Late last week, rumors began circulating that Colorado-based Revel Bikes was shutting down. Social media posts from individuals working at the company suggest the brand is coming to a close, and an email to dealers reported by BRAIN says, in part, “Revel Bikes as it currently stands is closing its doors.” Ova Verploegh, Director of Finance at Revel, said in a Facebook post that “the Revel name may be taking its final blow,” though the brand’s spirit of innovation will live on.
However, the company has yet to acknowledge the news directly to consumers, either through the Revel website or on social media.
The BRAIN article went on to note that the dealer message indicated bikes would be discounted 40-50% beginning Friday, which apparently caused a surge of visits to the brand’s website. On Friday, the site was only available intermittently, though no discounted prices were shown. By Saturday, a message at the top of the site read, “Due to unprecedented traffic and demand we cannot accurately reflect our inventory and pricing. We are working diligently to get it updated. Please check back at a later date.” An Instagram post yesterday added, “WOW! We can’t even believe the support for Revel over the last 24 hours! We’re feeling the love.”
Today it appears the site is operating normally, and we’re starting to see discounted pricing for in-stock bikes. The largest, 50% discounts apply to the Revel Rail all-mountain bike. Two new Revel Rascal SL builds are priced 40% off, though framesets and V2 bikes are still showing full retail pricing. A few retailers, including Jenson USA and Worldwide Cyclery, have select Revel bikes on sale for 40% off or more.
Monday update: Today the Revel website says, “all sales are FINAL!,” which suggests the company may not be planning to offer full support in the future. We’ll update this article as we’re able to confirm more details.
Just last week Revel announced a slew of new and updated models, including the brand’s first electric mountain bike, the Rerun. The brand added another new model to the line-up, the Ritual enduro bike. That model, along with the updated Ranger, is showing May and June availability, respectively, with no discounts available at this time.
Singletracks tested the Revel Rascal V2 last year and proclaimed, the “Rascal nails sophomore release.” Making use of the Canfield Balance Formula (CBF) suspension design, reviewers and riders alike have praised the performance and quality of Revel bikes.
Barely one year later, this statement from our review is all the more bittersweet: “If and when Revel decides to go to V3, they’ll have a hard time matching this one.”
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"We just want to say a huge thank you for all the amazing support you've shown Revel over the past couple of weeks. We know many of you have been eager to order small parts to keep your Revel bikes in top shape for years to come, and we're thrilled about it! We also understand that some of you are curious about the status of those parts, as we're usually known for our speedy service. Don't worry, the Revel Crew is working hard to get your orders out as fast as possible. It's just taking a little longer than usual because of the unexpected surge in orders. Right now, we're estimating about 7-10 business days from when you place your order to when it ships. Additionally, please also allow us a little extra time to get back to you via phone calls and emails as we're a smaller crew at the moment and doing out best to get through all your messages.
Also, we understand there are many questions that need answers from warranty situations to what the future holds for Revelers from coast to coast. Once we can provide those answers we will relay them all your way. In the mean time, keep those wheels rolling and we'll see you out on the trails!
All the Best,
The Revel Bikes Crew"
1 week ago