Recommendations? Neither bike is available where I live for a test ride. Either would cost me $1200 and seem to have the best price for the following: new Tiagra and Spyre brakes, threaded BB and front thru axles. Renegade is steal and reportedly .75 lbs heavier, the Revolt is alloy and a little lighter. The Revolt has tire clearance for 50s, the Renegade for 40s. Gearing is a little different for each.
I was in the same boat. Both run Tiagra 4700 (new stuff) Its really good. I could never get a Giant Revolt 1 in Atlanta, but the Renegade Expat is a slick ride. Its also steel, which lives up to the hype. The Renegade runs a thru axle on the front. The Revolt said it does on specs, but the pictures say otherwise. Overall, extremely happy with my renegade for my needs. I think the cranks on the Revolt are a bit better since they are shimano. The FSA omega cranks are the weak spot IMHO on the renegade, but thats easily replaced. The TRP Spyres are the lower end, but ok. It takes some niggling around to get the caliper aligned, but I do that with my MTB anyway.
I have the Revolt. It's smooth, handles well, and has room for really big meats. Nice. The front or not TA - the first and second version had QR, the current one is supposed to have TA-and be $100.00 cheaper at 1350 retail. I liked the bike, but eventually went to a custom steel frame for my gravelling. Anyone for a 60/XL Revolt 1??
Great all around bike. Cant say enough good things about it. Only problem I am facing is the saddle since its real hard and I need one with a cutout. Something easily fixed. Any recommendations?
EG, Nice looking geo on that expat. I just replaced my stock saddle after about 1200 miles with a new WTB pure vee. WTB has quite a lineup of saddles at common man prices. I scored the race model for a great price at nashbar.
Has the middle channel and is quite comfy. What size is your Expat?
Size is a 54. Fits great. Stack height doesnt crouch me over in superman position and the SOH is great too. I have WTB saddles and I am debating on going back to what I know works.
EagleGrinder wrote:Size is a 54. Fits great. Stack height doesnt crouch me over in superman position and the SOH is great too. I have WTB saddles and I am debating on going back to what I know works.
How tall are you, and what's your inside leg measurement @EagelGrinder?
I'm looking at the Expat/Exploit at the moment. Can't decide between the 56 and 54. I rode the Elite last year in both sizes and both felt fine.
How tall are you, and what's your inside leg measurement @EagelGrinder?
I'm looking at the Expat/Exploit at the moment. Can't decide between the 56 and 54. I rode the Elite last year in both sizes and both felt fine.
I am 178 cm height and have 54 cm frame. It is a rather big bike with wide handlebar (44 cm) so I don't feel cramped at all. My suggestion would be to go with smaller frame if You are in between sizes as I was.
Go with exploit as i did. It's a great bike although a rather heavy one
I am 178 cm height and have 54 cm frame. It is a rather big bike with wide handlebar (44 cm) so I don't feel cramped at all. My suggestion would be to go with smaller frame if You are in between sizes as I was.
Go with exploit as i did. It's a great bike although a rather heavy one
Thanks for the info. I'm 182cm so probably leaning more towards the 56cm tbh. The 44cm bars works perfectly for me as I have broad shoulders.
I'm liking the Expat over the Exploit purely for aesthetic reasons, but I'm open to being brought around the the beauty of the Exploit when I test ride it tomorrow. It's hard to argue with the spec of the Exploit, but I really want to tear the groupset out anyway and replace with an Stram 1x system with a 42t cassette at some point anyway, so the lower spec on the Expat might not be such a bad thing.
Just got back from a test ride on the 56 Exploit. It was too big. Thankfully they have a 54 Exile in store too, and it's the same geometry. A much better fit.
Going to be placing the order for the 54 Exploit in April.
The guy at my LBS was trying to sway me away from changing out to a 1x11. He said that it burns through components like their going out of fashion, due to the extra force being put on jockey wheels and cables, and for the type of riding I'm going to be doing I should stick with the 105 compact setup.
I can see his point, but given the amount of maintenance I've had to do on my front mech due to cable stretch/chain rub/dropped chains/gunk in the mech itself, I think that a 1x11 system would still be simpler and less maintenance.
I have the Renegade Expert with the original 105 groupset. I love the 1X11 setup I have on my crosscounrty mountain bike but wont be switching to that for the Renegade. Even in flat Florida where I live I find the need to drop down to the smaller front ring on occasion. Most recently on a long ride through the Everglades i used it when riding into very strong headwinds and also when navigating heavy mud.
![[wink]](http://cdn.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif)