Revel's DH Bike Concept Has a 3D-Printed Thermoplastic Frame

Revel Bikes made their debut back in 2019, and in the years since the brand has rolled out several new models, all situated on the slightly more conservative side of the geometry spectrum. The fact that Revel didn't dive headfirst into the extra-long and slack pool isn't a bad thing – the bikes have received plenty of praise for their quick handling and excellent pedaling manners – it just makes Revel's announcement that they've been working on a 3D printed downhill bike a little more surprising.

The idea for the bike first arose during Revel's early days, when Chris Canfield was working on the suspension layout for the trail bikes. Keen to see his CBF suspension design applied to a composite bike, Canfield came up with the geometry figures and kinematics for the Rodeo.

Before going further, it needs to be mentioned that the Revel Rodeo is still in the very early stages of development. It's more of a proof of concept than anything else, and if the bike went into production as it's shown now the price would be so high that only the Musks and Zuckerbergs of the world would be able to afford it.



Enter Arevo

With the basics of the DH bike in place, the next step was deciding how to manufacture it. Adam Miller, Revel's CEO, has an appetite for new manufacturing techniques, and in this case it was Arevo, a Silicon Valley-based company that's focused on implementing futuristic ways of making composites that grabbed his attention.

If the name sounds familiar, Arevo is the company behind the Superstrata, the crowd-funded road bike that was billed as the “world's first 3D-printed custom unibody carbon fiber composite bike.” The campaign was wildly successful, raising over $7 million USD, although the reception to the bikes once backers finally received them was decidedly lukewarm – the weight and overall finish of the Superstrata didn't live up to the lofty claims. The multiple long shipping delays that were exacerbated by Covid didn't help things either.

Arevo also launched the Scotsman All-Carbon Fiber Scooter on Indiegogo, although once again comments for that campaign are filled with angry backers frustrated at the ongoing delays and lack of updates. That was followed up by the Mishima lounge chair, which does seem like it's available, assuming you don't mind waiting 14 weeks and paying over $5,000 for one. F1's Fernando Alonso even makes an appearance in this story – his Kimoa brand released an e-bike manufactured by Arevo at the Miami Grand Prix last year.

As a final twist to the tale of Arevo, the CIA, or rather In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital firm, is one of the investors in the company.



Robots, Lasers, & Thermoplastic

Putting aside Arevo's odd history and and ongoing hurdles, the potential for a 3D printed thermoplastic bike is very intriguing. Creating a carbon fiber frame is traditionally a very labor intensive process, and an expensive mold must first be created for each frame size.

Bring in some thermoplastic, lasers, and robots and the amount of hand labor required during manufacturing dramatically decreases. It's worth mentioning the use of thermoplastic isn't a new concept in the mountain bike world – GT was using the stuff in the mid- to late '90s, and more recently Guerrilla Gravity started using it for their frames, while several companies including Revel, Chris King, and Evil, have worked with CSS Composites to created thermoplastic rims.

What sets Arevo's methods apart is the fact that they're 3D printing the frames, building them one layer at a time, rather than using a mold. The filament is fed through a six-axis robotic arm, where it's heated up by a laser, and then compacted by a roller while it's laid down in the pre-programmed pattern. The lack of a mold opens up all sorts of customization options when it comes to frame sizing and geometry.

That said, although there's technically a nearly infinite number of possibilities when printing a frame, the strength of the final product still needs to be considered – you can't just scale up a frame without performing an analysis to ensure that it would still be strong enough to pass the relevant standards.

In the case of the Revel Rodeo, the frame did pass ISO standards, but Adam Miller said that it's still not quite at the level of strength they're looking for. Revel's pie-in-the-sky, long term goal is to have a rider aboard a 3D printed Revel at a Red Bull Rampage someday, which means that the frame needs to be as strong as possible.

As for those water bottle mounts, those aren't a joke – they were added as a 'Why not?' feature during the design process of the bike. It's easy enough to remove the mounting bolts if a rider doesn't want to carry a bottle, and for the thirsty park rat they'll be a welcome addition.




What's Next?

Where do things go from here? That's a good question. Adam Miller believes that this could be a glimpse into the future of bike manufacturing, but Revel's efforts haven't resulted in a clear conclusion as to when that future will begin. The cost is still a major hurdle, due to the amount of engineering time the project requires, and, as Arevo's other endeavors have illustrated, being able to meet demand is another factor that needs to be considered.

For now, the Rodeo is simply an interesting side project – we'll have to wait and see where Revel and Arevo's efforts take them.

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