2015 Liv Avail Advanced 2 by Giant - The Fantastic Reviews Are In

 

2015 is the year that the Liv Avail became a serious racing machine

Giant has created a line of women specific bikes that are branded as Liv. The idea is that they are not a Giant Liv bike. One could say that it is the Liv Line by Giant, as Giant's name is still contained on a decal, and the Liv brand is on the Giant website. This may be distinction without a difference, but the real issue comes down to whether Live is really about the women. On that there seems to be no argument. 

The bicycle industry has primary source for all important information. That is BRAIN magazine. Here is what they had to say:

Liv introduced its 2015 Avail line to media at the event in Scotland. With a goal of making cycling more approachable and appealing to women, Giant recently launched its Liv brand, which is designed, engineered and headed up by women. “Most of the composite frames are made by women as well,” said Amanda Schaper, Liv global marketing coordinator. “So Liv is truly made for women, by women.” 

 Each Liv model is handcrafted by Giant, and a small badge stating that located on the seattube near the bottom bracket is the only reference to the parent company that can be found on the frame. 

Schaper said that Liv is 100 percent committed to the female cyclist, as also proven by the expansion of the Liv soft goods line, which has also been redesigned for 2015.

Female editors attending the event rode the Avail Advanced SL 0. The frame weighs in at less than 900 grams, making it the lightest in the 2015 Liv line. Equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace disc brakes, Di2 shifting, Giant's new SLR 0 disc lightweight carbon wheelset, which it also unveiled, this model is the cream of the Avail crop.  

Many of the Avail Advanced SL's core features are borrowed from the Defy, including the D-fuse seatpost, integrated disc brakes, internal cable routing through one side of the frame and the same thin and flattened seatstays. But the Avail frame is not just a tweaked version of the Defy.

“Instead of taking the men's frame, shrinking the top tube and making the head tube taller and calling it a women's bike, we used three years' worth of body dimension research, feedback from athletes, our target consumers, and our ambassadors to determine the ideal geometry,” said Abby Santurbane, global category manager for Liv. “We also took into consideration the intended usage of the bike to find the ideal body angle.”

Santurbane also said that positive feedback about past iterations of the Avail model led them to only make small changes in the frame geometry, including lowering the top tube for improved standover height. The geometry is optimized for long rides on varied road conditions, with frame seat angles that help put the rider's center of gravity over the bottom bracket and a head tube angle ranging from 70-72 degrees.

 While the Avail Advanced bike range is not just a smaller version of the Defy, the core characteristics, including handling, stiffness, comfort, weight, and components are common to each line. For a complete evaluation of the brother bike to the Avail, see our detailed review of the 2015 Giant Defy Advanced here.

Please come visit us at Pedal Power in Richmond, VA. We will be happy to sit down with you and help you determine which of the Liv bicycles might be perfect for the kind of cycling you have in your future.




1904 Staples Mill Rd.
Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 658-2126
randy@pedalpowerbicycles.com
www.pedalpowerbicycles.com