Revel Wayward Dream Bike Giveaway

We have two fundraising member drives every year. These coincide with the spring and fall deadlines for our biannually printed publication, The Bikepacking Journal. During each cycle, we give away around 50 prize packages to randomly selected members of the Bikepacking Collective to show our appreciation for their valued support. Without our members, this platform wouldn’t exist. One of the more prominent prizes that we give away each cycle is a bike frame, and we decided to up the ante this fall by turning one of our all-time favorite frames into a dream bikepacking bike. With the generosity of Revel Bikes, Ergon, Hunter Cycles, Logos Components, Rockgeist, and SRAM, we’ve built up one hell of a bucketlist-crunching machine with a retail value of more than $7,500, and we can’t wait to see where one lucky member takes it. Read on for details about the bike, all the incredible components we selected, and how you can be eligible to win by supporting our in-depth reportage, reviews, guides, and a bikepacking route network that spans 100,000+ miles.

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The Revel Wayward

If we were asked to list our top five bikepacking hardtails, the Revel Wayward would undoubtedly be in the mix. Several of our team members and friends own one, and regular readers have probably noticed that the Wayward is almost always scattered among the collection of bikes in our “Rigs of” series. The Wayward’s popularity is at least partly due to its nearly unmatched capability and versatility. There are very few off-the-shelf hardtails that tick as many boxes. That partially explains why it was called “a unicorn” in our original review. For starters, it has a beautiful lightweight frame with plenty of mounts for provisions and racks, clearance for 29 x 3.0” tires, sliding dropouts, and a widely loved geometry.

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Better yet, the Wayward has a magical dichotomous demeanor that’s equally at home being pedaled for weeks on cross-continent dirt-road bikepacking routes as it is carving up and picking apart technical singletrack on an afternoon ride. Put a carbon fork on it and you have an excellent forest road and gravel tourer. Run a 120-130mm fork and it becomes a trail bike that operates at a surprisingly high level. Shown railing down a rooty descent above, my friend TJ Kearns has set up his Wayward in a variety of configurations—everything from an all-day singlespeed to a gravel touring rig to an over-forked trail hardtail. And I’ve seen him ride a little bit of everything with it, including lines that would make me pucker on a big full-suspension bike.

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Similarly, Virginia uses her Wayward on a broad range of outings, from gravel rides to singletrack romps. She’s taken it on countless bikepacking trips too, including various segments of the Eastern Divide Trail, the Sage and Saddles loop, and the San José del Pacifico in Oaxaca. She often opts to grab it off the rack instead of her Ibis Ripley AF for trail rides around Pisgah National Forest. She swears it’s the best-fitting and most comfortable bike she’s ever ridden. As cliche as it might sound, the Wayward is probably the best example of a quiver-killer that’s currently on the market.

The Wayward Dream Build

For all those reasons, we were excited when we spoke with Revel about giving a Wayward to one of our members this fall. It was all those backstories that inspired us to take it a few steps further and build up an extra-special dream build for this project. I envisioned a build that offered a mix of classic and modern touches with a focus on comfort, reliability, and aesthetics. The bike that’s shown here is a size large frame, but Revel also has a size medium and XL on hold that can replace it based on the recipient’s size preference. Read on for details on all the components.

Ergon SMC Core Saddle and GA3 Grips

We picked two universally loved components from Ergon to serve as the touchpoints for this dream build. While grips and saddles are subject to more personal bias than other parts, the GA3 and SMC Core are incredibly popular among long-distance riders, so we thought they’d make a great fit.

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Hunter Smooth Move Bars

Designed and sold by Rick Hunter and made by Nitto in Japan, the Smooth Move bars are a perennial choice among several of us here at BIKEPACKING.com. I had them on my Nordest for a long while and used them on the Baja Divide and over countless rides in Oaxaca last year. After that, we put them on Virginia’s Wayward, and the fit works perfectly for her. Lucas runs a pair on his hardtail in Colorado too. The Smooth Move Bars offer a Goldilocks 15° backsweep and 780mm width that make it a versatile bar for both trail riding and dirt touring, which fits the Wayward’s demeanor to a T.

