikes? Is one noticeably better then the other? Thanks again for your opinion and experience as I don't have the option of testing both myself.

Great review. Would you place this bike in the same camp as say a YT Septer?

I'm more than happy with the future shock on my diverge. It's more of that "dropper post wiggle" but for my hands. I feel like the electric dropper with hood-programmed buttons would be REALLY nice. Wild Horse looks INCREDIBLE.

Ramblers are wildly slow in any size. It just gets worse the bigger they get. See BRR tests.

I cringe at seeing sus forks on a drop down bikes. Probably shouldn't but rode only mtb for most of my adult life so that probably has something to do with it. Other hand, I was a little late to the dropper post game on my mtb. Transformed my experience. Can't shut up about them. If I ever get another gravel bike w/drop bars, I'll put one on it.

Keep ‘em coming Ben! Was just in Fruita for the Co2uT and the course was a constant bone-shaker from cattle pot marked double track. I was wishing for full suspension MTB to bring back the “fun” factor.

Such a amazing background !

Lovely place to grind… am surprised you wanted more gears? That’s what happens when you doing a 1 by. The price of new models is spiralling out of control, I mean it’s a Giant? I rather spend that sort of money on a Bespoke option. Ouch. Good Luck and all the best with the new website. 👍🏻

Can you lock the front suspension?

Have tested or will testing the new Cane creek invert front fork?

Hi Ben. I really like your review. And I am wondering would you mind me to translate it into Chinese, and pub it on bilibili( a big video platform in China like RU-vid). Gravel bike is just starting at China, and many people are interested with Giant bikes, I think this will offer many help and also introduce some gravel race and gravel culture in USA to Chinese people. 🎉

"I ground the beans up at home." Hmmm, what is this channel turning into?🤣

How about a less sore back after a ride? That dropper post is useless. At least have a suspension seatpost. I have a Niner MCR9 I ride mostly these days. It aint light!. Also have an Otso Waheela C with little suspension bits. Much lighter but not good on the really rough stuff which I personally enjoy mixing in to a multi surface ride.

That’s a XC MTB with dropper and shallow angle on front

So the question is, how many miles did YOU actually ride on that course? 150? 🤣 Nice hanging out with you. Bryan.

Specialized Cruz for the win , and its just so much simpler and less is more

Unpopular opinion: you need to have both wheels suspended to take advantage of the benefit of suspension. I mean, if the terrain is such that suspension is appropriate, then the unsuspended wheel is holding you back from the speed and comfort that the suspended wheel would offer. I'll even go as far as saying for gravel I'd rather have rear suspension for better pedaling power. I can easily absorb shock with my hands.

Isn't it rockshox Rudy?

Hi there! What is the distance between having that bike or a Mtb? Looks like we returning to mtb era.😅

I think you can set up a XC bike with 45mm tires and you will have a better bike than a gravel with suspension.

Dear lord 8 k

So it is a little bit lighter than my 3000$ Trek Procaliber which has proper Suspension, Isospeed and wider tires.

I enjoy your videos. But man, I’m my opinion if you’re going to spend 8k+ for a bike it better be made in the USA. Compare the giant to Lauf coming in with better components (sram red) and several pounds lighter, and 2k+cheaper, I can’t believe anyone would buy it.

Just use an XC MB

US$8500.00 !!! WTF? 😮 This is just a bike (Made in Taiwan) with measly 40mm front suspension and a simple 1x drive train. Maybe those other RU-vids have a point with "How to turn your '90s MTB with an ol'skool 60mm RS Mag21 into a modern gravel bike" ! Or has super inflation hit the markets so bad like in the 1920's ?? 🤔

This is similar to my experience last weekend at Gravel Locos. I don't have a the fork, but I ran 2.0 race kings on my stormchaser. It was a lot of fun on the downhills, and I felt safer. But it was the worst on the 30 or so miles of paved road. I'm coming to the idea than narrower tires but paired with a susp fork is probably the best for not pro riders. As much as I hate getting dropped on climbs, its the residual hand numbness that is the real problem and I suspect that neuro degenerative damage in the hands is going to be a major long term issue for gravel athletes we will see in the future.

Dropper and suspension on a gravel bike make no sense to me. I mountain bike and actually did this race on a Rootdown which was fun but bit ideal.I dont know why you would make a bike like that heavier or less efficient. I'm looking at getting the revolt because my road bike has seen its last days. I really like that it hss thr bike packing capability and is 2 by since ill road bike on it a lot. Thanks for the info.

This bike was really easy to assemble ru-vid.comUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and required very few adjustments out of the box. The wheels did not require any truing/adjustments. The frame had some small scratches, but nothing major.I did replace the seat though - the seat it came with was very uncomfortable. The tires need to be re-inflated every 4-5 days, but this appears to be quite common for the narrow 700x25 tires.Overall, in my opinion, this bike looks and rides like a much more expensive bike.

Price is ridiculous tho.

Y people allways have problems with Things that are different or not a Brand? I don't get it;) if it is not in your Interesst and u don't need it? Don't buy it.

Brian... NO shipping outside the US ?? Come on man... Don't we International supporters count ? ? Stopped this video 2 minutes in and went directly to your new site to order merch and no shipping outside the US...................................................

suspension gravel bikes are not for racing proper. they are for gravfondobro jam sessions. they do take the edge off.

Front shock, seat shock & dropper: at this point it's a MTB.

Pointless… if you need suspension, you’re on the wrong train with the wrong bike…

Nah, overpriced and underperforming. XC bikes still have a role and tyre/wheel choices have improved thanks to gravel. XC suspension is so much better value and its race proven.

Great, then it’s a mountain bike, eh?