# Giant Revel 1 upgrade help



## Kevoffthetee (21 Feb 2016)

evening folks, needing a hand from the dirty side of the forum. Myself and a few of my cycle club have decided we need some off roading in our lives, but my bike is way below par and I haven't got the funds for a full susser with expensive components

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/revel.1/7096/43412/

I have a 3x8 speed Giant Revel 1 which is 100% stock and original parts, including suntour's shambolic XCT80 forks and Shimano rapid shift/brake lever combo and BR415 disk brakes. I need advice on upgrades on a budget and any advice is good advice so many thanks in advance.

Tyres: thinking some Schwalbe Smart Sam 26x2.25 or equivalent at around the heavily discount price of £15
Forks: need straight stem and have no experience in this area
Brakes: currently has br416 with 160mm rotors so am thinking Avid bb7's
Shifters/levers: as these are combines I'm not sure it's worth changing
Wheels/hub: it's running 8 speed but unsure if the hub will take a 9or10speed cassette which may have an effect on whether I change the shifters/levers

Also, If anyone has any parts for sale, let me know


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## lpretro1 (22 Feb 2016)

Your wheels will happily take 8,9 & 10 speed as they are all the same width. Not 11 though. Plenty of forks with a straight steerer around - look at Rockshox XC - not too pricey but half-decent. Don't bother changing levers if everything is working fine - further down the line you can fit separate units. Just fit new pads to the brakes.


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## Cubist (23 Feb 2016)

You should be able to find a fork in classifieds on sites like Singletrackworld or Pinkbike, or even eBay. A used Tora or similar would be a cheap and worthy upgrade. With that frame stick with 80 to 100mm travel , and make sure you buy one with at least the same length steerer. Avoid anything with stanchion damage, or leaky seals.

If you want to upgrade drivetrain, you'll need new shifters anyway, but that will leave you needing new brakes, so new 8 speed would be in order. That said, browsing the same classifieds will find you new cranks mechs and shifters at good money, either 9 or 10 speed. Chainsets don't need to be 10 speed specific, but rear mech and shifter do. .


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## mrbikerboy73 (26 Feb 2016)

lpretro1 said:


> Don't bother changing levers if everything is working fine - further down the line you can fit separate units. Just fit new pads to the brakes.


+1 on that. Shimano brakes are pretty good, even the entry level stuff. Better than Avids IMHO.


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## MikeW-71 (29 Feb 2016)

I fitted a Rockshox XC32 fork to my Revel, and some Mavic CrossOne wheels. I'd stay with the Shimano brakes, unless you want to change to hydraulic... in which case, go with Shimano


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