Logos Eudae Wheels

Logos Components is a relatively new brand that was started by the folks at Thesis, whose wheels impressed me a few years ago with a compelling set of specs and a great price point. Logos launched in 2022 with a lineup of carbon wheelsets. I’ve been testing the Eudae 29 for well over 2,000 miles and am very impressed. The Eudae is a sub-1,600-gram carbon mountain bike wheelset for under $1,300 that has an ideal feature set. That includes 31mm internal width offset carbon rims that are perfect for tires ranging from 2.4-2.8” wide, 28-count straight-pull spokes, and hubs built around the proven and now open standard dual-sprung floating Star Ratchet system—the internals from the venerated original DT240/350. The latest version has a sharp stealth look, too!

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Cockpit by PAUL

What would a dream bike be without some beautifully machined parts from PAUL Components? We opted to go for the relatively new pewter color, and wow, I’m glad we did. Not only does it look matchy-matchy with the drivetrain, but it’s a beautiful color on its own. This build gets a 50mm Boxcar stem, of course, as well as the venerable PAUL Dropper Trigger and a pair of matching Love Levers. Last but not least, the Klampers are a longstanding favorite among the team and were the cornerstone of what made us want to make this a PAUL-equipped rig.

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Rockgeist Frame Bag

One of my personal favorite pieces of gear is the custom Rockgeist frame bag I have on my old Nordest dirt-touring hardtail. It’s made from X11 cotton duck-faced X-Pac and just keeps getting better with age. The Coriander Tan color has a timeless aesthetic, and the zipper, materials, and construction are incredibly hardwearing. It only made sense to bring that same aesthetic to this build. Rockgeist put together a beautiful bag with a double-zip design to compartmentalize contents, and it looks great.

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SRAM GX Transmission

Two of us here on the BIKEPACKING.com team have put some hard miles on the new SRAM Transmissions and have been quite impressed. Not only are they easy to set up, but they also offer a consistent and reliable shifting experience and have proven to be incredibly durable. The GX Transmission was announced in July, several months after the launch of X0 Transmission, with trickle-down technology and a new battery placement design on the rear derailleur. We were excited to be able to include a brand new group with the UDH-equipped Wayward for this build.

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Other Parts

Other parts in this build include the RockShox Pike Ultimate fork, complete with Buttercups tech and bleed valves. I have this fork on my personal bike and absolutely love it. The Wayward dream build also gets a trustworthy 150mm Fox Transfer dropper post, a Cane Creek Forty headset, and a Wolf Tooth Components seatpost clamp. The wheels are fitted with a pair of Terrene McFly 29 x 2.8” tires, an excellent dirt-road bikepacking tire that offers extra cushion and float and is pretty durable.

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Rules

• This giveaway is only open to Bikepacking Collective members who have registered on or before October 17th, 2023. We will randomly select a member after October 18th.
• This is valid for all members, anywhere in the world. However, note that since we are shipping it from the USA, if the recipient lives in any country other than the United States, they will be responsible for any duties, shipping costs, and/or corresponding fees that may be incurred based on delivery location.
• The selected recipient will be responsible for paying taxes based on their local regulations and will have the right to waive this Collective Reward or any particular parts, should they wish.
• The Revel Wayward is only available in sizes medium, large, or XL.

We’ve been at the forefront of building the bikepacking community for more than a decade, sharing up-to-the-minute reportage, in-depth reviews and guides, events, and growing a first-of-its-kind bikepacking route network that now spans 100,000+ miles. Member support makes all this possible. If you enjoy reading the site, please consider joining our Bikepacking Collective. Membership is open to anyone, anywhere in the world, and members are automatically entered to be eligible for Collective Rewards (including this incredible bike), receive two issues of The Bikepacking Journal in the mail each year, have access to exclusive industry discounts, and lots more.

Further Reading

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