Hey all,

Before we get into assembly updates, we just wanted to take a quick second to address a recent issue we've been noticing with our app. We also wanted to get your guys' feedback on a few different topics. Read on to learn more...

iOS 9 Problems 

As many of you have noticed, there is a bug in our app that causes it to crash when being launched on iOS9. We're well-aware of the problem, and extremely sorry for all the inconvenience. We've had our iOS coder working on this issue ever since we first heard about it. Well we finally got some good news this week-- a fix is on the way! Our iOS app developer just informed us that he'll have an update ready soon. This should fix all the bugs and app crashes we've been noticing since the iOS9 update. We'll post again & let you know when the new app is ready to download!

Customer Survey 

As we proceed with building Helios as a business + product line, our customers' feedback grows exceedingly important. To better help us serve you in the future, we'd like to ask you to fill out this quick customer survey: http://goo.gl/forms/Y3y923tyiw 

Sprung a Leak

As we were just about to pull the trigger last week on our full production run of electronic boards, it turned out we had a small problem with our Cree headlamp. Our newly redesigned LED driver is pumping out a crazy 2A directly to the Cree module, but we noticed when the light was supposed to be off, the lamp was still ever-so-slightly on. It's really hard to get photos of this because it was only just on, but we were able to trace it back to a faulty component. We switched this component out completely in our Bill of Materials, and have since ordered it in quantity. Just waiting for it to land at the factory, and they'll spend a couple weeks assembling all the boards :).

Thank you again for all your patience & support! It means the world to us.

Sincerely, 

The Helios Team

Hey Backers, 

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the progress of the V2 Helios Bars incoming. After finally receiving our production samples from our factory, we’ve made some minor adjustments to the fitment issues we thought we’d see and have given the go-ahead to crank out 1200 fresh new bars. I’ll outline a couple of the minor issues below with some photos & explanations.

With the redesigned button housing as shown in Update #22, one of the main concerns was to make sure our injection molded polycarbonate components would seat nicely into the milled out hole. It’s important to secure this and other holes on the handlebar as they protect the internals from the elements and ensure your bar remains in proper working order. Since the components aren’t made in the same factory are very different manufacturing processes, it’s challenging to mate two components with a weather tight seal while continuing to press forward in mass production on both fronts.

For instance, the injection mold process for our side-caps involves taking molten polycarbonate and pushing it through a few cavities so that it’ll ultimately settle into the desired shape we need. Again, it’s molten hot PC, and when it’s removed from the mold, the samples begin shrinking due to the cooler ambient temperature. For the most part, your factory engineer knows the shrinkage rate and can modify the mold dimensions to be slightly larger than your specified target dimensions in order to hit them after shrinkage but it’s definitely not a perfect science by any means… Sorry, we got really nerdy there, but I just wanted you guys to get a sense of what a seemingly simple aspect of a larger system goes through before heading to your doorsteps.

We have good news on the electronics front too. We’ve got golden master samples at our PCBA, and the mass production should be completed there in ~2 weeks. Interesting bit we did with this run as opposed to the last one, is place all PCBs on one panel. This makes it so the fab house doesn’t have to do any line changes; just load up all the components into an SMD machine, and let it feed the boards through one by one.

I’ll hit you guys with another update next Tuesday. I’m hoping by then we should have a little more to share about when the components will be arriving stateside. We’re building up quite a nice assembly line and once it’s cranking i’ll get some video going. Maybe some live vids of us building. We’ll be too busy to type ;).

Any questions, concerns or praise — founders@ridehelios.com | @ridehelios

Hey Backers!

Just wanted to give a quick update on the imminent landing of the Helios Bars v2! Again, just to clarify, for anyone having trouble with their v1's or simply haven't received them yet, sit tight! You'll be getting a v2 shortly at no extra cost or hassle to you. I know it's been a grueling process, but we're committed and just want to keep everyone up to speed on the process, just drop us a line at founders@ridehelios.com

We've got all wheels turning on mass production of electronics and welding of the bars to stems. We should be receiving our electronics first in about 3 weeks fully assembled and ready for firmware to be flashed onto the freshly build boards. While that's taking place we'll also be checking them for reliability. That's right, we'll be assembling all the bars here in the US of A! We're really stoked on that, and feel that it'll greatly improve our yields and QA. We'll make some sweet vids of assembly in the coming weeks and update you all with that too so keep an eye out!

The reason for missing this latest shipping window was due to some tolerance fit issues and measurements with our injection mold factories and our handlebar factory. Coordinating with two factories is often challenging and since we moved a lot of prior components from CNC to injection molded parts, making sure that the tolerances and fitments on these parts into the aluminum bars was a critical and lengthy process. It should be all set now though, as we've confirmed our first shots out of our new tools and they're spot on! Check em out below.

