Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0 review: fast, versatile and one of the very best gravel race bikes

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The Revolt Advanced Pro 0 brings subtle changes to Giant's already excellent gravel race bike platform, with adaptable geometry and potential clearance for huge tyres.

It’s a serious rival to premium gravel racers such as the BMC Kaius, Factor’s Ostro Gravel and Specialized’s S-Works Crux – at a much more competitive price of £5,599 / $7,000 / €6,800 for the bike I tested.

The updated Revolt Advanced, now in its fourth generation since debuting in 2013, retains a TCR-like compact frame design with a deeply sloping top tube, dropped stays and tube shapes.

The changes from the 2022 Advanced Pro 0, which won our Bike of the Year award, are subtle. They include internal routing, a geometry tweak and the inclusion of a down tube storage chamber underneath the bottle cage bosses.

Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0 frame

Lightly updated for 2024, the Revolt’s front end now uses the same through-the-headset brake hose routing as found on the Defy and TCR.

The sculpted head/down/top tube junction looks very similar to the TCR's, but with a more defined ridge line that flows into both top and down tubes.

The frame’s claimed 990g weight (size medium) remains the same as the previous generation, even with the increased head tube diameter for internal routing and the down tube storage compartment.

The oversized bottom bracket shell, called PowerCore, houses a press-fit BB86 bottom bracket and flows into asymmetric chainstays.

At the rear, the ovalized and flattened seat tube, with a cut-out for the rear-wheel tyre clearance, echoes the Defy – as does the use of Giant’s D-shaped D-Fuse carbon seatpost.

However, here the clamp’s crescent shape means you can switch out both post and clamp insert to run a standard round 30.9mm-diameter post. That opens up the Revolt to be used with a dropper post.

The down tube now has an internal storage compartment with a twist-locking mechanism and a neoprene storage bag to stop your essentials from rattling around.

The rear dropouts retain the clever flip chip, so you can extend the wheelbase to accommodate a 53mm tyre here (in its short standard setting,s you get 42mm of clearance).

The increased clearance and the extended wheelbase also have an effect on the trail, pushing it out to 68mm on this size-large model (from 65mm in the short setting). In theory, this should add a bit of extra stability when you’re making the most of wider gravel tyres on technical terrain.

Retaining the flip-chip system means Giant hasn’t made the switch to Universal Derailleur Hanger dropouts, as required by SRAM’s latest 13-speed RED XPLR groupset.

However, with this model coming with a 2x drivetrain aimed more at versatility and gravel racing, that’s not necessarily a negative for the Revolt. It’ll be interesting to see if Giant adopts UDH for the more adventurous Revolt X when the time comes for an update.

The down tube has moulded protection from rock and stone strikes. The chainstay has a similar moulded protector to protect the paintwork from chain-slap-induced chips and scratches.

Even though the Revolt Advanced is aimed at the racing end of gravel, like Cervélo’s Áspero or BMC’s Kaius, it still retains plenty of practical features – including top-tube bento box mounts, bottle bosses, anything mounts on the fork legs and fender/mudguard mounts.

Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0 geometry

The geometry remains largely unchanged from the previous generation – and that’s a good thing. The road-like 73-degree seat angle is paired with a 72-degree head angle, which has steepened by half a degree over the 2022 Revolt.

On my size-large test bike, the stack is an endurance-bike like 616mm and the 397mm reach follows suit. The 80mm bottom bracket drop helps accommodate the large tyre size.

If you move into the long setting on the flip-chip dropout, it increases the chainstay length from 425mm to 435mm, adds a millimetre to the BB drop and increases the standover height to 797mm from 791.

The wheelbase grows from 1,041mm to 1,051. Finally, it shifts the trail of the fork from an endurance-road like 65mm to 68mm.

Compared to the competition, the Revolt sits at the racy end of gravel geometry, with quick handling and an aggressive riding position.

Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0 build

The Advanced Pro 0 is the top-of-the-range model. It comes equipped with a SRAM Force AXS groupset, with an adventure-ready gear range combining a 43/30-tooth chainset with a 12-speed 10-36t cassette.

The wheelset is Giant’s CXR 1, which has a claimed weight of 1,398g a pair – that’s comparable to light road wheels rather than tough gravel wheels. The rims use a hookless design, with a gravel-optimised 25mm internal width paired to a blunt, 35mm-deep aero shape.

The new 40mm Cadex GX tubeless-ready tyres are a step up from the previous model, with a more aggressive tread better suited to changeable UK conditions.

My test wheelset weighs in at 1.33kg for the front wheel and 1.74kg for the rear – including tyres, sealant, disc rotors and the cassette on the rear.

The rest of the build is all from Giant’s own stable. Up-front, an 80mm stem clamps onto the Contact SLR XR D-Fuse gravel bar in a 46cm width.

It has a subtle 8-degree flare and a 5-degree backsweep on the tops. Giant claims the D-shaped profile helps reduce vibrations, while retaining the stiffness required when sprinting.

The D-Fuse seatpost has a narrowing shape below the head to allow for bump-smoothing flex and it’s topped by Giant’s slender but well-padded Grit SL saddle.

The build, at £5,599 / $7,000 / €6,800, represents solid value for money. In comparison, Trek’s similarly racy Checkmate SLR 7 AXS, with carbon wheels and SRAM Force AXS, is £8,500 / $8,299.99 / €8,999. Specialized’s Crux Expert, with carbon wheels and SRAM Rival AXS, is £5,500 / $6,200 / €6,300.

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Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0 ride impressions

The Revolt rides brilliantly – its 8.34kg weight is well distributed, with the lightweight wheels making it feel lively.

They accelerate well with a solid laterally stiff feel and the 54-point engagement from the DT Swiss internals on the Giant hub means a snappy response when you put in a big effort.

Giant should be applauded for sending out all its bikes set up tubeless. Far too many brands still compromise their bikes by equipping tubeless wheelsets and tubeless tyres, but then adding inner tubes to make the worst of both worlds.

The Revolt is in its element on gravel roads and double-track byways. Its light and lively feel flows over light gravel with an enviable pace.

When things get more rutted and choppy, the combination of tyre volume and superb contact points takes off the harsh edges.

Vibrations are minimised, which all adds up to maintaining your speed and composure.

Take the Revolt further afield onto more technical singletrack and it impresses. It’s not quite the singletrack slayer of its X-rated stablemate, but it doesn’t get overwhelmed as I’ve found some out-and-out gravel race bikes do.

The Cadex GX’s tread has a good balance between smooth road speed and off-road grip.

The mid-spaced tread blocks have plenty of cornering bite and the casing is compliant, which smooths out ruts well.

The block tread sheds mud quickly and was only overwhelmed by an extended stretch of thick, sloppy mud – the effect prolonged October rainstorms had on some of my favourite local singletrack trails.

The subtly relaxed geometry gives the Revolt a superb endurance-bike like feel on the road. This is enhanced by Giant using a 2x drivetrain.

I found increasing the tyre pressures by a few psi gave the Revolt the pace to make on-tarmac sections on big days out swift and enjoyable, rather than a slog.

This new Revolt is certainly a bike for which I’d recommend having a fast inflator as part of your ride kit.

Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0 bottom line

The Revolt Advanced 0 is one of the best fast gravel bikes to date. It rides light, with plenty of composure when things get technical.

The specification is premium, but the pricing is competitive. As a versatile all-roader, it has the chops to cut it there too.

I’d still choose the rowdy-ready Revolt X over this, but that’s more down to my personal riding preferences than the Revolt Advanced Pro’s considerable assets.

If you’re looking for a bike that’s fast, forgiving, fun and versatile, the Revolt Advanced has it all.

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