Giant Revolt Advanced 2

The Revolt Advanced 2 is a new from the ground up gravel/adventure machine that caught the eye of many last year. Now there are a few upgrades...

Giant's Revolt Advanced 2 is designed with geometry unique to the model. Predictable handling was a priority with the Revolt Advanced 2, giving the rider confidence when the riding surface changes for the worse. The bottom bracket position keeps the rider's center of gravity low, allowing the rider to feel "in the bike" and between the wheels, rather than just perched on top. A more upright fit was needed for riders that are more interested in simply completing challenging rides and events rather than winning them. But just to make sure it was race-ready, the Revolt Advanced was thrown into the hardest gravel race out there: The Dirty Kanza 200. Giant Factory rider Josh Berry made the podium on one in 2018!

The frame and fork of the Revolt Advanced 2 is built with Giant's own Advanced-grade Composite carbon fiber, ensuring feather-lightness and impressive torsional strength. The Advanced-grade carbon fiber "recipe" soaks up tiring vibration, allowing a rider to cover longer distances in comfort. A tapered OverDrive head tube/steerer tube enhances the bike's handling precision, especially in fast turns and descents. The chainstays have an almost droopy look to them, allowing very wide tires to be used (up to 45mm!) when tackling terrible gravel. 12mm thru-axles not only ensure proper disc brake alignment when installing wheels, but also improve overall torsional strength for improved handling. A press-fit PowerCore bottom bracket anchors the Praxis crankset, providing flex-free power delivery with every pedal stroke. Internal cable routing keeps the bike looking clean and sleek as well as extending shifter cable life in dirty conditions. Even the front disc brake hose runs inside the fork leg. The usual bottle cage mounts are found in the main triangle, but a third bottle mount is found under the down tube for especially long and hot rides. Cool, huh? Giant's clever D-Fuse Composite carbon fiber seatpost soaks up hard impacts with up to 12mm of flex, enhancing ride quality further.

Shimano's excellent 11-speed 105 components are found throughout the drivetrain of the Revolt Advanced 2. The adjustable-reach 105 levers feature an improved hood shape and texture, keeping the rider's hands fresher over broken jeep double-track. The new long-cage 105 rear derailleur is a Shadow-style unit, enhancing shifting performance under load. It even has a 34T large cog capacity. The 105 front derailleur is a new toggle-pivot unit, reducing the effort needed to shift to the large chainring. Cable tension can even be adjusted from the derailleur, eliminating the need for in-line barrel adjusters. Praxis supplies the alloy Alba crankset with a 48/32T chainring combination, bringing incredibly low gearing to the Revolt Advanced 2. Out back, a Shimano 105 rear cassette boasts an 11-34T gearing range. Yes, that's less than a one-to-one ratio for attacking the crazy-steep climbs while loaded down with gear!

Giant's own S-X2 Disc alloy wheels are tubeless-ready and are wrapped with tubeless 700x38c CrossCut AT1 tires that dig into dirt with aggressive tread. Helping to keep speed in check is a pair of Shimano 105 hydraulic disc brakes that work brilliantly in all conditions, rain or shine (or mud). A Giant Contact saddle sits atop the aformentioned D-Fuse seatpost, while an alloy Connect stem and alloy Contact XR D-Fuse road handlebar completes the cockpit of this gravel challenger.