The Helios Bars themselves are being welded as we speak. This process will take about 2 weeks to complete - which will include welding and polishing

"But you said last time... this time..."

I know. We're really sorry. Hardware is freaking hard. We're good examples of what not to do at times, but we're also great examples of some dudes who just keep at it. We're really close this time, and we seriously can't wait to be pulling all nighters just packaging up bars. It's only fair that we make it right, and to us, making it right meant going back and redesigning from the ground up to deliver something better than last time.

Stay riding, and as always - reach out to us for specific inquiries at founders@ridehelios.com

Hey everyone,

We know it's been a few months since our last update, so we wanted to take this chance to catch you guys up with everything we've been working on. As you may remember, we were supposed to have shipped out a few weeks ago, but due to some last minute changes we had to push the date back a bit. Rest assured, the next batch of Helios Bars will begin shipping in less than 6 weeks & we can't wait for you to get yours!

We learned alot from our last production run, & we've been dedicated to improving our product every step of the way. The last minute changes we recently made were minor tweaks necessary to simplify the assembly process + prevent further delays. For internal purposes, we're referring to this next batch of Helios Bars as V2, since they're slightly new-&-improved. However, I should note that this is not a new product. It's a revamped version of the same product we've been making.
Want to know what's different in V2? See for yourself...

What's new in V2?

Here's all the great new stuff we packed into Helios Bars V2 for you:

• Brighter Headlight - Thanks to Kenny's uncanny electrical engineering skills, we've managed to pack an even brighter headlight into Helios Bars which is capable of running at upwards of 1,200 lumens! This will keep you very visible on the road.
  
  
• Improved Turn-by-Turn Navigation - Our software engineers went back to our navigation code & revamped it to be more accurate. We're still using Google Maps API, but you may notice an improvement in terms of responsiveness & accuracy.
  
  
• Improved Bike Tracking - Since GPS can be spotty in different regions across the world, we decided to replace it with a Bluetooth bike tracking feature that works in much the same manner as Tile. We call it "lost & found".
  
  
• Minor Manufacturing/Design Changes - See Tony's update below...
  

Manufacturing Updates

Hey Guys, Tony here! I wanted to get into a bit of the nitty gritty (aka manufacturing ;)) regarding Helios Bars V2. The bars' design is largely unchanged, but we did manage to shrink the holes in the forged stem. The buttons are also much larger for easier presses when putting on your blinker or skipping through songs on your device.

As Seena mentioned above, we’ve switched up our headlamps to a more powerful version and it is super bright! We’ve been riding our test units out here in Shenzhen, and the new bars lights up every road sign for what seems like a mile! We’re now nearing 1,500 lumens with V2; that’s almost 3x brighter than previous. This took a complete redesign of our lighting circuit but now that we’ve got it dialed in, it’s more efficient and much brighter!

I’m also happy to announce that V2 of Helios bars are rechargeable over the standard micro-USB port we all know and love – and the best part is we all have like a million laying around! The previous charge cable had some quality issues that we are aware of. If yours has given up on you, shoot us a line and we’ll get you a replacement for those V1 bars. Sorry about that!

We’re super close to pulling the trigger on mass production of the bars again. We’ve got test units to run through their paces and after we get all these adjustments cleared up we’ll get those components cranking out. Most of the issues as of now though are fitment adjustments, pretty minor stuff all things considered :). We’ve also opted to assemble the bars back home in SF! We’re still getting the office/factory set up but we’ll shoot you the address when it’s all set up and maybe you can build your own bar or something!

App Updates

• Android App - One of our awesome backers volunteered to help us with development of our Android app, and we couldn't be more grateful. We plan to release a beta version this summer. It may not be as pretty as our iOS app at first, but it will definitely get the job done for you Android users. We'll be releasing an update dedicated to this very soon.
  
  
• iOS App Updates - Our iOS app was removed from the App Store for a little bit, but don't worry, it's back up. We'll be releasing more updates for it (including a UI re-design) after we ship out this next production run.

Repairs & Replacements

If you're waiting for a replacement Helios Bars or a repair, rest assured that we will get them to you when we ship out this next batch of orders. Please follow-up with us via email if you don't receive your replacement bars/parts or repaired bars in a timely manner.

Stay tuned for more updates coming soon. In the meantime, if you need assistance with your order, please send us an email to founders at ridehelios dot com. Thank you for all your support!

Sincerely,

The Helios Team