After months upon months of reporting unfortunate bike industry news, there have been a few bright spots. Most recently, the team at Abra-Cadabra Fabrications revived the legacy Waterford and Gunnar brands. Today, it's Adam Miller acquiring Revel Bikes back from Next Sparc Growth Partners, which is the private equity firm he sold to in 2021.
Josh Weinberg
Miller started Revel in 2019. With just two bikes models and team of six friends in a small warehouse, the brand was small and scrappy in the beginning. It grew quickly and, in 2021, Miller sold to private equity. In a statement about his re-acquisition, he explained, "I believed that with more capital and infrastructure, Revel could grow into something even bigger, while holding on to what made it special." And it did just that, "investing heavily in building a world-class supply chain, establishing its own facility in Taichung, Taiwan, and shifting carbon frame production to one of the top factories in Vietnam."
But when the company’s mission started to deviate from Miller's vision, he stepped away in 2024. Then, when the private equity firm announced Revel was closing, Miller told Escape Collective that he was left feeling "floored" and "couldn't let it disappear."
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