Say Hello To Storm
- Thread starter biknut
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lilrich1959
Member
Get ready for a storm on the forum when we get 7000 new ebikers asking the inevitable questions. Court I did not notice but do you have a Storm section set up like you do for the other brands? In a similar vein just a suggestion but can you put up one for orphans. I'm thinking of the walmart, and amazon specials. Or those that did not last (begins with a B and ends with an ii) I know for most of those folks the answer is likely to get a real e-bike, but heck at least we can give them a place to turn even if the answers are not what they wanted to hear. Just thinking. I wish we would have got in on this deal just so I had some on hands when the time comes. Oh well, so many bikes and only so much time...keep rollin
lilrich1959
Member
Oh almost forgot...hey Court this thread must be pushing close to a record for the longest hmmm
biknut
Active Member
J.R.
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
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- Piedmont Highlands
Been watching this with my popcorn from the sidelines since the beginning. Continue to be surprised at how many times I've had to refill my bowl! I don't really have a dog in this fight other than hoping that ebike enthusiasm will be on the rise. I don't have an interest in a short distance, somewhat low power fatbike. The speed and distance will be ok for a boardwalk-bike but the distance this bike would take me just would never work for me. And I don't see the point in rebuilding a new bike, I would start with better materials or build from scratch.
I do hope those people who donated money to this group of four men for what is still just an idea, will get a bike that works for their purposes and that they will be pleased with for a year or two. As for this one doing so well (@biknut ), the idea, price point and promotion has done well. Lets hope the execution and bike do as well. There are still a great many hurdles to come, far more than have been overcome. I hope there is a Sondors 1 completed, before funding is started on a Sondors 2. I think you, @biknut know what you are getting into, I hope the new ebike enthusiasts do. And @lilrich1959 with this many comments maybe there should be a Sondor's section... but a brand... not until there are bikes. I remain with my fingers crossed for the 7000 +/- who are hoping for a bike in May.
Just my two cents, for what that's worth
Good luck to all backers of Sondor E bike! Back to the sideline and my popcorn
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Great suggestion! I just created a Sondors forum and moved this thread to it. There is also a forum way at the bottom for "orphans" as you put it, I labeled it as Other Brands look forward to posts there... I would love to cover some of the cheaper bikes that you called out and have already done a couple of discontinued ebikes just for the sake of documenting history such as the Lee Iacocca Ebike
roshan
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to clarify - Storm/Sanders ebike will be directly shipped from the factory in China - that's what they have said multiple times in interviews and on their Indiegogo page.
Biktrix is NOT shipping bikes direct from factory to customers. Biktrix gets frames and some components from China but the final assembly happens here in Canada. We then ship out the bikes to customers. All warranty claims and support goes though Biktrix Inc.
Most of our bikes are sold by dealers even though we managed to sell a few through Kickstarter.
biknut
Active Member
There was a tremendous amount of information overload that came out of the first demo day, and I'm still analyzing what all we learned. There were 3 heroes I've counted so far. In no special order, because they all were gigantic in stature. There was of course our own Court, owner of this EBR forum who personally interviewed Storm Sondors face to face for the world to see, and judge. It's very reassuring to see Court's live interview knowing it was real, and not staged, or rehearsed in any way.
The next hero was Joseph Micalizzi. He's the guy that did the live stream that day. He's a funder, and a member of the Sondors, Storm Owners Group. He does this kind of work for a living. and it shows, but he was there this day strictly free of charge, just so all the members of the group could be allowed to participate as fly's on the wall. He actually provided us with very valuable information, and some of it was accidental. It was invaluable to have him standing there live streaming Court's interview in real time, which provided proof to us that it really was unrehearsed, and off the cuff so to speak. A lot of other information came out from his work to, that I want to talk about later.
The third hero was Storm Sondors himself. Speculation before the event by naysayers was rampant that Storm wouldn't have the Cojones to show up in person and have to face his critics. The naysayers were even questioning he actually had a real bike to show up with, but show up he did, and every step he took toward the camera, the smaller, and more irrelevant his detractors looked. When people realized he arrived with his bike they started to applaud, and not only did he bring his bike, he let 150 strangers ride it up and down the crowded sidewalk, and then as if that wasn't enough, he allowed funders and members of the face book group to perform an anal exam on the same bike in front of a camera for the world to see. I think he took a lot of risks doing all this, but his payoff was well worth it, because now millions of people will be able to see that his bike is easy to ride, and is real, and no one got hurt, or fell down, or had any trouble at all. I'm not sure I'd have been willing to do what he did.
