spambait11

Helix has passed all ISO testing! Parts are now getting cut, made, and welded for production!

MrFlamey

There was an update with a bit of information about the testing. Sounds like they passed testing and will begin manufacture, so that's awesome news. There were some other tidbits and hints of what's to come in the update, but I won't say any more.

DaKineDatFolds

Well THIS update just shut me up. But I'm pretty sure I'll be barking again, until the first one encounters the singing fat lady.

Revoltingest

I think it's permissible to say that testing went very well, & that production has begun.

Gibsonsean

Looks like the fat lady has pulled on her bib shorts and started her voice exercises.

Gibsonsean

Curiously it seems that there is an Bicycle Opera Project in Ottowa. Unfortunately none of the ladies seem to be of the ample persuasion.

unclejemima

We got to be getting close to a public newsletter no?

tFUnK

Heard of Helix years ago and stumbled in here incidentally just now, hoping to see a product review. Geez what a cluster f. My best wishes to all the backers. My friend experienced similar frustration with another KS project (electric folder). Delivery also took 2+ years and we suspect he may have received a lemon. I sure hope that's the isolated case because if they are all like his then that warrants a class action lawsuit, how crappy the delivered product is.

unclejemima

May I ask what brand/model? Anything folding is worth mentioning

Joe Remi

Almost two years to the day of the start of this thread. It's almost showtime maybe!

spambait11

Better late than never.

DaKineDatFolds

Peter has to learn that his spanky lady is not the fat lady.

Gibsonsean

Well, it has been a while. She could have been working in her waistline.

tFUnK

Gi-Fly. A horrible disappointment when it finally arrived after a 2+ years wait. It's supposed to weigh 45lbs but subjectively I'd guess it was closer to 60-70lbs.

Joe Remi

Wow, $3000 for a massive 250W folder. I'm amazed they have the nerve to try to sell it.

MrFlamey

It will be very interesting to read the first Helix reviews, since as a pre-order customer, I am unlikely to receive my bike until a couple of months after the first backers get theirs, and there is a refund policy (for pre-orders). I wonder how many bikes they have to make and how long it will take them to make one. There is an estimate for the number they can make per day in one of the updates, but it was only once they get ramped up with manufacturing. Based on the price of the bike and the funding they had, plus extra bikes for pre-order customers, there must be easily over 1000 bikes to make...

Let's hope things move smoothly now manufacturing has begun. The latest updates have all been pretty positive and they haven't had any major setbacks in quite a while, so fingers crossed

Jipe

I didn't knew that One ! Indeed, 37.4lbs/17kg promised during the KS campaign, 55lbs/25kg currently announced on the manufacturer website (and how much in reality ?) !

Vellobike+ project seems also not to run smooth: they announced having all parts and starting assembly two months ago but not a single bike delivered yet !

Revoltingest

Kickstarter projects all look pretty risky to me. A company goes there because it lacks the financial wherewithal to finance its own development project. Even when I worked on new products for large companies with plenty of money, most of what I designed was unsuccessful in the marketplace. Failure is the norm for radically new products, especially with new companies. (The only thing I ever worked on that anyone would know of is the F-18 airplane. But even there, the mechanical flight controls I worked on were soon replaced with electrics.) So Kickstarter money should be treated as gambling or charitable donation.

Dang....that Gi Fly is one huge bike when folded. Small wheels look best for urban commuting folders, so this ponderous & spendy (albeit quite stylish) beast looks targeted at a small niche in an already niche market. I wish them well.
Btw, their web site has testimonials from users who've received their bikes.
But googling, I don't find anyone with a review of the bike they bought.
Makes me wonder....

Joe Remi

The Gi-Fly "reviews" are all written in the same broken English. They're ridiculous.

zugang

Hey guys,

reading about electric folders, I would like to point out JIVR. Only thing I worried about, a frame made of sheet metal. So anybody who can provide long term testing is very welcome.

tFUnK

I told my friend I'd help him make an honest review video blog of the GiFly bike. His dreams of using it as part of a car/bike/rail multimodal commute were crushed when he could not easily load the thing into his trunk by himself.

Joe Remi

I feel for the guy, but as someone who also had dreams of using a "lightweight" electric folder for popping out of the trunk, even 45 pounds isn't very realistic for the endeavor. You'd think 20 pounds more than a Brompton wouldn't be a big deal but..yeah, it's a big deal.

Jipe

I fully agree with this, it is always very risky to innovate, most innovation aren't commercial success, only one fully new product I worked on during my whole research engineer carrier was a huge success that generate a lot of money.

And I also agree about Kickstarter.

When it is used by established companies who have enough funds and development capacity to bring new products to the market, it is a manner to let others take the financial risks without any real reward (the supposed discount for backers isn't a high enough reward seen the level of risk) if it is successful, the company takes the reward if any, the backers take the risks !

When it is used by an individual inventor, the risk to fail due to lack of knowledge, development capacity and manufacturing capacity is very high. Failure can come in the form of no delivery at all or delivery of something unusable or different than what was promised or not reliable in the long term.

tFUnK

Well said.

tFUnK

Haha, indeed, and not something for one who cares about the finish of their car's paint. The shape/geometry of the folded mass is also a thing to not overlook. I recall being less than ecstatic when putting my folded Xootr Swift into the trunk of a subcompact sedan. A brake cable caught here, a handlebar plug popping out there...