Revel’s Project RaTical: 3D-Printed Titanium Meets CBF Suspension

Revel Bikes Latest One Of A Kind Prototype

Revel just pulled a clever trick: take the lively, efficient feel of their carbon CBF bikes and see if they can bottle it in titanium, without the usual Ti full suspension compromises. The result is Project RaTical, a one-off 130 mm concept frame that blends 3D-printed 6Al-4V titanium junctions with hand-welded 3Al-2.5V tubes and a new vertical-shock CBF layout. It is both a suspension experiment and a materials experiment, developed with Chris Canfield and a top-tier Ti manufacturing partner. There is only one, it is being ridden, and as shown it weighs 31.5 lb.

What makes this interesting is not just that it is titanium, it is how the titanium is used. Traditional Ti full suspension frames were limited by where you could miter and weld round tubes, which forced compromises in pivot placement, stiffness, and sometimes geometry. By 3D printing the junctions in Grade 5 Ti, Revel can place pivots exactly where the kinematics want them, thicken walls or add ribs inside the lugs for targeted stiffness, and machine bearing bores to tight tolerances. Then they tie it together with Grade 9 tubes for that classic Ti ride feel. It is essentially applying carbon-style design freedom to metal, which tracks with Revel’s roots from Why Cycles, folded into Revel in 2022, and their long-running affinity for titanium.

The suspension story is just as notable. Most current Revels use a horizontal shock with a clevis; RaTical flips to a vertical shock while keeping the CBF DNA. Canfield’s goal here is familiar, efficient power transfer, traction on the climbs, and calm control on the way down, but packaged differently. A vertical shock can bring a compact front triangle and tidy load paths, and with printed lugs you can brace and align everything exactly where forces flow. If the kinematics deliver that classic CBF “in the power, no drama” feel in this layout, it opens the door for more packaging options across the line.

On trail, expect the usual CBF traits, supportive pedaling and consistent traction, layered with Ti’s micro-damping personality. The printed-lug approach should let Revel bias stiffness laterally while keeping a bit of that Ti smoothness in the chatter. Durability and service life are obvious draws: tubes, bolts, and even the main link are titanium here, and the link is, in Revel’s words, “wildly unnecessary but totally awesome.”

What we do not know yet are the hard numbers, reach, angles, chainstay length, or how a frame-only weight compares to Revel’s carbon models. And of course, printing, machining, and welding titanium at this level is not cheap, so production is a question mark. But as a rolling lab, RaTical is convincing proof that titanium full suspension does not have to mean compromise anymore.

Prototype highlights:

• Additive-hybrid chassis: 3D-printed 6Al-4V lugs welded to 3Al-2.5V tubes for precise pivot placement and tuned stiffness.

• New CBF layout: 130 mm rear travel with a vertical shock, tuned by Chris Canfield for punchy pedaling and glued-down traction.

• Titanium everywhere: 6Al-4V machined hardware and an anodized, 3D-printed Ti main link for durability and style.

• Modern standards: UDH and 29 x 2.6 in clearance keep options wide open.

• Real-world build: 31.5 lb as shown; concept only and currently one bike exists.

Bottom line: Project RaTical blends Revel’s carbon-born kinematic discipline with their titanium heritage, using 3D printing to delete old constraints. Whether it stays a moonshot or seeds future models, it is a smart, rideable vision of where high-end metal frames can go.