Your original review was fair and reasonable. I’m sorry you faced such harsh comments. The value of giant is truly impressive. Other brands have their strengths too, especially in aesthetics or tech (think: canyon grail or trek isospeed). Don’t let them get to you. You produce amazing material. Keep up the good work.
Really appreciate your feedback. This actually wasn’t because of any comments. I started thinking about the difference between the big brands and boutique brands. I’m actually going to make a video about the value of both. I believe in supporting both. Boutique brands don’t have the luxury of bulk component purchasing, but I still want to show my support.
I was really excited when I saw that you got a Revolt to test! I bought a 3 star RLT RDO last year (partly due to hearing your review!) I've had similar issues with it as you had (loose chainring bolts, crappy caliper bolts, caliper alignment issues) but after solving these minor issues I love the bike. I replaced the caliper bolts with SS allen bolts, and switched to kevlar pads which seems to have solved the alignment issue/ at least it isn't noisy if they do come out of alignment. For what I use it for the RLT is a better bike but the Revolt is tempting considering the value. Thanks for the comparison and all your other videos!
Thanks for the comprehensive reviews. With loving my TCR and carbon XTC 29er I've been keen to hear how the Revolts are. Your critique of them doesn't disappoint and I confess, I do love their look.
Hi Clint, thanks for being a Giant supporter. To me Giant was the bike company I grew up with. For some reason it remained in the kid zone for bikes. I am looking at my first gravel bike. I am currently riding a Cannondale System 6. Yes it’s old, but still has great road bike stats. Plus I bought it from a friend, at a great price. Right now I am looking at a Giant Revolt Advanced 2, the Trek Checkpoint and the Specialized Diverge E5 Elite. The Giant is in the lead because of the carbon frame, the tubeless tires and the very cool orange colour. It’s also your videos and reviews of Giant product that helps me feel good about the Giant bike. Thank you for your reviews.
Today I took delivery of a Revolt Advanced 1. It's an insurance replacement for 1 of the 3 bikes I recently lost in a fire. Complications with matching one of "the lost" gave me an opportunity to go with a gravel alternative (they wanted to substitute my Easton Alchemy with a mid range Giant TCR and I already have an TCR Advanced SL 0). Tomorrow I'll get to throw a leg over the new bike and I must say that I'm incredibly excited at the opportunity as I now live on a dirt road and this means I'll be able to do a "cafe ride" without putting a road bike on the car. I'm not super stoked about the bike's spec, but the frame and it's geometry have got me very excited ... the journey begins ;)
Hi @@ClintGibbs I feel the geometry on the Revolt is close to perfect .. I've kept the cockpit about 20mm shorter than my road stance and keeping the seat a little lower too (maybe 10mm, still playing with pedals and shoes so the stack height is a variable at the moment). That said, with those minor reductions I'm surprised how stable the rig feels. Haven't found the courage for a rapid decent on this yet .. don't think I'd risk it without a clear and known line. I was supposed to take delivery of an S-Works Stumpie today but that's been delayed, so I'll tweak and play with the Revolt a little more for now. I was very pleased when the stock tyres hung on traversing a ~25% incline on a wet grass field ;) This thing has even got me tempted to try and oval chainring - I haven't touched that stuff since the old Bio-pace days on a 1990's Technicomps Bigfoot!
Thanks for the review. I ride Giants and have ridden a carbon Tcx for years. I’m looking for a gravel specific bike so the comparison is helpful. I have to say though, that I have carbon and aluminum rimmed Giant wheels and believe the carbon to be more compliant. Perhaps that contributes to the slight edge you give the Revolt. My experience gives the comfort edge and stiffness to carbon wheels...
I was going to comment that you picked a winner based on price difference and the difference wasn't that much. I mean what I got from the previous video was that the bikes are pretty much equal and it's personal preference for you regarding the shifting of the Shimano group. Seems that it is nice have choices and that competition is good because it means better bikes at lower prices for us cyclists.
