Revos bristol

Zebb

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Jun 13, 2012
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Greetings.

Has revos gone out of business.? If so when did they quit.?

Thanks.
 

Nealh

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Aug 7, 2014
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Yes they have, all e- bike/ e- kit production has ceased.
 

Zebb

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 13, 2012
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Yes they have, all e- bike/ e- kit production has ceased.
Thanks, shame that, mine still all good. Once it's lived it's life I shall probably go folding cycle I think.
 

guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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E-bike company that featured on Dragons' Den praised after refusing to manufacture in China
Mark and Hugo Palmer, the co-founders of e-bike gadget firm RevolutionWorks, failed to secure investment on the BBC show

 

Nealh

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Aug 7, 2014
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One expects they may stll be operating as an engineering company but not in the EAPC market.
One expects not only were the volumes not there but may be cost of raw materials and production.
 

StuartsProjects

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May 9, 2021
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Unfortuantly, whilst many consumers would in general say they support 'buy British' in reality they expect stuff to be cheap and mostly dont care where its built.

If Brompton were starting off now, and manufacturing in Britian, they probably would not survive as their product would be considered far too expensive. But they started at a time when British manufacturing was just about possible and the bike is now accepted as probably the best of the folders and lots of people are prepared to pay the price.
 
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Nealh

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I have one of the original start up kits which works well, I also have two of the nice solid bottle batteries recently seen the same on TBK. When they need recelling , I'll look at using a 3500mah cell instead of the PF 2900mah cell.

It is typical of friction drive kits, they come and go and not many sellers/brands last for too long. Now and then we see an effort to reinvent the FD wheel but most new initiatives don't bring much or anything new to the market.
 
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Zebb

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Jun 13, 2012
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Thank you for the replys, yes I fully understand and was not overly surprised. It's a difficult market and not every one fancied a friction drive..
I may just buy a 24v battery and remodel the electronics case in the event of battery failer. But depends on condition of the drive unit.
It's not that old and hasn't done that much so should be OK..
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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Greetings.

Has revos gone out of business.? If so when did they quit.?

Thanks.
It was another victim of Brexit Zebb. From Revos in 2021:

But Brexit has been a challenge for the business, which was established just before the referendum. Before the UK left the EU, the business had about 40% of its customers in the bloc - now it’s just 20%.

“It has been pretty horrible for us. Every time you send stuff abroad it is so complicated and slow. It costs money and time. You wonder whether it’s worth even sending products abroad.

“We are having to set up a company in the EU otherwise we can’t export easily. That’s annoying as that is an expense and we are only a small company.”

However, that said, a friction drive was never going to last in the market. They have been constantly reinvented for over 70 years but soon fail in the market every time.
.
 
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Zebb

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Jun 13, 2012
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Yep fully understand, having that easy swap to another bike was great idea.. Still onwards and upwards..
Been in business myself so know only to well how hard it is.
 

Nealh

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I think we can lose count of how many FD's in the 10 years ahve come and gone.

I only opted for the Revos as it only added 2.5kg to 10.3kg lightish gravel bike.
 
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flecc

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Oct 25, 2006
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I think we can lose count of how many FD's in the 10 years have come and gone.
Imagine how I feel about them after watching at first hand over 70 years, every conceivable variant of them failing in the market, most failing technically as well. The first of many I fitted in the trade was 73 years ago, a Sinclair-Goddard Powapak. Nothing to do with Sir Clive, he was about to leave primary school at the time, but years later he too failed with two bicycle motor friction drive designs.

And I'm not just speaking of driving on the tyre, one clever design drove a special rear wheel rim with rubberised sides. Yet another very different bicycle friction drive was the Tongxin Nano hub motor, which used to break the friction ring that was driven by rollers.

Every time I see yet another friction drive motor announced with claims to have solved all the problems, I sigh, wondering why people don't do their market research first. If they did that they'd learn that there is nothing new under the sun, every option really has been tried before, and failed.

I only opted for the Revos as it only added 2.5kg to 10.3kg lightish gravel bike.
There is a small market for such a physically light and occasional usage motor, but not really big enough to sustain a long term business, as all of them find out very soon.
.
 
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