I just received this 2024 Giant Revolt 2 from my insurance company, after getting my 2018 Specialized sequioa gravel stolen. I only had £1000 to play with as that’s all I insured the sequioa for (stupidly).
I also ride a 2023 Bombtrack beyond + ADV, which is possibly the most solid bike i have ever ridden.
Just took the revolt out on its first ride, and it felt cheap. Shifting felt clunky, brakes a bit unresponsive, whole ride felt a bit shakey and tbh not what I would expect from a £1200 bike (not the most I know, but would expect a bit more from it)
Could this be just the feeling of riding a £1200 bike after riding a Bombtrack beyond + and sequoia for years, two very solid bikes. Or maybe cause I’ve never ridden with carbon forks before? Or is it actually a bike that feels cheap.
Wondering if I should sell as it’s new and only been on one ride and get a second hand sequoia or diverge again, or put some time in and upgrade tyres and derailleurs and a few other bits.
by therottingking
5 Comments
I mean, all three things you mentioned may be caused by normal processes of riding a new bike:
1. Clunky shifting = shifter cables stretching out
2. Unresponsive brakes = bedding in time of the brakes
3. Shakey ride = still need to dial in the tire pressures
There probably is a difference between this bike and the previous one you had but I doubt it would be this abysmal.
Try readjusting everything(you will probably need to do it for the first three or four rides if you ride shorter distances), and after that you can see if it really is that bad.
Is that mechanical disc brakes?????
If yes then its the worst kind of disc brake. Had it on my specialized diverge 2015. Can never brake from the hood.
Components on a 1.000€ bike will be bad, that’s just how it is. Especially mechanical disc brakes are quite crap.
You’re describing apples-and-oranges type stuff here and missing a couple things in the process.
Chiefly, what components were on your sequoia and bombtrack? If you dropped 2 to 3 levels (e.g., Ultegra > Sora), then yeah, the new bike is going to feel different.
As for a ride feeling “shaky,” I would need more detail on what you actually mean. Does the bike feel like handling is twitchy or jittery? If so, that’s maybe a wheelbase issue and is adjustable on the revolt. Does “shaky” mean you feel every bump in the road? If so, your tire pressure may be wrong or you’re riding a different width.
Overall, the revolt isn’t a “cheap” bike and short of big differences in components between your previous bikes, I would think it’s probably new bike syndrome (cables stretch and brakes aren’t bedded). The only other thing is frame material I guess (steel vs aluminum) but I don’t personally put much stock in that (shitty rutted trails on steel frames feel as bad to me as aluminum)
This has a carbon fork also.