Made in the USA and Totally Recyclable, Revel Carbon Wheels Are Here 8

Lighter, stronger, made in America and 100% recyclable. The new Revel wheels just flipped the script. The same bike nerds who brought you Revel Bikes are proud to present Revel Wheels. These rims are made from the brand new Fusion-Fiber technology developed and manufactured in an aerospace facility in southern Utah. There’s no environmentally harmful or brittle epoxy in this carbon- it is a highly engineered, high performance composite polymer that makes for a significantly more durable, lighter, and better riding wheel with a nice damped feel.

Fusion-Fiber is the name of this technology, which encompasses the material and the process. And it’s unlike any composite material the bicycle world has ever seen. We partnered with some friends who developed this material in one of the world’s leading aerospace manufacturing facilities in America to come out with the first product made from it- the RW30 rim.

At a basic level, the crew at CSS removed all epoxy from standard pre-preg carbon and replaced it with advanced polymers- think nylon, but on a whole new level. The raw material is a blend of unidirectional long fiber German and Japanese carbon impregnated with this polymer. In its raw form, it is completely stable, has an unlimited shelf life, doesn’t need to be stored in a refrigerated room like standard epoxy pre-preg carbon, and all of this stable and consistent production.

Not only is the raw material innovative, the manufacturing process is where things get really crazy. The rims are laid-up and cross-plied robotically, leaving no space for human error or inconsistencies. The rims are then flash welded together, with an exponentially faster cure time than current rim technology. Cure times go from around 45 minutes for a standard thermoset carbon rim to 20 seconds with this system, in a completely controlled environment so every rim comes out the same, every time. When the rim pops out of the mold, there is no epoxy resin to be scraped or sanded and it needs no clear coating. These two steps expose most harmful chemicals to the worker and the environment. Fusion-FiberTM has multiple patents pending and is stronger and has much better impact resistance per gram than standard carbon fiber. Where epoxy is brittle and can fracture, nylon is flexible and makes for a quiet, damped ride feel, and better impact resistant rim.

Revel rims are backed by a lifetime warranty and crash replacement policy. If a Revel rim should happen to break, we want to get you back riding your bike riding ASAP. We also want that rim back so we can recycle it into another bike part!

 If you do break your rim, we’ll send you a loaner set of wheels at no charge to use while we repair or replace your wheel. We’ll cover shipping both ways. The bottom line is that in the mountain bike world, a lot of us have come to accept a pretty high failure rate for high end carbon wheels. We engineered these rims to be superior in strength to all other carbon rims on the market, but if you run low tire pressures, smack a sharp rock and luck isn’t on your side, a rim crack can still happen. The likelihood of our Fusion-Fiber to contain a failure in a small area on the rim and not permeate a larger crack is high, and you have a better chance of keeping your tire on the rim and inflated if something does go wrong.

We have a pretty big pile of rims from our development process that we have already recycled and turned into parts. Our partners are dedicated to perfecting this method and the sky is the limit to what we can make. If we get a rim back that needs to be recycled, we remove the vinyl decals and drop the rim into a chipper and chop it up into small blocks about 1-inch square. Those chips are then melted down into a block of material that can be turned into another part. We’re thrilled to be taking tangible steps and working with the world’s leading manufacturers to create products made for fun and the least amount of negative environmental impact possible.

Revel has rims and wheels available now in 27.5 and 29-inch. The RW30 is an enduro/trail rated rim. The 27.5 rim weighs 440 grams and the 29er weighs 470 grams. Of course, Revel worked with their good friends at Industry Nine, and all complete Revel wheels will be built with their hubs. Wheels are available with I9 1/1 or Hydra hubs and Sapim D-light spokes. Rims retail for $699 each and are available in 28H and 32H drilling. Complete wheels are drilled 28H with 1/1 wheels coming in at $1975 and Hydra complete wheels are $2200.

Backstory

Ten years ago, Revel Bikes founder Adam Miller met Joe Stanish (COO of CSS Composites) on the side of the Sardine Peak trail in Ogden, UT. Joe was VP of Operations at ENVE Composites at the time, and Adam had one of his first jobs in the bike industry working for a bike brand down the road. That meeting led to a business mentorship and great friendship. After a few years of meeting up weekly for beers and bike business chats, Joe approached Adam and Revel in early 2019 with this great idea. He and his team at CSS Composites were developing this incredible new composite material that was stronger, lighter, cost effective, and made in America. And they wanted to partner with Revel to release the first bicycle rims made from the Fusion-Fiber, “But what really got my attention was that the material was 100% recyclable,” said Miller. A strategic partnership was born that has grown to where we are today with the release of Revel Wheels.

Head to Revelbikes.com for more information on Revel Wheels and Revel Bike Company.