Revel Rail 29
Seth Kirkland - Team Mechanic
The Rail 29 is a bike for most of us who fancy ourselves EWS pros but have day jobs. Do you work a day job all week, all while thinking about your next ride? Do you ride after work laps on your local trails until you can get to the gnarlier black diamond and double black terrain on the weekends? Do you have only one bike? If you answered “YES” to one or more of these questions, there are very strong arguments for making the Revel Rail 29 yours.
How it handles:
I was amazed at how quickly the Rail 29 gets up to speed, and how well it carries speed in any terrain. I was also impressed at how quickly the rear end tracks around tight turns. These two qualities make this a great bike for tight twisty enduro race tracks. Longer slacker enduro bikes I’ve ridden previously always felt awkward in tight turns.
The Rail 29 is comfortable to climb on. I haven’t reached for the climb switch on my Float X2 once so far. I noticed climbing tight uphill switchbacks on the Rail 29 was also great compared to longer bikes.
The CBF suspension tracks the ground well and holds speed well in technical terrain, soaking up square edged hits with ease. The suspension performs really well under braking as well.
This was the first CBF suspension bike I’d ever ridden. My previous experience has been riding various different 4-bar (Horst Link), or DW Link bikes. My last 4-bar bike always felt like the rear end hung up a little on square edged hits. I enjoyed the DW link bike I rode, but the suspension always felt a little firm. CBF seems to be able to minimize pedal bob on climbs, while still soaking up chunk.
Ease of Maintenance:
Rail 29 Pivot Hardware
As one of B-Team’s mechanics, I had an opportunity to work on Matt’s Rail 29. There are a lot of well thought out details that make maintaining a Rail 29 easier.
1) All you need to tighten/loosen pivot bolts is a 6mm hex wrench. No hunting for multiple size hex wrenches for different pivots.
2) The torque spec for all the pivot bolts is also the same 15NM and the bolts are clearly labeled with the required torque.
3) Should you round the head of one of your pivot bolts, don’t worry! The back side of every pivot bolt has another hex head allowing you to remove the bolt without drilling or use of an easy out.
4) SRAM UDH: No proprietary derailleur hanger means you should always be able to find a derailleur hanger for your bike.
Hydration/Accessory Mounts:
I just can’t ever see myself buying a modern enduro or trail bike these days that doesn’t mount a standard size water bottle in the front triangle. I’ve owned bikes that would only take “special” water bottles. It sucks having to search for just the right water bottle. There’s also a bonus set of bosses for a second water bottle or accessory on the underside of the downtube.
The Rail 29, will easily fit 22oz water bottles with a side loading bottle cage running a large size air shock such as a Fox Float X2 or a RockShox Vivid.
My Build:
