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A couple of weeks back I posted this thread New Road Bike musings. Shimano 105 – decent wheels. – Bike Forum – Singletrack World Magazine Forum
Thinking I wanted a road bike. Since then Ive done some searching, thinking and testing and ended up in a place where I didnt think I would ie looking at a gravel bike with storage, and places for luggage.
Ive ridden a Orbea Terra, Terra Race, Ridley Astr and Giant Revolt. The Orbea's didnt do it for me but the Astr was nice, just a bit racey. The Giant was the one I thought I would like the least but actually liked the most. It felt much more lively than the Orbea's and felt like it transmitted more power.
Revolt Advanced Pro 0 (2026) | Gravel bike | Giant Bicycles UK
SO am I wrong to look at a Giant Revolt? It ticks a lot of boxes, certainly when I am considering getting a 2nd wheelset ie Zipp 303s etc for road.
Its the ability to do events like this below
North Wales Gravel X - Glorious Gravel – Off Road Adventures in Cycling
or even get into bike packing in the future just made it feel a much more head based purchase rather than a head down race machine...lets face it I havent entered a bike race since doing the 3 Peaks CX nearly 10 years ago.
Will I regret getting a Revolt?
A Revolt will never feel quite the same as a road bike, even with the same wheels. Whether that feeling amounts to much only you can know/decide. I prefer riding a road bike as how it feels is very important to me as I ride for enjoyment. There may not be any difference speed wise with same wheels/tyres but it just feels more how I like it (steering, handling, climbing etc.)
Kerley is right in that it will not be truly the same...
although there will be a spectrum of road bikes and a spectrum of gravel bikes. So might be chalk and cheese, or might be barely perceptible.
No upside is without a downside though - otherwise all bikes would be the same. That light responsive eager to accelerate wunderbike race replica might become agonising after 2 hours for those of us who aren't 60kg, 25 yo and with a full time team physio.
Is keeping the rim braked KTM for summer road jaunts and getting a more relaxed all-road / gravel bike on the cards?
Giant are not renowned for their warranty support, which may or may not be a consideration. On a £5k RRP bike with a PF BB I'd be a bit cautious. Sorry to be a bit glass half-empty.
How about a Trek Checkpoint or a Scott Addict Gravel? They're both a bit better on the support side (Trek very much so).
Or, back to the road with the new '26 Scott Addict which takes 38mm tyres and has a very good spec for the money?
Is keeping the rim braked KTM for summer road jaunts and getting a more relaxed all-road / gravel bike on the cards?
The KTM is consigned to the turbo.
The Revolt was just as spritely as the KTM . Even with its stock gravel tyres on
I don’t expect the Revolt to act just like a top of f the range modern head down road race bike. I think the revelation for me has been understanding that’s probably not what I need these days
When I bought a 'proper' road bike I got a Ribble CGR, my thinking being I could do road, gravel, etc on it. In hindsight, a good endurance bike would've been a better bet - probably a touch faster on road, and would've felt faster (which I value), and would've comfortably been able to do all the off-tarmac riding I've done (bridlepaths, fireroads mainly). My MTB is still my preferred choice for any proper trails.
The good thing about "gravel" is (as mentioned above), it's a very broad church and you can get very road-like gravel bikes.
My Canyon Grail is one such bike; it's easy to use on the road without feeling like a barge but it's capable on a wide range of off-road.
To muddy the waters even more, you could go for an all-road type bike, more road focused but still with a bit of lighter gravel / crap road capabilities.
Fairlight Strael sort of territory.
I'd suggest trying a Specialized Crux if you can, mine gets a lot of use on the road and feels very similar to my road bikes.
My riding buddy and I have a 50 mile route that we do. We both have very nice road bikes but since 2 years ago have hardly ridden them as we bought Specialized Diverge STRs. The last time we did the trip , on the last gentle climb I asked if the bike felt draggy or slow or hard work compared to the road bike. No they didn't, all we had done is pumped up the stock tyres a bit more.
