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:
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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.
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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.
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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".
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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
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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.
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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