One Weird Bike for One Weird Dude: Jeff’s Unique Revel El Jefe Hardtail MTB [Video]

Jeff is a man of many interests and enjoys all sorts of bikes, but one bike of his in particular is especially unique and holds a special place in his heart... his Revel El Jefe. From the rigid ENVE carbon fork to the 11 speed drivetrain and 2.2" tires, this bike was built with one purpose in mind - unadulterated fun. Tune in to hear about why Jeff built this bike the way he did, what he uses it for and more.

 

Jeff's Revel El Jefe

 

 

There's a saying... there's more than one way to skin a cat. I'm not sure who came up with that or why they had to skin said cat but interestingly enough the message does apply here in this case - there's more than one way to build a bike. Especially when it comes to a Revel El Jefe. Such a versatile bike could be built as a trail hardtail, XC whippersnapper, a bikepacking beast, a full rigid ripper like you see here, or any other way your heart desires.

In order to understand this bike, you must understand its position in Jeff's quiver. Being that Jeff has an enduro bike and a light trail/XC bike in his Banshee Titan and Yeti ASR respectively, he wanted to build a bike that didn't blur the lines between disciplines and was also tailored perfectly to the terrain that he most frequently rides. 

 

 

Now that we understand this bike's position in Jeff's quiver, we're able to make a little more sense of why he built this bike the way he did. Instead of running a normal suspension fork like most El Jefe's, Jeff opted for a suspension corrected carbon fiber Enve fork in order to reduce the weight, make the bike a little bit zippier, and further differentiate it from his ASR. Not only that, but Jeff really enjoys being underbiked and riding things on the absolute limit.

Speaking of riding on the absolute limit, that brings us to the 2.2" Continental Race King tires. These speedy XC tires allow Jeff to dance on the ragged edge of control as well as cover the miles like no other. These tires are wrapped around a set of BERD Hawk27 wheels laced with their famous spokes to an Industry Nine Hydra hub which work very well on a bike like this due to the way the spokes damp vibrations and have an excellent ride quality. Something has to take the edge off when you ride a full rigid bike, right?

 

 

When it comes to the cockpit, it's the usual suspects at play - an absolutely dialed Trail One affair featuring a 20mm rise Crockett Carbon handlebar, a 35mm Rockville Stem, Trail One Hell's Gate grips and the T1 Top Cap & Spacer kit to top it all off. Hanging off his handlebars are his SRAM Level Ultimate brakes adorning carbon lever blades as well as a Wolf Tooth ReMote Pro dropper lever & SRAM XX1 11 speed shifter. That shifter is paired with an XX1 11 speed rear derailleur, an XX1 black chain, RaceFace G5 Next SL cranks with an Absolute Black chainring and an e*thirteen Helix cassette. This allows Jeff to have nearly the range of a SRAM Eagle setup but in a lighter package.

Jeff has a special place in his heart for SRAM XX1 11 speed - he's utilized it on his bikes for years and years and unless he's building up a longer travel bike, he will typically opt for the this setup since it's lighter weight, shifts very well and often doesn't require as much fine tuning as its 12 speed counterparts. 

 

  

Jeff's bum rests upon a WTB Koda saddle that's mounted to a Wolf Tooth Resolve dropper post while his feet are spinning a pair of Crankbrothers' Mallet Trail pedals. If you've followed along with any of Jeff's bike builds in the past, you'll notice there's a theme where he utilizes similar touch points on his builds to replicate a consistent feeling when he rides each bike and this bike is no different. 

  

 

If you are one strange human that would like to read a transcript of the video above, continue reading below!