Great video and insights. I'm looking at getting the Revolt 2020 Advanced 0, and while it is an incredible value, I found it just a little too heavy. Your review states that it's 20.59lbs with pedals, and water bottle cages. Taking the pedals and water bottle cages off, that would bring it down to (assuming around 1lb for them) to 19.59. I'm looking for a bike that is closer to 18ish. I guess as you said, I could change the tires. Thanks for your time and review.
Your comparison of the groupsets was interesting. Hambini, an authority on engineering (who recently guested on GCN), has a low opinion of the quality of SRAM products. He rates Shimano as being the best example of precision-made bike componentry with Campagnolo being somewhere in the middle.
It's interesting: when people mention speed, they generally refer to the handling - and more specifically - steering speed. When I discuss speed - I generally mean riding performance. For instance, my Salsa WarBird v.4 steering is very stable (particularly easy to ride long distances hands-free) and relatively slow, but the ride is considerably faster than any of my mountain bikes and even my Genesis Datum (at least, with Mavic Allroad Pro UST Disc wheels). While both the mountain bikes and the Genesis Datum have much less stable and much "faster" steering (and tends to bash the drop bar against the frame whenever I lift the bike). I'm hoping, the Norco Search XR C2 I have on backorder will be just as fast or faster, but don't really care whether it steers fast or not. I might even prefer slow steering, combined with faster ride.
Tanks for the review. I ride a Niner and with all the new bikes that been introduced this year, I been wondering if the Niner might be a little dated. Of all the new bike frames, the Giant is really the only frame that I was giving thought to trying. After watching your review, I will stick with my Niner. New to gravel last summer I bought the 3 star Niner and have upgraded to Stans Grail carbon wheels, and Enve carbon gravel bars. I agree with everything you mentioned about the Sram Rival group. Heavy and shifting from the small ring to big ring is terrible. I have the new Easton 2x crank on order for more useful gearing (47 tooth big ring) and waiting on Shimano GRX Di2. I think with these upgrades, Ill have the my Niner set up as well as any new offering out there.
Really nice series of videos, I got a Toughroad GX1 last year so when I saw that they were releasing the revolt advanced I got quite jealous. I love my TR but the Revolt is my dream bike. What bar end mirror to you use Clint? I could really do with a good one for my commute!
I’m a loyal Giant fan and am test riding the Revolt Advanced 0 tomorrow. This review made the decision between the Grail and the Revolt, assuming I like it tomorrow. I know at some point it’s all about personal preference, but money aside, for you which would you choose? Just curious. Thanks!
@@domhandle Cannondale Topstone Lefty won out. Opted for something more capable on aggressive terrain. Love it, but not for a combo of road and gravel or single track. The 650 wheels take away too much for road riding for my preference.
The original video had useful comments on the differences between the pricing and the components which I think were very helpful to viewers like me who are planning to get a gravel bike in the near future. Too bad you had to remove it.
Great job Clint, thank you. What sizes are you on? I'm a L in revolt but the Niner would prob have me on a 59 in their geometry; and may be too large for me.
I am looking for a gravel bike for my roadie wife, she is 5'2", so she is used to a fast road bike. Looking for a gravel bike closer to the road spectrum. Question is, 650b or 700c wheeled bike. Would fit be better with 650 and would you lose speed with wider 650 tires?
Hey Clint, how does the Revolt ride on pavement with gravel tires like Panaracer SK GK 43mm? Also have you tried it with 32mm road bike tires? BTW thanks for your informative videos!
I've only used the stock tires because they are so hard to get off. I'll wait until they wear out to try other tires. But I can say that I think ones you mentioned will work totally fine.
Thanks for this review. I've been thinking about getting a new gravel bike and these two are at the top of my list. I'm currently on an old steel IF Planet X and noticed at slow speeds the front end was hard to keep going straight. Is that the flop you were talking about? I'm also considering the Parlee Chebacco. It has head angle of 71.5 and offset of 47. The trail calculator says it has the least flop of the three. It also fits me the best. Any thoughts?
my best recommendation is to test ride if at all possible. What I'm referring to is mainly when you turn the handlebars at slower speeds. You can kind of feel in a straight line but it's more when you turn.