Yes, we were a bit slower on average speed but the gritty and potholed roads weren't a worry, the "long cuts" through the dirt track down to Ironbridge and the bit alongside the river Severn to Bridgnorth were nice and we enjoyed it.
My experience is a gravel bike can make for a decent road bike (with a second set of wheels and road slicks). However that's with the caveat my current road bike is endurance geometry so not far off my gravel bike, the difference would be a lot more noticeable if I had an aggressive geometry road bike like a Tarmac (most in handling feel rather than outright speed).
If I could only keep one bike it would be the gravel bike without hesitation, my road riding is mostly z2 pootling/cafe rides though so speed and aero efficiency aren't really factors for me.
I looked at the Revolt myself (ended up with an Argon 18 Dark Matter), main thing that put me off was lack of UDH meaning you can't run 1x 13 E1 XPLR (which I wanted over 2x) but for you 2x might make more sense anyway (if bike packing etc.). The other issue is it only has 45mm tyre clearance at the rear with a 2x drivetrain, for me that's not enough, I'd want a minimum 50mm on a new gravel bike.
Giant are not renowned for their warranty support,
I put a deposit on a Revolt Advanced 3 a 2025 bike with a hefty discount. When being built up the shop found a fault with the rear brake caliper mount..long story short ended up getting a 2026;advanced 2 for the same price as that was all Giant had available....
The other issue is it only has 45mm tyre clearance at the rear with a 2x drivetrain
Not saying you are wrong but I'm surprised, mine has 45mm tyres 2x and seems to have loads of room left.
A Revolt will never feel quite the same as a road bike, even with the same wheels. Whether that feeling amounts to much only you can know/decide. I prefer riding a road bike as how it feels is very important to me as I ride for enjoyment. There may not be any difference speed wise with same wheels/tyres but it just feels more how I like it (steering, handling, climbing etc.)
This.
A road bike for me is about feeling fast as much as being faster. That's fast snappy geometry and very light wheels, 28mm tyres.
A gravel bike, even a roadified one, will just feel slower - weight, gearing, position on the bike etc...
I'd consider keeping and replacing worn drive parts on your road bike and buying a gravel bike to supplement, perhaps a slightly less expensive one if needed.
A gravel bike, even a roadified one, will just feel slower - weight, gearing, position on the bike etc...
The spesh crux could be the unicorn bike here.
The revolt is surprisingly fast on the road but is pretty barge like as far as handling goes on the road...how much of the is tyres though I don't know.
The spesh crux could be the unicorn bike here.
There quite a few other bikes in that niche, ie Ridley Astr but I like the idea of frame storage, extra bolt on points etc.
I know it will be less racey than a full on race bike but as I say the Revolt wasn’t as sluggish as I thought it would be.
In comparison the Orbea Terra felt much longer in the seat stay and sluggish etc
I have a mate who rode a revolt with shimano 2x and 2.1" ralphs for a while. I don't remember how big the clearance was, but it was fine for dry weather riding.
I think the 45 mm limitation might come from the battery on AXS front mechs.
The revolt makes a reasonable winter bike, but the position is a bit high for me for road use. Whether that is an issue depends on your fit.
Bit of a generalised term to say that a road bike will feel stiffer and more responsive whereas a gravel bike won’t feel as responsive and ride slower. Put a pair of 50mm carbon wheels with decent road rubber on a good endurance or gravel bike will feel just as good. Unless you’re really hammering it, sprinting etc about 95% of riders wouldn’t notice much difference. In fact when I was road racing, my stiff, unyielding race machine could be a hindrance unless riding really smooth tarmac - it would skip and hop about on Surrey’s finest roads meaning you couldn’t get 100% of your power down. I actually preferred my ti/carbon bike because it had better road manners. These days I do most of my riding on a carbon Diverge with 2 pairs of wheels. Likewise the days of riding 23mm tyres at 100psi for a couple of hours would really beat you up - tubeless 32mm tyres at 45psi feel far, far nicer.
For the OP unless you’re road racing, these days an endurance or race-oriented gravel bike is likely to suit 99% riders better.