When Revel Bikes announced that founder and former owner Adam Miller wasbuying the brand back, we couldn’t have been happier. There is always disappointment when any brand struggles, but the Revel announcement hit extra hard.
Perhaps it was due to the announcement of new offerings from the brand that made the closure extra difficult to swallow. Maybe the sting of potentially never getting to ride them was more than we could bear.
With such a tumultuous year, you’d think a brand like Revel would take things easy. But no; Miller and compadres are doing what they do best — continuing to innovate at the highest levels of frame design.
And, once again, they are dipping into titanium.
Revel Back From the Dead
Earlier this year, Revel Bikes announced that it would be closing. This announcement took many by surprise, but it wasn’t surprising at the same time. On the one hand, the brand had just released two new bikes — the ReRun and Ritual — and new colors for the Ranger.
On the other hand, it has clearly been challenging times for the mountain bike industry. Brands like Kona and Rocky Mountain, among others, had recently made similar announcements, making Revel’s, while disappointing, almost expected.
There are many podcasts and articles you can read that dive a bit deeper into what exactly went on with Revel…we’ll leave that up to your leisurely Google search. But, in a nutshell, what seemed to happen was this: after the brand exploded in 2019, Miller sold the brand to private equity firms. The hope of more capital equalling growth perhaps didn’t gel with Revel’s core values of creating quality bikes that are a touch different.
Plus, there was this crazy pandemic where outdoor recreation exploded, and then fell off. All brands took a hit, but it was especially hard for boutique outfits like Revel. Unfortunately, higher ups made hard decisions, and investors chose to cut their losses.
Fortunately, Miller, crushed by the announcement, stepped in to revitalize the brand and, as far as we know, things are looking promising.
Constantly Innovating
Things are looking especially promising, considering Revel is once again teasing a new bike. And this bike is a change from the standard carbon CBF frames we are used to.
While it is something completely new, it isn’t out of the realm for the brand.
Titanium isn’t new to Revel. Its sister brand, Why Cycles, was known for its ti offerings beginning in 2016. In 2022, the titanium innovation Why brought to the industry came under the Revel umbrella. Popular bikes such as the El Jefe were now Revel’s, which only worked with carbon but now dabbled in titanium.
And there were no complaints.
Along with beginning (again) to make ti frames, Revel also started pioneering a whole new concept for frame manufacturing. While never actually released, the brand teased the Rodeo. A CBF carbon 3D printed downhill bike demonstrated the potential of how frames could be manufactured in the future.
And, now, Revel is doing it again with the RaTical.
Revel’s New Concept Bike: The RaTical
Wrapping up a year of ups and downs, Revel is choosing to end things on a definite high. Today, the brand releases Project RaTical, a 130mm trail bike that ventures from their regular carbon offerings.
Here is what we know so far. The Revel RaTical uses 3D-printed 6Al-4V (Grade 5) junctions welded to 3Al-2.5V (Grade 9) titanium tubing. It features 6Al-4V titanium machined hardware and a 130mm CBF platform. The bike ventures away from Revel’s typical horizontally mounted shock to a vertical mount. It also features a very cool, very anodized 3D-printed titanium main link.
While the suspension platform varies rather far from what we would expect a Revel CBF bike to look like, Chris Canfield said this:
“This new layout might look like a traditional Horst link bike. But this one is not like the others. I have specially tuned this layout with my CBF special sauce to give it the power transfer you expect from CBF. It’s grippy on the climbs, has perfect control on the downs, and sprints like it’s got a motor.”
The RaTical clears 29×2.6” tires, is 31.5 pounds, and is UDH compatible. From the pictures, we see a RockShox Lyrik/Super Delux combo, Industry Nine wheels, and Continental tires. They also tease SRAM Motive brakes, a Transmission drivetrain, and Trail One bars.
At least, this is what could potentially be. Currently, there seems to be only one Revel dual suspension ti bike that founder Adam Miller is cruising around on. Here’s what he said:
“Titanium full suspension bikes in the past have been limited by welding tubes. Concessions always had to be made in geometry, kinematics, and frame flex. But now, with the ability to 3D print titanium, the possibilities are almost endless. We can apply much more of our carbon engineering design philosophy to a more traditional material. I’ve always been a fan of titanium and full suspension, so this bike is a culmination of both obsessions. Plus, it rides ridiculously good!”
We literally cannot wait to find out more details about Project RaTical and, of course, will take any opportunity to test the new bike.