The next hero was Joseph Micalizzi. He's the guy that did the live stream that day. He's a funder, and a member of the Sondors, Storm Owners Group. He does this kind of work for a living. and it shows, but he was there this day strictly free of charge, just so all the members of the group could be allowed to participate as fly's on the wall. He actually provided us with very valuable information, and some of it was accidental. It was invaluable to have him standing there live streaming Court's interview in real time, which provided proof to us that it really was unrehearsed, and off the cuff so to speak. A lot of other information came out from his work to, that I want to talk about later.
The third hero was Storm Sondors himself. Speculation before the event by naysayers was rampant that Storm wouldn't have the Cojones to show up in person and have to face his critics. The naysayers were even questioning he actually had a real bike to show up with, but show up he did, and every step he took toward the camera, the smaller, and more irrelevant his detractors looked. When people realized he arrived with his bike they started to applaud, and not only did he bring his bike, he let 150 strangers ride it up and down the crowded sidewalk, and then as if that wasn't enough, he allowed funders and members of the face book group to perform an anal exam on the same bike in front of a camera for the world to see. I think he took a lot of risks doing all this, but his payoff was well worth it, because now millions of people will be able to see that his bike is easy to ride, and is real, and no one got hurt, or fell down, or had any trouble at all. I'm not sure I'd have been willing to do what he did.
wa5
Well-Known Member
Bikenut, Sondors let people ride their bike for what? around 60 seconds each? He gave an interview at the beachside.. and yes, he showed his face.. as yet, he really hasn't delivered anything. .. For a startup campaign that has showed so much genius (or perhaps it was just luck?) in the way they have promoted themselves. The job they did at the come and try seemed very poorly executed.. you mention new information, about the only positive new information would be the inclusion of a 30 day warranty (not sure how positive I could be over that).. other then that the new information is all pretty negative ..heavier, less battery..
I would think anybody with half a clue would have scouted out a location where the bike could be tested without so many people / passers by getting in the way/ causing a hazard. and allowing a slightly longer test ride.. There appeared to be a bike path behind them on the sand.. How about a decent location for interviews? presumably they were either staying in a local motel or lived close by? have the interviews in a more professional setting, they are a multi million dollar company after all... the organization seemed very amateurish ..
Storm seemed to have to seek clarification from some of the others once or twice during the interview.. to questions that he should have been able to answer if he's been on this for the last year...
I'm not in the Santa Monica area (or indeed in the US), so its hard for me to judge just how much of an impact the day had on the local media (but I didn't see any TV cameras in the background of Courts video .. except for an unattended camera near their yellow marquee).. Were there a lot of stories about this on local media outlets? how about internet services that had been following the story? that would seem to be the kind of thing that Agency 2.0 should have been making happen...
When Car makers release a new model, they make sure the relevant media outlets get to test it first.. I'm fairly new to Ebikes.. but the first site I came across, was Courts. would seem he's a pretty big wheel in this industry. would it not have made sense to give him access to the bike prior (or even after ) the open day? Again, Agency 2.0 seems to have pulled off a very good E marketing campaign.. so when they want to let the public experience the product, what would be the better way of doing that? Showing the bike to 100 people on a beach or having it reviewed by a respected industry expert reaching thousands over the interweb? The answer is, they should have done both.
Storm came and showed his face.. allaying all fears that this might be a scam... Umm.. no.. he showed a couple of bikes that might have come from alibaba.. put up a tent and gave a few interviews.. and from my position, the way they did it, was far from professional.. I didn't see or hear a whole lot of information that hadn't already been released. ENRON executives gave upbeat interviews right up to the time they were nailing boards over the windows..
Just about all Gods have feet of clay Bikenut, I hope you don't get disappointed..
I know this bike is more of a T model Ford than a Ferrari.. in that it aims to bring competent Ebikes to the masses at a very competitive price.. I hope it turns out like the T or the Beetle.. and not like the Tata Nano (a very cheap Indian car) that was met with much enthusiasm but has failed to take off.
I would think anybody with half a clue would have scouted out a location where the bike could be tested without so many people / passers by getting in the way/ causing a hazard. and allowing a slightly longer test ride.. There appeared to be a bike path behind them on the sand.. How about a decent location for interviews? presumably they were either staying in a local motel or lived close by? have the interviews in a more professional setting, they are a multi million dollar company after all... the organization seemed very amateurish ..
Storm seemed to have to seek clarification from some of the others once or twice during the interview.. to questions that he should have been able to answer if he's been on this for the last year...
I'm not in the Santa Monica area (or indeed in the US), so its hard for me to judge just how much of an impact the day had on the local media (but I didn't see any TV cameras in the background of Courts video .. except for an unattended camera near their yellow marquee).. Were there a lot of stories about this on local media outlets? how about internet services that had been following the story? that would seem to be the kind of thing that Agency 2.0 should have been making happen...
