Make no mistake about it: There is risk in crowd funding. I have contributed to two Kickstarter campaigns and haven't gotten the products yet. The bets were small, but so far it is safe to say I have nothing for my investment. Recently, I contributed to the Coolest Cooler campaign on Kickstarter. If you think the Storm is catching on think again. The Coolest Cooler's goal was $50,000. They sold/raised $13,000,000 and were all over the net and TV.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryangrepper/coolest-cooler-21st-century-cooler-thats-actually
I haven't gotten the product yet, but my guess is that I will and when I do, it will be even better than the original prototypes: but there is no guarantee of the quality or that I will ever see the Coolest Cooler!
Most of these things appear to be an idea with a prototype rather than a company. The Storm is no different. I hope we don't all get burned, but as Court warns, it could happen. Like so many have said, I too think they are on to something. When you spend thousands for a bike, you expect more and you generally get more. This bike could be delivered for under $600. I have been looking at fat bikes for awhile. You have to admit, Storm looks kick ass, it's simple and if you don't already own an e bike you will think it is amazing because e bikes ARE amazing. If you have an e bike and the Storm even approaches what they say it will do, you will be amazed as well since it is so well priced with top notch styling and utility.
Imagine this: The Storms of this new world are actually good products and young entrepreneurs figure out customer support and use tools like crowd funding. A few thousand sold and a few thousand of them are sitting in Amazon distribution centers around the country or world........and with a click of an Amazon Prime Button, you have it delivered to your house in a day or two! Now that's a game changer. True there are lots of cheap e bikes on Amazon, but it is still early days for e bikes and the Storm looks the business.
It could be just the thing to bring awareness to the segment as Court points out and if it is a decent piece that is reliable. I think it already is disruptive to the point that it could be a game changer. With a lot of help from Court, who is a very special man who loves the segment, the outdoors and the environment, many of us have become educated buyers of e bikes. Most of us know that there is a huge markup in e bikes and that the distributers lean hard on LBS that try to discount the product. They are hard to buy and they fight online buying with lack of information about their products. Don't you think that the manufacturers should be doing You Tube videos explaining their products like Court and Pete do? But they don't. They are trying to protect the LBS and missing the point altogether.
Kudos to Court on his light speed response to this crowd funding project. I am anxious to read posts from members who are manufacturers, distributors or LBS's. Keep in mind that most of the world has never even seen an e bike. Most have never heard of them. I know, I ride one here in the East and I have rock star status or people think I am nuts for spending $3,000 on a bike with a battery. Imagine a tricked out, electrified neon yellow and green fat bike with a silent motor on the beach.....for $600 bucks. I spent more than that for my wife's Electra Townie and it's just a run of the mill bike!
It's a gamble, but my guess is it shows up late summer and it is well worth the money!
or if you'd like you can use PayPal.
