REVEL RASCAL RAW
The Revel Rascal was designed to be both capable and playful. Built on 29" wheels, and a 130mm rear/140mm front travel suspension platform, this bike delivers confidence and versatility in a wide variety of applications. We decided to take it down the double black diamond Hidden trail in Post Canyon to put the CBF suspension kinematics to the test.
29er, 130/140 Travel
Built on steady rollin' 29" wheels, 130mm of rear travel and 140mm of front suspension, on paper the Rascal is an ideal do-it-all trail bike. Designed to be capable, efficient, and playful, it's the type of bike you'd feel good about buying in the Pacific Northwest, because it can handle such a wide variety of trail conditions. Cruising a shuttle lap in Post Canyon? Perfect. Climbing to the top of Dog River? Also perfect! This bike can handle everything from the rough descents to long days in the saddle on single track.
CBF Suspension
The Revel isn't just another 130mm travel trail bike. The thing that really differentiates it from other bikes in this category, in our mind, is the Canfield Balance Formula (CBF) suspension platform. CBF suspension is designed to balance the Center of Curvature (CC) with the Instant Center (IC). In case you weren't a physics major, or aren't in 10th grade anymore, this means that CBF points the chainline and drive forces directly into the IC, resulting in maximum pedaling efficiency, regardless of where you are in the travel, what terrain you are on, or what kind of power you’re putting down!
GEOMETRY
From a geometry standpoint, the Revel is a textbook playful trail bike. It has a 66 degree headtube angle, a 75 degree seat tube angle, and quite short 433mm chain stays. If you like a playful ride, short chainstays are your happy place. They make it easy to lift the front wheel for manuals and wheelies, they keep the overall length of the bike down, which helps the bike corner better and makes it more manueverable for all you aerial acrobat types.
OUR BOTTOM LINE
Modern mountain bikers ask a lot of their trail bikes these days, and rightfully so. With the cost of a mountain bike rivaling that of a car, it makes sense for a lot of us to have that one solid quiver killer mountain bike. This is where trail bikes excel. They're not necessarily purpose built for pure climbing or descending, they have to do it all. And these days, most of them do it all quite well. That being said, this category spans a very wide spectrum, and the bikes often skew to one side or another of said spectrum.
If you are looking for the most aggressive descending trail bike, check out the Intense Primer. For efficiency and flow on smooth singletrack, check out the Fuel EX. But if you want a super playful and capable bike to handle a wide variety of trail conditions, call us today to demo a Rascal!
We have several custom builds in stock at a variety of price points, to deliver the best possible ride experience for you. Call us or come by the shop to learn more.