Revel Bikes launches Rover and enters gravel road-CyclingTips

2021-12-08 06:21:04 By : Mr. Paco Wong

The first boom bike from the Colorado Mountain Bike Company

Revel Bikes is still a relatively new face, but in just a few years it has emerged in the mountain bike world with competitively priced bicycles, offering effective suspension link layouts and durable carbon fiber stacks developed by Enve founder Jason Layer Schill. 

Since then, the company has named its name the "FusionFibre" wheel made with automated thermoplastic composite technology, and recently the company announced a gravel version of its carbon fiber rim technology. 

Now, the Colorado-based mountain bike company has officially launched its first gravel bike (well, kind of). In fact, this is Revel's first mountain bike without full suspension.

Although this may be the first gravel bike to use the Revel brand name, it is actually more like the brother of Why Cycles' R+ titanium all-road bike. Why Cycles and Revel belong to the same ownership, the former focuses on titanium bicycles, while the latter is about carbon fiber. 

Compared with Why Cycles R+, Rover provides a list of more geometric shapes and features inspired by mountain bikes, such as a 1x specific frame design that provides clearance for tires up to 700 x 50 mm. However, although the geometry is progressive in some areas, it does not reach the extreme points we see from other mountain bike names, such as Evil. 

Rover provides a 69mm front trajectory map from a 71.5-degree head angle, which is consistent across the five available frame sizes. As we can see from products like BMC and Evil, the forearm (and subsequently the front center) is lengthened to match the shorter stem.

The 420mm length chainstay and 70mm bottom bracket drop are somewhat common in this category, but the 75-degree riser angle is steeper than usually seen on gravel bikes. However, steeper seat tube angles have become the status quo of modern mountain bikes, and it is easier to keep the weight on the front axle during steep climbs. 

Revel didn't make a fuss about the carbon fiber laminates used here, they (yet) don't have any weight to share, and the frame clearly doesn't have any stylish geometric flip chips or comfort-centric elements. Although Rover is manufactured in Asia, Revel has confirmed that the frame is completely designed by itself. It enjoys a lifetime warranty. 

Rover has remained fairly normal in terms of component installation. The seatpost is round, the bottom bracket is inch threads, and even the transmission mount is the new SRAM UDH (Universal Derailleur Hanger), which is quickly adopted by countless mountain bike brands. 

Although the chainstay was significantly lowered, Revel chose to use this frame only for 1x shifting in order to provide room for 700 x 50 mm (or 650B x ​​2.1 inches) rubber, as well as the use of up to 46T sprockets and 420 mm short rear suspension Fork. The frame is ready to accept mechanical and electronic shifting, and can also be equipped with a lift seatpost.

Somewhat unexpectedly is the general lack of mounts-Revel keeps the framework clean. Four pairs of bottle cage mounts are provided, nothing more. And I don't see any way to run mudguards or racks on this one. 

The complete bike starts at $3,999 and comes with Industrial No. 9 700c 1/1 GRCX wheels, SRAM Rival 1 shift/brake and Zipp Service Course SL XPLR cockpit. For a cost of US$4,600, you will get a similar bike, but with Shimano GRX810 for shifting and braking. For a significant increase of $8,199, there is a build option with SRAM Red AXS XPLR, equipped with Revel’s own RW23 hoop connected to the Industry Nine Torch Torch road hub-although the cost is not low, the build kit for this bike is impressive deep impression.  

Revel will also offer Rover as a frame and fork option, priced at $2,400. The bike and frame set will be available in mint or black paint. The company expects the first inventory to arrive in March 2022, but like most new bikes recently released, these bikes are likely to have already been sold. For more information about Revel Rover, please visit revelbikes.com.