Revel Rascal V2 Review: A Dirt Jumpers Trail Bike?

Oh yeah, single track and jibbing. That's what this little Revel Rascal loves doing. For a minute there, the bike industry went wild with subcategories. And it's a good question to ask, what is a trail bike these days? It can be anything from an overbuilt down country bike to a lightweight enduro bike. This Revel Rascal is basically a dirt jumpers cross country bike. This is the second version of the Rascal and Revel hasn't changed a whole lot, but they have tweaked the geometry a little bit, as well as added a UDH dropout. The Rascal is a sharp handling 130 millimeter trail bike. This has a full carbon frame, dual link design and runs on a 140 millimeter fork. There's also a couple other nips and tucks, some clean little mud guards and better chain slap protection on here. Now Revel uses the CBF suspension design, which stands for Canfield Balanced Formula. It's a dual link design. This one runs on an air shock and it gives a nice even linear progression curve. So whether you're pushing through a corner or looking to pop off a jump, the bike really comes alive on the trail. It also has a ton of anti-squat. So when you are on the pedals, that suspension is staying nice and firm, but it also gives a decent small bump compliance as well. What really keeps the Rascal alive on the trails is the geometry. This thing is sharp handling. It's got a 65.5 degree head tube angle, short 436 chainstays, and the size large actually runs a little bit smaller than most other brands with a 471 reach. Now across the board, there are five sizes to choose from. Now the seat tube angles change throughout the size range, but this size large uses a 76 degree effective seat tube angle and the chainstay lengths remain the same across the size range. So how much does a Revel Rascal V2 cost? The frames start at $3,599 USD with a RockShox Super Deluxe air, and then the build kits start with a SRAM GX finish. Those come in at $5,999 USD. Now this isn't a pure cross-country bike, but when it comes to uphills, this Rascal does not hang around. A huge factor in how the Rascal pedals uphill is the large amount of anti-squat, and that starts at about 140%, never really tapers off below 100. So when you really start mashing on the pedals, the suspension doesn't squish or falter. It really has a good solid platform, even with the climb switch open. The seat tube angle is not the steepest in the world, but that does place a lot of weight over the back wheel and give you good traction on these routes. That's all good until you get into some of the really, really steep climbs. The Rascal is one of the best bikes that I've ridden that kind of splits climbing and descending 50-50. Does both very well, and it really brings any good single track trail to life. It's an agile bike, but it's also sturdy too. So it loves popping around the side of these low angle single track trails and pedal missions all day long. One reason that makes the Rascal such a blast on these single track trails is the short wheelbase. Now the caveat to that is when it gets really fast and chunky and steep, it is a little bit twitchy and you feel like you're standing on a bit of a rocking horse. Compared to other 130 millimeter trail bikes, say for example, the Transition Smuggler or the Forbidden Druid, it doesn't have the same downhill prowess. Again, that comes down to the stability and the sharp head tube angle. Sporty handling. Yep, it's definitely quick. And part of that comes down to the combo of the head tube angle with this mega short 40 millimeter stem and low rise bar. That puts a lot of weight onto the front wheel, which is not great for chunky sections of the trail like this, but it does make the bike very fast handling. Now a small component tweak I made for the duration of the test was adding a 50 mil stem and a 35 millimeter rise bar. And that just brought some weight off of the front wheel and slowed down the steering a little bit for my taste. A few other components that really highlight the Mac Daddy spec of the Rascal are the bike yoke revive dropper post. I also love that Revel spec'd the bike with four piston code RSC brakes. Now compared to say the G2s, these things really help slow the bike down. Moving into some of the rolling components on the Rascal, Revels spec their own RW30 V2 carbon wheels, which are nice and snappy and really suit the nature of this bike. Mounted to those carbon hoops are Continental's trail casing tires. Up front, they've got a Kryptotal front and a Zynotal out back, which has that ramped fast rolling tread. Now this is the endurance compound and they're okay in the dry, but on wet rock and root around here in the wintertime, they're downright scary. So fast handling components, good support through suspension, and it loves to pedal. Who is the Rascal for? I would say it would make a great second bike for a downhiller or a freerider, but it's also got enough might that on low angle trails, it could be your primary trail bike. This thing is a hoot. Like I talked about it before, kind of splits the best balance of 50-50 uphill and downhill riding. You know what? This would make a killer bike for that back 40 race in Whistler. So that's it for the Revel. Be sure to like and subscribe to the channel.