Recent Bike Valet PRESS

ransackedmedia.com         ARTCRANK

prollyisnotprobably                 design.org

The Bike Valet by Reclamation Art + Furniture

is the brain child of Steven Tiller, Stephanie Birch and baby Bennett. We are a young family and small boutique maker of hand-made goods for your home. We started the company in April of 2011, just eight weeks before Bennett was born. I have been developing The Bike Valet through a series of prototypes for the last few months, and diligently working on our Kickstarter video for several weeks (around our regular work load and new schedule). We were nearly finished and then the unthinkable happened, we took a hit, a big one. The recent robbery that has relieved us of the majority our tooling (the ones we use to make our living) does anger me, but it does something else as well. It gives us greater incentive not to fail, not only for this project but for our others. We will not be swayed, we are Driven by the music, like the song chosen for our video, and the album bearing its name, Up Is The Only Way Out, by our friend and talented musician, Hans Eberbach. For us, up really is the only way out!

Our Goal is 100+ valets = $10,000

Right now we make The Bike Valet in batches of six to ten at a time. It is more costly for us to operate in this manner. We are shooting for 100+ pre-orders of the The Bike Valet here on KIckstarter to launch into our next level of production and manufacturing. We not only think this is possible based on sales and response to date, but we hope for many, many more. With your help, we can do it!

Future Goal

We are currently working on future designs for other frame styles like the beach cruiser, mixty frame, step through and others, so please stay tuned even after this project is funded and complete!

The Product

Storage for us, like many, is a problem. We live in a small downtown apartment, and if we happen to be dense enough to leave our bikes outside they wouldn't last more than a few days, even with the priciest lock around. We lost a beautiful, vintage, hand-made Kleine in just such a way a couple years ago. So we bring our bikes inside. Given our storage issues, this makes navigating the entry hall difficult. I personally have tripped over or snagged a pair of dress pants on an awkwardly placed bicycle more than once. The solution? The Bike Valet. It is made from 1/8" cold steel initially designed in Sketchup and later transferred to CAD. Its elegant shape is cut using a laser cutter. It is heated and bent by hand to the appropriate spec's and  then powder coated for a durable long-lasting finish in red, blue, black, cream white, pale green or grey. You have your choice of either a leather or neoprene pad to rest your bike on. We think any combo of the six colors and two pads looks pretty spectacular! 

Features

The Bike Valet features two integrated helmet, bag and gear hooks. Weighing in at approximately 6lbs with an overall assembled height of 24". Properly mounted it protrudes 12" from the wall, this allows for handle bar widths of up to 21", enough for most road bikes and urban fixie riders.

Mounting

It is fixed to the wall with the provided fasteners, large flat head hex drive 2" wall lags. Intended to be mounted on a single stud using the the included paper template for layout of the fastener locations.

Once we get into regular production, we will offer The Bike Valet in custom colors with a different price option, but for now we'll stick to the basic six. You can view more photos, information, and updates on The Bike Valet at any of the links to the right below the bio section (website, Facebook, Twitter, and Etsy).

Form and Function

I wanted to make a product with a elegant design combining both form and function. The Bike Valet integrates the bicycle, bag and helmet cradles into an arbitrary abstract shape, a mix of both art and utility. Although a simple pair of rubber hooks may suffice, there are a great deal of us that would not hang utility hooks from the hardware store in the first room people see in our homes. I wanted to provide these individuals with a graceful option, something less utilitarian.

Why 

Bike Valet was designed out of necessity, specifically geared towards the urban small space apartment dweller to relieve entryway congestion. The over under design allows you to cantilever an object (in this case a bike) by employing gravity and leverage. A simple ancient technique wielded since the dawn of mans use of tools. I have used it for years on many projects, it is not a new concept simply a different use. 

Even works on some cruiser frames

I don't believe you can be all things to all people and the design of The Bike Valet is not trying to be universal. I imagine people will either love it or not understand it. I am at peace with that. I design objects and pieces for me, that I love the form of.

Shipping Domestic USA

Standard retail is $95.00 plus shipping. For our Kickstarter backers, we are offering The Bike Valet at $75.00 plus $12 shipping in the continental US.

Shipping Cost International

Should you be purchasing outside the US we will be shipping internationally using standard/priority parcel services via USPS  & UPS. When ordering, please exclude the $12 for US shipping add the international shipping charge quoted below to your pledge. (see example)

Canada/ Puerto Rico: 

$75.00 + $35.00 shipping = PLEDGE $120.00 usd

Australia / New Zealand:

$75.00 + $75.00 shipping = PLEDGE $150.00 usd

Germany/ France/ UK/ Spain/ Italy: 

$75.00 + $65.00 shipping = PLEDGE $140.00 usd

Norway/ Sweden/ Finland/ Denmark: 

$75.00 + $65.00 shipping = PLEDGE $140.00 usd

If you would like us to inquire shipping cost to any other countries, please feel free to contact us via email for a quote. Thank you so kindly!

In Closing

Thank you so much for taking the time to view our project here on Kickstarter! We will only be successful if this project is shared, so we ask that you do just that! Even if it's not for you...wait, what? That's just silly - of course it's for you! You love it, right!? But seriously, we know you know a couple of awesome bike geeks just like us that this would be perfect for, so please share away on any social media you participate in! Even if you think The Bike Valet is sorta’ slightly cool, we would love your help...

Sincerely, 

Steven, Stephanie & Bennett