Founder of Colorado mountain bike maker Revel Bikes says company is profitable again

For Adam Miller leading Revel was like riding a bike The founder of the Carbondale-based mountain bike maker says the company regained profitability within three months of him reviving the brand this spring after the private equity firm that controlled it informed it would shut down We ve got the O G crew together to get the brand back to what we were doing and adapt it to the times noted Miller Miller founded Revel in and explained sales were growing to annually before he sold the company in to Next Sparc an Ohio-based private equity firm The funding was meant to boost Revel s supply chain We were considered one of the fastest-growing mountain biking companies Miller explained And we were growing so fast that I longed to sell the business and stay on board Next Sparc did go to work on the supply chain In early the company opened a -square-foot satellite office in Taiwan the bike manufacturing capital of the world with six employees Typically smaller bike companies like Revel use third-party manufacturers instead of hiring in house But the expansion came with changes Instead of focusing on customizable bikes as it previously had Revel s new owner sold pre-built frames it had already boxed up much to the chagrin of Miller Wholesaling also became more of a priority than direct-to-consumer sales Sales started to tick down as a COVID-induced bike industry boom subsided It was extremely archaic and you had too much cash tied up in inventory Miller reported of the system We d have a sales plan for months and just take a guess at what would sell Miller stayed on as CEO through fall before transitioning to an advisory role In April he left I retained a minority stake and still ended up departing the company due to differences of ideas the advancement at all costs strategy that Next Sparc brought which just ultimately takes away from creating the best products Miller disclosed It s a really unique business and it s hard to pour money on things and expect things to happen he added In April of this year Revel declared it was shutting down and that unsecured creditors would likely receive nothing Regrettably though we have tried every avenue viable we have exhausted all options and run out of funds to aid the business the company noted A month later Miller located out that JPMorgan Chase was going to foreclose on the business so he bought Revel s assets from the bank He declined to disclose what he paid Since assuming control Miller has hired Mike Griese Revel s head of product from to along with three marketing and sales people from his original association He has also had the company revert to focus on customizable bikes That he reported allowed him to reduce prices by to in June The average Revel bike now costs to The build-to-order model has also helped Revel better adjust to rollercoaster tariff plan from the federal governing body Miller stated Even before President Trump s so-called Liberation Day tariffs on completed bikes from Taiwan to the U S were The number for parts was at That s an example of a tariff strategy with logic behind it and we could adjust practices to that tariff Miller revealed explaining that its carbon frame is nearly impossible to make in the United States The old numbers he stated protected American assembly jobs But now there s no logic he added In contemporary times Miller has to add to those numbers To avoid the duties on a few international sales Revel has set up a drop-shipping plan in Taiwan Instead of having every bike come to the U S only stateside orders come to Carbondale While international sales make up only of Revel s business it s a growing segment Miller mentioned Japan as Revel s majority emergent field If a customer in Canada wants a bike it makes no sense to ship it here first he mentioned It s very country dependent The main goal is to stay super nimble Miller explained revenue is projected to finish somewhere between flat and up a inadequate percent from Revel s roughly million in sales last year represented a important drop from the years before he revealed On the product side Miller reported Revel has more experimental bikes in its stable than ever Though he declined to share specifics on what trailriders can expect he commented they ll be out there ripping through dirt next year We re not here to sell bikes at a discount and compete with Specialized and Trek Miller disclosed We re here to make the best bikes we can Read more from our partner BusinessDen Get more business news by signing up for our Financial sector Now newsletter