Liv Devote 1 2021

In a relatively small pool of female-focused gravel bikes, the Liv Devote 1 delivers a fun and sporty but confidence-inspiring ride, on tarmac or trail.

Many will argue to and fro indefinitely about the need for women-specific bikes, when any good bike fit should be able to sort out comfort issues in a standard bike frame. However, I tend to sit just over the fence on the pro female-specific side, having found better and more reliable ride comfort over the years and less tweaking with women's bikes than unisex ones. I'm average height at 5ft 5in so I guess I sit right in the target zone for women's bikes.

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One of the areas that's been lagging behind over recent years is women's gravel bikes. If you're looking for a do-it-all steed for tracks, trails and our country's fantastically variable road surfaces, a gravel bike makes a lot of sense.

The Devote range of gravel and adventure-focused bikes from Giant's women's bike specialist arm Liv is one of very few in the market with a female focus. With two aluminium-framed models and three carbon, there's something for everyone too.

I've been riding one of Liv's previous gravel bike models – the Invite – for a few years now, with great success, taking it on and off road in equal measure and on weekend bikepacking trips. I was looking forward to trying the Devote 1 as being a step up in terms of commitment to gravel and in quality.

Straight away, I noticed how stable and planted it feels, both on the road and off, with the geometry and lower bottom bracket position placing me firmly within the cockpit for maximum control and confidence. To start with I felt the riding position was quite aggressive, but that was soon solved by adjusting the spacers to give a different bar position.

Climbing is an absolute pleasure, and even on a fairly tricky off-road climb it gave no twitchiness in terms of handling or issues with front wheel lift at all. It actually climbs better than my hardtail mountain bike!

When putting a bit more oomph into the pedals, there are no issues with flex or lack of power transfer – the ride is sprightly and fun. The steering is responsive without being twitchy, and it corners well.

Descending is also confidence inspiring – though I had to make some adjustments to the bar position. On my first ride it felt rather alarming as all my weight was at the front – I realised I needed to adjust the handlebar position to move my weight back and away from the centre-line just a little. Thankfully, the bar and stem come with plenty of tweaking options to make adjusting fit a doddle, and after flipping the stem and tilting the bar to suit me (pretty flat), descending and climbing are awesome.

It's no slouch on flat tarmac either, although unsurprisingly I lost a little average speed over routes ridden on the road bike. At 10.3kg it's not a lightweight, but there was no feeling of drag.

Even with the fairly low gearing – a 48/32-tooth chainset paired with an 11-34t cassette – there weren't many occasions where I was spinning out, and I didn't struggle (too much) with even the steepest off-road climbs.

It also handles well at slow speeds, making it a good option for in-town use as a commuter.

Where the Devote 1 excels, though, is in mile-eating rides over rough ground. The 38mm Giant CrossCut AT 2 tyres can handle a variety of surfaces well without sacrificing speed too badly at all. Okay, I wouldn't pick it for a club ride, but for clocking up the miles at the weekend it quickly became my go-to. There is clearance for up to 45mm tyres if you want, but I'd only be inclined to change to that if I were planning an extended off-road multi-day tour with no tarmac at all. Otherwise, there just didn't feel the need.

The Devote 1 is capable as a road choice, particularly for worse weather conditions, but its real strength is in those routes you plot on the likes of Komoot where it's not entirely clear whether that section is tarmac or something more challenging. This bike lapped up whatever I threw at it and made me smile in the process.

Frame and fork

The Devote 1 is the higher specced of the two aluminium-framed options. Both come with a carbon composite fork and OverDrive steerer, which is stiff enough to cope with vigorous braking but also gives good ride comfort, on and off-road.

The frame is well finished, with obvious but neat welds, and I really like the matt paint finish in this attractive 'non-girly' colour. It's a sturdy but sporty-looking steed.

The frame features internal cable routing throughout, as well as rack and mudguard attachment points – a crucial but often overlooked feature for an adventure bike, I feel, and something that makes any bike a whole lot more practical in UK conditions.

Liv says it has a press-fit FSA MegaExo bottom bracket, but as the eagle-eyed among you have spotted, it's threaded, though there were still some creaking issues even fairly early on. It's a fair bit lower than standard (80mm drop), which helps account for the planted feel of the ride.

Frame sizing and geometry

The Devote is available in sizes XS, S and M, catering for heights from 150 to 175cm. The geometry is set up for female proportions, with a shorter top tube than the men's equivalent size, giving a smaller main triangle (which can cause problems for frame packs and bottles, more on that in a mo).

The size small on test, which Liv says suits heights between 158 and 169cm, has a 525mm top tube, and you can tweak the setup at the front using spacers and flipping the stem – there's scope for being either stretched out or really quite upright, depending on what you do with the bar and stem.

