hey guys,
I'm upgrading from a flat bar hybrid bike to a gravel bike.
I ride 70% roads and 30% light gravel and dirt. I also do some gravely bikepacking a couple times a year. targeting to spend $2000-2500, want something that fits 40mm tires, and has 2x shifting with endurance-ish geometry. basically a road leaning gravel bike.
I recently came across the revolt advanced 2 – it's is a carbon composite with 2x and has a "flip chip" to go to a slightly snappier geometry on road vs compliant geo on gravel.
what do you guys think of this bike? a solid contender, worth upping the budget a tad for carbon + the flip chip capability?
or just a gimmick and not valuable.
thank you !
by mudrat_detector96
18 Comments
Gimmick, you’ll likely put it in one the other position and then never change it again
I love mine. I set the flip chip to long and never changed it back. I guess the handling would be sharper in the short position, but my other bike is a an even longer MTB so I don’t really notice any difference on the gravel bike between long and short. So in that sense it’s kind of gimmicky for me, but maybe someone else cares about that. In the long position the revolt will fit 53mm tires, but there’s not a huge margin here. That’s it’s actual max.
I ride mine casually on pavement and I’ve raced it in 200 mile gravel races with no problem. Only annoyances have been that the paint is really weak on mine. It has lots of chips while my Trek MTB looks brand new and I’ve crashed the MTB way more.
Flip chip is not a gimmick. It’s for tire size choices. I have a Revolt and it’s a fantastic bike pretty much all around.
It’s mostly for tire clearance. I’d set it and forget it for the tire size you prefer.
I actually use it… But I still think it’s a bit of a gimmick. I’m rolling some 50mm tires and they fit in the original position, but I’ve got some even wider tires I use when I’m headed somewhere muddy.
To be honest, I only use it because it’s there. I wouldn’t miss it if it was gone.
I will say that this bike is a fantastic bike. I love mine to death.
I feel like whether the flip chip is a gimmick or not doesn’t really have anything to do with whether the bike is worth the purchase.
Is the flip chip a gimmick? Mostly. As has already been mentioned, you’ll probably put it in one position and then never change it.
Is the bike worth it? It’s a solid bike with good components from a reputable brand. If you like the bike, there would be nothing wrong with buying it. It will serve you well.
i absolutely love my revolt for the kind of gnarly off-road that we have in my area, but if you are looking for more of a road leaning gravel bike id recommend something else
Not a gimmick. I use my Aspero for both wheel sizes and like that I have a more versatile bike. It is a bit of a pain to have to also adjust the brake mount, but I already have to adjust the brakes anyway, since I don’t have matching hubs between wheelsets, as the disc sits in a slightly different spot.
I flipped the chip and put some 2.1 ThunderBerts. Unless all your gravel time is Champagne, the more the merrier on tire size.
The Bikes great. The chip is probably not the primary selling point, it’s a feature that not everyone will care about. If you are only running 40’s, the chip isn’t going to apply to you.
The Revolt’s a great bike, I’ve owned two at this point. Really fast on the road and very capable offroad with the right tires.
The flip-chip is a gimmick. You’ll likely set it to the long position and never touch it again. That doesn’t change the fact that the bike is excellent and is a very slept on pick today even compared to more current options like the Allied Able or Argon 18 Dark Matter.
Only real downside is you can’t use Sram transmission style rear derailleurs, but if that’s not something you wanted then it doesn’t matter.
Set and forget doesn’t make it a gimmick. The whole point is that you can make an adjustment for handling, tire clearance etc to suit you, your riding style and the trails you like to ride. It gives one bike two distinct feels and you can choose the one you like better, and then probably never touch it again.
Mostly gimmick. I do change my stumpy chip for certain trails but that rare.
I just got this bike. Flip chip came in the long position. I left it and haven’t looked back. Great bike all around.
I found that on a bicycle, small measurements make a big difference. The flip chip allows the rider to change the ride feel and use tires up to 53 mm. Sounds pretty useful to me.
I’m biased. I have the 2025 Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 1.
It’s basically a Defy (e.g. an endurance road bike) with extra tire clearance.
I have both and switch between them often. They both do gravel duty and road duty. No complaints other than sometimes you want more than a 35c tire on the Defy – that’s why I have the Revolt as well.
It’s a gimmick but the bike is one of the fastest gravel bike around
It’s a feature, not a gimmick. It gives you a *small* amount of variability that you may never use, but… it’s there. Not a bad thing to have.
Bought this last year. Honestly never thought about the chip position. Its comfortable and fats enough as a paved road bike for me and stable enough for the sort of dirt roads I might go on. The d fuse seat post is a bit annoying though.