I just discover you make a review about the two bikes I like most... and I am trying to decide which to choose. I liker the aesthetics of the Niner, but Giant seem a good bike too, at least based on the mid-term review about the Giant Revolt. What do you think? Could you help to decide?
If I had to just pick one I would say the Niner. I'm not fond of carbon wheels on a gravel bike. Typically boutique brand bikes are spec'd better. That being said I could go with either one and be happy.
Question...Does the Giant revolt put you in a more upright relaxed position. I am an older rider looking for a more comfortable bike position than my trek oclv road racer. After researching a few gravel bikes, so far the giant revolt advanced is the front runner. Should I go for that gravel bike?
You talk about strength of alloy vs carbon wheels. Have you any experience of using Mtb rims for gravel ? When comparing Crest vs Grail rims the Crest is almost 80 grams lighter but will it be strong enough with the smaller tires compared to Mtb ? I know that the Grail handles more psi but I use pressure in the range of 28-38 psi which is no problem on the Crest
Great info! Thank you for sharing. How would you compare ride quality on these Carbon Fiber bikes compared to a Titanium frame like Lynskey? I’m a heavier rider (205lbs), and I’m new to gravel scene. Ultimately, I want to complete a Century gravel ride, and I want a lighter frame. Before shelling out $$$, I wanted to know if you’ve seen a difference between those materials. Best, Mike
I don't have a lot of experience on titanium bikes. I've written a significant number of carbon bikes. titanium is going to be a bit more flexi, and someone your weight that might be a big deal. some titanium bikes are super light, some are not. Most carbon fiber bikes are light. I think at your weight I would go carbon
I have the 2018 Toughroad SLR2 Which is a flatbar.. I hadn't rode a bike in about 20yrs.. my last bike was a Peugeot Limestone that I got as a teen.. I thought I was the shit with a 21 speed hybrid mountain bike haha. But that was why I went for a flatbar design.. after adding stuff to it etc.. Im starting to get hungry for an even more aggressive gravel bike.. and I am digging the Revolt over the TCX.. I like the 2x system with the 48 large cog for speed on road as well.. and I'd like the drop bar versatility.. The advanced 2 version and metallic orange color popped out to me.. It's absolutely beautiful. Can a rear rack for panniers be mounted to it for bikepacking? Id love to testride the Revolt.
Nice job with your reviews. Thanks. Looks like you were running the stock tires on both bikes. Although I am a fan of the larger tires, which is pushing me towards the giant. Can fit 45c. How much do you think the tires effected overall ride Quality? I would imagine the G ones would have to feel a little faster and certainly more supple?
The Maxxis Ramblers are a bit more supple, that g ones roll a tad faster. Larger volume tires really improve ride smoothness. You loose a tad bit agility though.
Could you tell me how you service or even replace your bearings in your anthem or trance? I don't wanna just use an hammer to beat it off, what do you think about a DIY you know improvised tool or maybe an aftermarket tool? any link to this? It;s too bad, Giant won't provide such tool.
You can find a socket tool that just fits inside the race see you can tap out the bearings. I would recommend a bearing press like one made from Wheels Manufacturing to put them back in.
@@ClintGibbs Thsse are content ideas Clint. If I were you, I would make videos about these things. You get a improvised tool and make a video about its usage. Reviewing the next bike and the next bike gets tired quickly because, there isn't anything new or revolutionary every year. It happens every 5 to 10 years or so. Cars have had steering wheels and 4 wheels since they were invented and it's pretty much remained like that ever since. Same thing with bikes.I have seen guys on their 9 speed groupset and 26" allu frames who would give any carbon weight weenie the run for their own money. When that happens, I don't want to keep making corporations richer than they already are. How about work with what we've got and when they break beyond repairs, then we can upgrade. I think showing folks how to conserve their suspension bearings would be a good video.
Niner has the boutique brand bling factor, Giant has the value. Of these 2 bikes I would go w/ the Giant for the Shimano components. If I did it over again with the Niner I would get Shimano 105 or Ultegra. I love the Stan's Grail wheels on the Niner.
Daniel T i just meant lower than he uses. I find this 105 group to be fantastic and do not see myself changing it unless something catastrophic happens
