Liv Avail Advanced Pro 2 2023

The Liv Avail Advanced Pro 2 is a beautiful, women-specific endurance bike that combines great value with comfort for long days on the saddle. Although there are one or two things that I'd change if this was my own bike, the overall package delivers a great riding experience. It's an excellent endurance bike at a reasonable price for the tech it comes with.

Read our guide to the best endurance bikes for more options for sportives, audax and mile-munching.

> Buy now: Liv Avail Advanced Pro 2 for £3,199 from Liv

Ride

On the road, the Avail is both comfortable and stable, and although it's definitely best suited for endurance riding, it never felt like it was slowing me down, even on those shorter rides where you're pushing the pace higher with pals. The more relaxed riding position might not inspire you to sprint or race on it – although I of course tested its speed capabilities, quite a few times – but the bike does still have that little punch to it.

It's reactive, and delivers all you could want in terms of power transfer, turning whatever effort I put out into propelling the bike forward effectively.

The frame is stiff, but not so much as to feel harsh, and I very much enjoyed the flex that the exposed seat tube allowed.

It's equally as enjoyable on long climbs as it is on the flat, helped by the relatively light 8.2kg (without pedals) weight; it didn't slow me down at all. The gearing helps too – plenty for both hills and descents, so I never spun out or had to grind up climbs.

With its relaxed geometry, wide gear range, quite chunky semi-slick tyres and mudguard mounts, it's a very suitable choice for everyday riders.

Frame

The Avail Advanced Pro 2 is made from Liv's Advanced-Grade Composite carbon fibre, with the beautiful Carbon/Airglow finish you can see in the pics – kind of a glossy black but with raw carbon and a little bit of bling to it, depending on how the light hits it.

Though the Avail Advanced Pro 2 is an endurance bike, it incorporates some elements from its racier counterparts – the EnviLiv and Langma: internal cable and hose routing creates a clean appearance, and the D-shaped Giant seatpost with an internal clamp adds to the aesthetics – although that seat clamp can be a little cumbersome to use, especially with a multi-tool.

With the Giant D-Fuse seatpost you can choose a saddle setback of either -5mm or +15mm, which is great for getting the right fit, especially if you're still figuring out what works for you. I tried both before settling for what felt better.

As for mounts, you get the standard two bottle cage pairs inside the front triangle, and the bike is supplied with a plastic seat bridge so you can fit mudguards if you wish.

The bike is equipped with 32mm tyres, but the frame has clearance for 35mm if you want to go wider.

Geometry

The Liv Avail Advanced Pro 2 geometry is based on women-specific fit data, but somewhat resembles that of the award-winning unisex Giant Defy. It includes a slanted top tube for an improved stiffness-to-weight ratio, which also helps if you're at all worried about the bike's standover height. Compared to a size XS Canyon Endurace (its equivalent), for example, the Avail's standover is 34mm lower at 716mm.

The slanted top tube also allows for more seat tube to be exposed, which allows more flex and, hence, comfort. The seatstays are also dropped, although because of the quite radically sloping top tube, they don't look it especially. They do, however, contribute to the comfort.

The bike is available in four sizes: XS, S, M and L, and I tested the size S – the one that Liv's size chart would suggest for my 164cm height.

This has a top tube length of 525mm and a 998mm wheelbase, which is much in line with similar small bikes – a Trek Domane or Canyon Endurace, for example.

The frame's reach is 373mm and the stack 547mm – much like you'd expect with an endurance-focused road bike. The head tube angle is 71.5 degrees and the seat tube angle is 74.5, which again is nothing dramatically different to most on the market.

The bottom bracket drop is 73mm, which helps the bike's high-speed stability, as do the 32mm tyres fitted (and there's room for 35mm rubber).

Groupset

Shifting and braking on the Avail Advanced Pro 2 is courtesy of Shimano's 105 Di2 electronic groupset. You get a relatively wide gear range here, with a 50/34-tooth chainring and an 11-34T cassette. The crank lengths change depending on the frame size: on the size S and M they're 170mm, whereas the XS gets 165mm and the L 172.5mm.

Although I feel 105 Di2 is slightly less sharp in shifting than Ultegra Di2, it's still excellent, especially on longer rides where you will be changing gear so many times – cable-actuated shifting can really start to make your hands and wrists ache.

The braking is very reliable and sharp, too.

Wheels & tyres

The bike rolls on Giant SLR2 36 Disc WheelSystem, paired with 32mm Giant Gavia Fondo 1 Tubeless tyres, which measure a little bit wider on the hookless rims.

The rims measure 22mm internally, and paired with the 32mm tyres contributed to the stable and smooth ride over what is the usual "smooth" tarmac over here in Scotland. It was easy to run the tyres at low pressures – and they come set up tubeless from Liv – and that definitely added to overall ride comfort, as I didn't have to worry about pinch flats.

The Avail has clearance for 35mm, and with the Gavia Fondos there's still plenty of space left. The wider tyres can also be paired with mudguards, as there are mounts for those, making this a much more all-year-round bike.

The tyres feel very grippy in all conditions, and even though I did my best to avoid riding in the rain, the wet tarmac felt as good as the dry with these tyres. They also seemed to be wearing very slowly, as despite the few hundred miles I put into them they barely showed a scuff.

Their robustness comes at a weight penalty, though, as at 370g per tyre these are far from the lightest. Swapping them would be an easy way to make the bike a little lighter, though I'd definitely stick with tubeless as that was excellent on the not-so-smooth tarmac roads.

Finishing kit

The finishing kit on the Avail Advanced Pro 2 is all Liv/Giant – Giant Contact stem, Liv Contact SL D-Fuse handlebar (40cm wide for the S frame), the Giant D-Fuse seatpost mentioned earlier and a Liv Alacra SL CS saddle, which I found very comfortable.

The stem is 80mm long for the size S bike, which is typical for small and especially women-specific bikes.

One thing I'd swap if this were my own bike is the handlebar. The size S comes with a 40cm bar which certainly enables more stability but felt overly wide for the otherwise small bike, and I must admit it affected the overall ride experience for me, and the steering to some degree. If this was an all-road bike with gravel capacity, I'd stick with the wider bar, but considering it's still primarily a road bike, I think 38cm – as the XS gets – would be plenty (the L has a 42cm bar).

The bar is wrapped with Liv All Condition tape which has a very grippy, car tyre-like pattern, but it's also rather thick. It's personal preference, and for longer distances well-cushioned tape is good, but I think something a little thinner – or slightly more loosely wrapped – would have done the job as well.

Value and conclusion

In today's market, I think you're getting a good deal for your money with the Liv Avail: sharp electronic shifting paired with a carbon frame, carbon wheels and carbon finishing kit.

Looking at its closest competitors, the Ribble Endurance SL R Disc Sport, for example, is £4,199 (we tested the version with SRAM Red eTap AXS back in 2020), and Trek's Domane SL 6 Gen 4 is £4,800 (Mat tested the frameset in 2021). Both are equipped with the same groupset and overall components.

There are a lot of bikes in this endurance road bike segment, but one thing that Liv offers over the others is the women-focused geometry and components. It works for me – I found this bike very comfortable, as has been the case for all of the Liv bikes I've ever ridden.

Verdict

Great value bike with stable handling, suitable for a range of endurance riders from beginners to the more experienced