Revel bikes, have you heard of them? If you were into mountain biking in 2019 then you probably will have. They were originally based out of Colorado USA and were a niche but well respected brand, a few years on and they hit the same woes as many companies in the cycle industry and the owner Adam Miller sold the company to a private equity. They in turn ended up closing the company. Then in 2026 Adam bought the company back and the next chapter of Revel Bikes began. Sounds like a fairy story or great marketing doesn’t it but it’s all true. This time though Revel isn’t just based in the USA, Thomas Dibley now owns the UK arm of the company and is based in Abergavenny in the heart of Wales. Revel bikes will primarily sell bikes direct to the customer with maybe a few premium shops in the UK.

So, great news that Revel are back but why i hear you ask am I writing this when the website is call UKgravelCO? Thats because this time round Revel have a gravel bike, infact they have 2. A titanium frame and the one I got to test which is a carbon framed bike called the Revel Rover.

Thomas got in touch and asked if I’d like to try the bike out, I was hardly going to say no was I?! He then actually hand delivered the bike to my door on the day Revel Bikes UK officially launched! I’ve managed to get two weeks of intensive riding on the bike, mostly on familiar routes so I could compare how it rides to bikes I’m used to.

I’m always a little trepidatious about bikes designed in the US. They tend to have minimal tyre clearance, which is fine in say California for example and some states even ban off road riding if it’s wet, In the UK that would mean no riding for around 5 months a year. I was relieved though to find that the Revel Rover is right on trend and has the capacity to run 700x50mm tyres (27.5 x 2.1) In fact the fork clearance looks very generous and some experimentation with a bigger front tyre could be worth trying. Again another up to date feature is the UDH (universal deraileur hanger) allowing all the new Sram road XPLR (and MTB) rear mechs to fit. The frame has internal routing….stop, I know this will make some of you groan but the internal routing on the Revel Rover has internal tubing. No fishing about in the frame hoping the cable will magically find the exit, just push the hose or cable in one end and out it pops in the right place, fantastic! There’s more though because the hoses or cables don’t route through the headset, so no dismantling of the bike to change a bearing or a big bike shop labour bill to fit a £20 part. Well done Revel!

It’s also refreshing to see that Revel has chosen not to got down the “aero is everything” road. there are some lovely curves and profiles on the bike such as the hour glass seatstays and it even has a proper seat post clamp, not a wedge or bolt hidden in the frame. It also has a round seatpost rather than an eliptical one so fitting a dropper post if you want one is much easier. The frame has 3 sets of bottle bosses inside the front triangle and one set under the down tube near the bottom bracket. interestingly there are no top tube or fork bottle mounts or mudguard eyelets.

Throughout the range of builds on the Revel website the one common denominator is the frame and fork so even of you go for the entry level Sram Apex build you’ll still get the same frame as the top specification bike. The only change is the bike colour. The bike on test is the “sin city” colour and I presume this refers to the black and white film of the same name as the frame is a mix of white and black….or is it? Actually in direct sunlight the “black” paint sparkles with reds, blues, purples and is a real feature. Weirdly though the “Revel” frame branding is under the top tube so you’ve got to get on your knees or turn the bike over to see it.

I tend not to mention the finishing kit on bikes as it’s all so subjective and riders will probably fit their favourite saddle, stem and handle bars the first day they get the bike but if it’s your first bike then the carbon Zipp bars, stem and SDG saddle are top quality items. This bike came with Sram’s Force XPLR groupset, a pair of Zipp 303s wheels and Revel’s own branded carbon seatpost, very fancy. The size large bike weighed in at just under 19.8lbs/8.98kg. Special mention must go to the new shape Sram levers, they are 100 times better than the old shape, they actually feel like they’ve been designed for off road riding whereas the old lever was just the standard road one co-opted into a gravel groupset. Brake feel was tremendous and as a long time Shimano user who has never got on with Sram brakes at all these are far in away the best Sram brakes I’ve used performance and asthetic wise. The crisp shift of the electronic AXS rear mech was faultless too.The gearing is 1 x 13, 40t chanring and 10-46t cassette. Finally I must mention the tyres and commend who ever decided to spec the bike with Maxxis Rambler tyres (here in 45mm size) as they are an excellent all rounder and reflect that someone who has ridden a gravel bike off road has had a hand in it. Too many new off the peg gravel bikes come with slick or semi slick tyres which are at the very least unsuitable for most conditions and sometimes lethal in those wet UK months I mentioned above. Round of applause emoji for Revel Bikes for that.

So to the most important part, how did the Revel Rover ride? As you’d expect of a bike weighing sub 9kg it climbs very well the 10-46 cassette was low enough paired with the 40t chanring for me not to miss the 38-11x51t set up on my personal bike. I was able to spin up gradients that would have had me standing up on my regular bike. Being able to change gear with one finger with the electronic shifters encouraged rowdy behaviour on the flat and downhill. The frame is very responsive to pedal input, there’s hardly if any side to side movement when putting the power down, only my leg and lung capacity held it back. It felt like a race bike on climbs and the flat but then point it down hill on something rooty and twisty and the bike wasn’t skittish like you’d assume a race bike would be. Neither was it slow and ponderous to steer. It was confident and sure footed. The head angle is 71.5 degrees so not super slack and not twitchy. The excellent tyres also contribute to this. The Zipp wheels were stiff and direct but at no time did I feel like all the terrain roughness was being transmitted through the frame into me so those frame profiles were working as designed to protect the rider. I could sit and batter on through the rough stuff without feeling broken myself.

So the Revel Rover rides beautifully, it has impeccable manners but it will respond instantly if you want to push it hard. The only thing you might have to get creative with is if you want to go on long bike packing trips. It would be great for credit card touring (or “lightpacking”) with minimal kit or the Ultra races/Gravel sportives but the lack of fork mount and top tube bosses might hold you back from long tours carrying all your worldly goods. There are more specialised bikes for that though.

At slow speeds the bike is mild mannered and perfect for everyday riding with a bar bag and a bell on the bars on a cafe run and then like a super hero you could pop into a phonebox, swap the bar bag for a hydration vest, fill the multiple bottle mounts with your favourite electrolyte and go and ride an ultra!

The Revel Rover is pitched as an all rounder and that’s exactly what it is, mild mannered if you want but put your foot down and it’ll fly. The design of easy internal routing is refreshing to see and the enlightened specification of the kit on the bike just adds to this ready for anything feel.

you can find more details on the Revel Rover at the Revel bikes website for a look at how the bike rides pleae watch the youtube video below and please consider subscribing!