How to build a great product: start strong, then improve.

Posted on November 04, 2013 by Adam Vollmer | 6 Comments

Two years ago when we created the original Faraday Porteur, the gap between electric bicycles and conventional bicycles was a mile wide (spoiler alert - it still is!). As design geeks and everyday cyclists, we wanted to bridge that gap by building a bike for people like ourselves - a bike with the technology and features of the best electric bikes, but the grace and sophistication of a vintage French cruiser. The first-generation Faraday was an amazing concept, and it captured the imagination of riders like us around the world. That concept led to a successful Kickstarter campaign, where 368 of the best Kickstarter backers on the planet (!) helped transform Faraday from a concept into a company where a small handful of us are lucky enough to show up to work everyday.

Now, we're just a few months away from shipping our very first production run of Faradays - we couldn't be more excited! Along the way, our flagship product has come a LONG way from where it began. Change is good, but never easy. Every change, minor or major, has required tweaking a design detail that at one time felt sacred. That's what great design is all about - sweating the details, while never losing track of the bigger vision. Personally, I've never felt better about the Faraday we'll be shipping than I do right now. It began as a truly beautiful, useful, and remarkable bike, and it's never been better.

How do you improve an iconic design without sacrificing the integrity of the original vision? You write down your principles, and you stick to them. Here's ours:

So what have we changed? Here are the biggest improvements we've made to the production Porteur:

• BELT DRIVE. We heard from MANY of you that the only thing that could improve on the Porteur would be the addition of a belt drive. After one-too-many greasy pant legs, we agree, and the Porteur now ships standard with a smooth, silent, and grease-free Gates carbon belt drive.
• BATTERY. Faraday represents a vision of a new style of electric bike - an e-bike that hasn't forgotten it's roots (as a bike!). We believe in a lightweight battery and a reasonable amount of range for city riding. That said, a little extra never hurts, so we've upped the Porteur's battery to 250Wh, for over 20 miles of pedal-assisted riding.
• POWER. A little extra power never hurts either. After lots of testing, we found that the hills of San Francisco were even easier - and a lot more fun - to conquer with a bit of extra juice, so we upped the Porteur's motor to a peak* power of 350W (nominal motor power is 250W).
• LIGHTING. Built-in high powered head and tail lights are amazing, and they're one of our favorite parts of the Porteur. But we found that with the original location of our headlights below the rack, visibility was reduced (by the rack) and we wished the lights would turn with the handlebar. We now have a beautiful new headlight design that perfectly captures Faraday's "classic meets modern" design ethos, and we can't WAIT to share it with you.
• CARGO. Perhaps the Porteur's signature design detail is its iconic front rack. And we love it - it's a genuine cargo rack, and it makes hauling a laptop bag or a case of beer a breeze. But, some folks are rear-rack people. Or no-rack people. And even WE have to admit that there are times when we love the streamlined simplicity of a rack-less bike. So we updated the Porteur's front rack to preserve exactly the same curves, colors, and details like wooden slats, but make it entirely removable. It's still frame-mounted, still beautiful, and still immensely useful - but it's also your choice when to take it or leave it now.

We can't show you the photos of all these exciting new details ... not quite yet. Stay tuned. And it doesn't matter - at first glance, the production Faraday Porteur looks almost indistinguishable from our original award-winning design. It's what's on the inside that counts, and that's where we've made the biggest improvements. We're on the verge of closing pre-orders for our first production run, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch (info@faradaybikes.com) or place your pre-order now! We look forward to placing a Faraday in a bike lane near you.

- Adam

Pre-orders end THIS WEEKEND! →

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