Giant Revolt Advanced SL: Restart as a gravel racer

Giant Revolt Advanced SL Review: The world's largest bicycle manufacturer has added a purebred race bike to its highly convincing all-around gravel bike lineup. This bike is uncompromisingly geared towards road bikes, yet remains true to important Revolt characteristics such as comfort and tire clearance. 

The Giant Revolt has long been a favorite at Velomotion: lightweight, comfortable, and surprisingly efficient despite its slim profile, we consider it a versatile all-rounder for everything from bikepacking to trail riding. For the former, it offers various mounting options, while for the latter, it provides tire clearance for up to 53 mm tires thanks to its rotating rear dropouts. It also features a storage compartment in the downtube and fully integrated cables. current version of the Revolt.

Giant and the trend towards race bikes

During the Giant gravel bike's lifetime, the scene has changed significantly: Racing and the equipment needed for it have become increasingly important. Manufacturers who want to remain visible in the gravel sector now need riders competing in major events, and these riders, in turn, need competitive gear. For this reason, we are currently seeing a plethora of new race gravel bikes – and the new Giant Revolt Advanced SL is one of them.

Giant Revolt Advanced SL: the highlights

• Gravel race bike with aggressive riding position
• Aerodynamically optimized frame with lower weight (approx. 850 g) and optimized stiffness values
• High comfort thanks to D-shaped seatpost and 53 mm tire clearance
• Three model variants with SRAM Red (9.999 Euro), Force (7.499 Euro) and Rival (6.499 Euro), frame kit 3.999 Euro
• Weight 7,25 kg (size ML with SRAM Red and CADEX Max GXR wheelset)

The world's largest bicycle manufacturer didn't bother to update the current Revolt, but instead designed a completely new model intended to complement rather than replace the old one. The Revolt Advanced SL 2027 has been significantly optimized in four areas: weight, aerodynamics, stiffness, and riding position, without sacrificing any of its previous strengths.

Significantly reduced frame weight

Let's start with the frame weight, which in medium size is just under 1.000 The weight has now been reduced to just under 850 grams. That's 150 grams, although the weight loss for the complete wheel is 290 grams, even though the new version was weighed with 45mm tires. In the top-of-the-line version with SRAM Red XPRL and a 1.300-gram wheelset, the complete weight is a mere 7,25 kilograms.

More significant is the improved aerodynamics, resulting from optimized frame shapes, the new cockpit, and the Cadex wheelset with 50 mm deep rims. This is complemented by the slightly reduced rolling resistance of the 45 mm wide tires, resulting in an overall reduction in drag of 19 watts compared to the old Giant Revolt. To put this in perspective: at an average speed of 35 to 40 km/h, this power saving translates to roughly 1 km/h faster, which is certainly relevant in racing. Of course, how the new Revolt compares to aerodynamically optimized competitors is another matter entirely.

Stiffer without compromising comfort

The aerodynamic frame design also impacts stiffness: According to Giant, the elongated head tube area, larger bearings, and one-piece cockpit have resulted in a 35% improvement in head tube stiffness. Bottom bracket stiffness has also been increased by almost 23%, and power transfer has improved by 9,4%. All of this translates to optimized handling, greater steering precision, and enhanced sprint performance.

All of this is linked to the riding geometry, which has been significantly more sportily tuned on the new Revolt. On the medium frame (M/L), the stack has been reduced by a substantial 30 mm; the reach has simultaneously increased by 10 mm. In addition, the stem length has been extended by two centimeters. The head tube angle remains unchanged at 72° for the M/L frame; the seat tube angle has been steepened by 1°, resulting in a slightly higher riding position over the bottom bracket. Overall, the riding geometry is now much more closely aligned with that of a performance road bike.

The new Giant Revolt Advanced SL naturally features a UDH dropout mount, eliminating the length-adjustable dropout that Giant is so proud of. 433 mm chainstays ensure that the generous tire clearance remains unchanged. It's worth noting that Giant has retained the comfortable D-shaped seatpost, which already provided noticeable shock absorption on the previous Revolt, rather than specifying an aero seatpost.

The bike's mounting options are also entirely geared towards gravel racing: racks and fenders are not included; three bottle cages can be mounted in the frame triangle (or two plus a frame bag under the top tube), and a small bag can be attached to the top tube. The frame is only compatible with electronic shifting systems but can be used with a double chainring setup.

Giant offers the new Revolt Advanced SL in three variants, equipped as expected with SRAM Red (SL 0, 9).999 Euro), Force (SL 1, €7.499) and Rival (SL 2, €6.499), each with a power meter. All bikes come with the new carbon cockpit; the top model is also equipped with the 1.300-gram Cadex wheelset. The SL 1 and 2 use Giant CXR 0 wheels with 50 mm deep carbon rims and even carbon spokes. The frameset with cockpit and seatpost is expected to cost 3.999 They cost euros.

One might ask whether it wouldn't make more sense to install a simpler wheelset on the Rival model in order to create a more attractively priced entry-level model – as Specialized did, for example, with the new Crux 5 Done. In any case, the new Giant Revolt Advanced SL represents a welcome (and necessary) addition to the pleasant all-rounder, which should not only pique the interest of fans of the brand.

www.giant-bicycles.com