Although Liv is part of the Giant Group, according to Giant spokesman Marc Kessing, the bikes, which are specially tailored to the needs and anatomy of women, are completely in-house developments and not a copy of the men's models with nail polish. Although the frame shape is similar to the Fast Road AR, including the beautiful spacers on the stem, it is noticeable when adjusting the saddle height: You sit noticeably further behind the bottom bracket on the Liv, so you pedal a little more with the popo muscle and less from the thigh, as women naturally do.
The natural flex of the seat post also provides more comfort. In addition, the angle between the torso and hips is slightly more acute, so women can sit like this without any problems due to the greater manoeuvrability. Speaking of seat height: If you ride the bike, you should get yourself a small torque spanner, the area between the seatpost slipping and the frame cracking is not that big.
Details and features of the Liv Thrive Advanced GX
Thanks to the slightly rearward riding position, the front wheel takes less weight, the bike is super manoeuvrable and, thanks to the tubeless tyres, also goes well over kerbs and the like. Except perhaps on mud, the combination of balance, steering angle, wheelbase and, not least, tyres is very forgiving. The knobbly tyres may reduce the top speed somewhat, but they also give inexperienced riders sufficient confidence in woods and fields.
The good Tektro brakes, with which it is hardly possible to over-brake due to the load distribution, certainly work. However, discs and pads need a few kilometres and a few hard brake applications to Brakingto develop their full power, just in case someone is disappointed after the test drive in the shop.
When it comes to the drivetrain, functional simplicity was also a priority here, a single chainring means maximum uncomplicated shifting logic, the extremely wide-spread cassette with up to 42 teeth never lacked a smaller gear ratio in the test, rather an intermediate gear, but this only bothers you on very sporty rides, especially uphill, or when utilising the huge potential of the payload, the pilot can weigh up to 135 kilos, the luggage up to 14 kilos!
The fresh colour and the solid-looking, but very light and technically beautifully made frame and fork as well as the excellently selected equipment are not enough to distract the eye from the unnecessarily wide handlebars. The second widest flat bar in the test caused the wrists of all the dedicated testers to bend extremely towards the thumbs. This doesn't suit the statistically narrower female anatomy, and that's with a size S frame.
Conclusion on the Liv Thrive Advanced GX in the MYBIKE test
Even if the wishes of women and men for sporty bikes are not completely contradictory, apart from the handlebar width, the Liv Thrive Advanced GX combines many features that experience has shown to be better for women than men. The short stem keeps the position moderately sporty, making the Thrive very versatile. The only things the bike doesn't like are slippery surfaces, all the luggage on the rear and high mountain stages, but it doesn't lack anything in terms of balance and gear ratios. - Timo Dillenberger, MYBIKE editor
The most important information about the Liv Thrive Advanced GX
- Weight: 9.15 kg
- Price: 2199 Euro
- Frameset: Full carbon
- Maximum system weight: 159 kg
- Frame sizes: XS, S, M, L
- Seat tube / top tube: 450 / 560 mm
- Stack / Reach / SR quotient*: 590/ 385 mm / 1,53
- Wheelbase: 1025 mm
- Drive: Shimano Deore groupset, 1 x 11 gears, FSA Omega AGX+ crank 40 teeth, Deore cassette 11-42 teeth
- Brakes: Tektro HD-R280 hydraulic disc brakes, 160 / 160 mm, HD-R280 brake lever
- Wheels / tyres: Giant P-X2 Disc aluminium wheels, 24 x 2.2 mm steel spokes / Giant Crosscut Grip 2, 700 x 45c
- Saddle / handlebars: Ergocontact ladies / Flatbar 70.4 cm
*SR ratio: calculates the ratio of height to length of the frame; the higher the value, the more elongated the geometry.
