TOM’S REVEL RANGER £3,699 (frame only)
Tech ed Tom has gone with a fairly lightweight custom build for his new frame
Since last month I’ve been able to get my frameset built up, and put a few miles on the clock. With 115mm of travel at the back, and Revel saying that the bike is built for everything from cross-country to trail riding, quite clearly a light-ish weight build was going to be on the cards.
The frame’s built to take a 120mm fork, so Fox’s 34 SC Performance takes centre stage up front. SC stands for Step Cast – referring to the stepped lower legs, which shave weight and give a narrower stance. The 34mm stanchions of the standard Fox 34 remain, though, so chassis stiffness isn’t impacted too much. This Performance-level fork uses the brand’s more basic GRIP damper – it’s not as externally tunable as the FIT4 system, but its sealed cartridge performs well. Plus, it’s upgradable if I want a little more control over the fork’s performance in the future.
I’ve gone to SILT for the rolling stock. They’re an emerging brand offering good-value wheels, with their own (very loud!) freehub. The XC Carbon wheelset I’ve chosen costs £800 – a keen price for carbon hoops, and yet they weigh an impressively low 1,400g, on my scales. Their 27mm internal rim width gives plenty of volume to the Schwalbe tyres I’ve popped on for now – a new Nobby Nic at the front and an excellent Wicked Will at the back. I wanted a fast-rolling set of rubber that still has a bit of bite in the mud. While the ADDIX Speed compound isn’t the stickiest, I’m hoping the new tread pattern on the Nic will perform in the slop.
Drivetrain availability is tight at the moment, so I dug around in the office. Honestly, if I’d found a mid-range SRAM GX Eagle or Shimano SLX drivetrain I’d have been happy, but I came across a top-spec Shimano XTR crankset, shifter and mech, and felt it’d be rude to say no. This left me searching for a few finishing parts. Unite fired over a 34t direct-mount chainring, while Hope furnished me with a threaded bottom bracket. Much like the drivetrain, I had a dig around for the rest of the build. A PNW dropper holds a crazy-light Fabric ALM saddle that had been on a road bike of mine for a few years, and I unearthed a 50mm Race Face stem and 800mm Nukeproof bar in the garage. https://cyclorise.com