In common with many smaller framed women's bikes – gravel-focused ones in particular – this small size frame did struggle to take off-the-peg bikepacking bags, particularly a frame bag. Custom could be the way to go. My small Apidura pack did fit but only just.

There's not a huge amount of clearance between saddle rails and rear wheel either, meaning a saddle pack needs to be cinched in well to avoid rubbing.

That said, the addition of rack bosses makes kitting it up for touring a world easier, and fitting a rack also makes it a practical bike for day to day use and commuting.

It also has capacity for three bottles, again making it a good long-ride option, but again, fitting them all on could be problematic on such a small frame, especially with other luggage.

Groupset

The Devote 1 comes with Shimano's gravel-specific GRX RX-400 derailleur at the rear and Tiagra at the front, and both deliver reliable shifting.

As I mentioned earlier, the pairing of a 48/32t FSA chainset with an 11-34 cassette provides a good spread of gears, high enough for riding reasonably fast on the road and low enough for tackling rougher trails and climbs.

The matching RX-400 hydraulic disc brakes work well, even in bad conditions. They coped with prolonged descents and gave good confidence with minimal effort, on gravel or tarmac.

Compared with the standard levers I'm used to, the longer, flatter hoods of the GRX hydraulic brake levers did take some getting used to, in terms of hand position – those with smaller hands may find them less comfortable than non-hydro designs.

Braking was easy and efficient, though, with no issues of losing contact with the levers even in the wet or on bouncy rough terrain.

Finishing kit

I found the 40cm Giant Contact XR D-Fuse handlebar a good width for plenty of hand positions and wide enough for steering confidence, but the bar tape wasn't padded enough for my liking, especially for the rough riding the bike's designed for. I like a bit of gel padding under my bar tape.

Setting the Giant D-Fuse alloy seatpost to the correct height isn't that easy, as the torque bolts are very close to the seatpost, which makes it tricky to tighten to the correct amount. The post is also slightly elliptical in shape, so changing it is a non-trivial option.

Saddles are a very personal thing, but the Liv Approach is a cut above many supplied as standard, if a little wider and with more flex in the wings than I would choose.

Wheels and tyres

The Giant S-X2 wheels work very well both on and off road, being sturdy enough for gravel and rough terrain without being overly heavy for road use. The tubeless compatibility is a good fit for a gravel and adventure-ready bike.

The 38mm Giant CrossCut tubeless ready tyres do a great job of coping with most surfaces, from tarmac to gravel, rocky more technical off-road and muddy trails, though they're better on drier surfaces than deep mud.

As I said earlier, there's space for 45mm tyres which, if I was going to spend more time on rougher terrain I'd consider fitting, but only if I was committed to a prolonged off-road adventure. The 38mm ones it comes fitted with coped with everything I needed them to.

Value

For me, this model hits the sweet spot on price. For a gravel and adventure bike, I'm looking for something at a price where I'm getting a good quality bike, which delivers comfort, performance and fun, but I'm not so precious about it that I'll worry about getting it a bit scuffed up by flying grit. At this price, the Devote 1 delivers all I'm looking for, with a combination of good handling, a fun responsive ride, understated good looks and excellent braking at a price that won't break the bank.

> Buyer’s Guide: 25 of the best gravel & adventure bikes

That said, there are cheaper options on the market. It's a bit more expensive than the Merlin Malt G2X GRX at £1,199 and the Ragley Trig Gravel also at £1,199.

As for rival women-specific options, the Cannondale Topstone Women's 2 is remarkably similar in spec to the Liv Devote 1 and very slightly cheaper at £1,299.99. It comes with an alloy frame, carbon fork and Shimano GRX 400 (both front and rear mechs), lower gearing with a 46/30 chainset, internal cable routing and tubeless ready tyres. It's even a similar colour!

> off.road.cc’s guide to the best gravel & adventure bikes under £1,000

The Canyon Grail WMN 6 is slightly more expensive at £1,499, also has an aluminium frame and GRX 400 derailleurs front and rear, but an RX 600 chainset (again, 46/30 like the Cannondale), along with DT Swiss C 1850 wheels and a Selle Italia saddle.

Conclusion

The Liv Devote 1 is a well-thought-out bike for both on and off-road adventures, offering fun, practicality and performance all in a reasonably priced package. It's not perfect, given the issues with frame packs, but the compromises don't feel egregious. Even the sort of 'girly camo' colour (officially 'desert sage') seems spot on for a women's bike suitable for the rough as well as the smooth.

Those who favour women-specific designs and want a gravel-focused do-it-all bike will love the geometry and confidence-inspiring handling of the Devote 1, and it's not bad value for money either.

Verdict

Fun, confidence-inspiring and very capable both on the road and off