When Car makers release a new model, they make sure the relevant media outlets get to test it first.. I'm fairly new to Ebikes.. but the first site I came across, was Courts. would seem he's a pretty big wheel in this industry. would it not have made sense to give him access to the bike prior (or even after ) the open day? Again, Agency 2.0 seems to have pulled off a very good E marketing campaign.. so when they want to let the public experience the product, what would be the better way of doing that? Showing the bike to 100 people on a beach or having it reviewed by a respected industry expert reaching thousands over the interweb? The answer is, they should have done both.
Storm came and showed his face.. allaying all fears that this might be a scam... Umm.. no.. he showed a couple of bikes that might have come from alibaba.. put up a tent and gave a few interviews.. and from my position, the way they did it, was far from professional.. I didn't see or hear a whole lot of information that hadn't already been released. ENRON executives gave upbeat interviews right up to the time they were nailing boards over the windows..
Just about all Gods have feet of clay Bikenut, I hope you don't get disappointed..
I know this bike is more of a T model Ford than a Ferrari.. in that it aims to bring competent Ebikes to the masses at a very competitive price.. I hope it turns out like the T or the Beetle.. and not like the Tata Nano (a very cheap Indian car) that was met with much enthusiasm but has failed to take off.
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biknut
Active Member
One thing I'm curious about that not many people are probably aware of is, before Joe Micalizzi started his live stream he did about 20 minutes of testing a half hour earlier. During this test the 2.0 security came and tried to run him off, which resulted in a heated exchange between him and someone from 2.0. One of the reasons they gave why Joe couldn't be there recording was because they informed him they had hired a professional film crew that had a city permit to be filming that day, and they didn't want anyone getting it their way. Joe stood his ground, and eventually 2.0, to their credit decided he could stay, as long as he didn't interfere. Joe promised he wouldn't, and in his live feed you rarely get any glimpse of them except just rare occasions.
My question is why were they there? Why would Sondors be spending potentially thousands of dollars on a professional film crew? I'm guessing it's for advertising? What else could it be, but it's too late for anything they might be making to have any impact on this campaign. Definitely seems like they have plans for beyond this one campaign.
My question is why were they there? Why would Sondors be spending potentially thousands of dollars on a professional film crew? I'm guessing it's for advertising? What else could it be, but it's too late for anything they might be making to have any impact on this campaign. Definitely seems like they have plans for beyond this one campaign.
PowerMe
Well-Known Member
Well just from this thread alone, which is up to 306 comments, I'd say this particular ebike is getting far more of the spotlight than just about any other bike on this board, probably not deserved, but whatever. Right now it's hype because the buyers don't have the product in hand yet.
The price point is the only intriguing bit (to me) about this bike. The rest of the bike doesn't grab me, but then again I'm not their target market and would not personally purchase a bike like this.
The price point is the only intriguing bit (to me) about this bike. The rest of the bike doesn't grab me, but then again I'm not their target market and would not personally purchase a bike like this.
Well, biknut - my NJ BS meter has dropped from 99% down to right about 50% after watching Courts interview. I hope the guy pulls it off, and delivers on his word. I will say that my NJ BS meter was redlining when the Agency 2.0 guy was on camera. I sorta felt like taking a shower after watching that guy, know what I mean? Anyway, I gotta get back to the sideline, before J.R and Gus finish the popcorn.
Clark
Clark
wa5
Well-Known Member
And Storms people should have known that was the case. I can barely use facebook, I don't use twitter or any other social media site, BUT if I were launching a product using the internet, I'd be all over it.. If Storms people or "the great man" himself aren't monitoring this web site along with your storm owners f/b page.. they are idiots.. They should also be interacting with their (potential) customers on pages such as this.. for a "happening" "next gen" PR company 2.0 don't seem to be doing much to address peoples concerns... Then again, they have better than three million dollars worth of your dough.. I suppose they really don't have to...
Trev.
Ann M.
Well-Known Member
Sorry @wa5 but you can't really be independent; you bought an ebike from Storm Sonders so you are a funder and as such associated with Storm. Everyone who put $$$ into the Indiegogo account is associated with Storm Sonders. If Storm or 2.0 were worried about publicity it didn't seem too apparent given that 150 people had access to the bike; albeit for a very limited time. And the weight scales...come on folks that's what Court has done to verify weight specs on all bikes; someone held the luggage scale so he could continue his video. Of course any marketing firm is going to try to control an event. Bottom line--either the bike works as advertised and has the components as advertised or not. 2.0 can't alter that. Consider how much their Indidgogo page changed after questions from the buyers and intelligent reviewers, including Court. I really feel that the folks who bought the bike under the original spiel are the ones who have been mislead.
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