Early October update
Sorry if I’m not posting very much these
days, I‘ve been moving and did not have too much time to gather information
from all the usual sources.
Leo Visscher - September 26, 2015 at 2:12 PMGreat work you do. Sadly we don't live in a wold were people who maters as producers do have time enough to give all the consumers what they need. When I'm (Alligt) not able to write in my home language it make no sense for me to they to write my webpage in Englich. It would cost to much. Even in my home language it is difficult enough. Also communicating to het hole world would distract me to much of my core buisnis. Developing velomobiles and parts. I have enough customers and have no ambition to be the CEO of a big company. Everyone who make an effort to ring me know that I have in that moment the time. Not having business email is the best filter that I could think of.
First let me thank you for taking the time
to provide a comment, it is good to hear your perspective. I understand your situation; you are a busy
manufacturer, a small enterprise and at the moment you have a sustainable
amount of business and you are not actively trying to grow much larger.
As I indicated in my blog post, manufacturers
and vendors make choices on where they spend their resources. While it may be
more difficult and/or not as interesting
for you to enhance your communication, it is often very difficult for a
prospective client to get informed. You
have chosen not to publish your e-mail and concentrate on the communicating
through the phone to provide a better customer experience. You were probably receiving spam or just too
many requests that you could not quickly answer.
Let me give you this as MY experience. If you follow my Blog regularly, you will see
that I had problems with my idlers. I
tried to phone your company 3 times during business hours and did not get an
answer, I wanted to know about the availability of an idler that I could not
find in your catalogue on your website.
With the time difference, it is hard to find a time when we are both
available for a real-time conversation. Someone
told me that Dutch Bike Bits sold your idlers and I sent an e-mail and received
an answer overnight, I would have preferred asking you because what I was
looking for was not standard and maybe Alligt had a solution. Like many potential clients, I do not have
the ability to just drop-in so I have to rely on websites that may or may not
be complete or up to date, and restricting communication is an issue for prospective
clients, especially those who are not in Europe some would need to stay up very
late or get up very early to have these phone conversations, not to mention
that the cost of International calls can be high. The business is going well at the moment with
a steady stream of business but maybe in the long term it may have a negative impact on the long term.
Would it be possible to get external help to increase you web presence through a partnership with other velomobile manufacturers in your area to share the cost and/or maybe using interns from local schools who are looking for experience in the field? We would all like to see the penetration of velomobile increase significantly. To realize this, you play an important role in achieving this objective.
Velomobiel
Velomobiel posted a video of the
QuattroVelo where they show the suspension being activated and it appears
almost complete. The Velomobile appears
to be rideable but we do not see it being ridden very far.
Meanwhile, deliveries for Velomobiel
products in September were very slim with only two velomobiles being delivered
in September; one Quest XS and one Carbon Quest XS.
The order book is up to 47 velomobiles and
27 of those are QuattroVelos. Since only
20 velomobiles other than QuattroVelos are on order, it would be easy for
Velomobiel to clean their back log in a couple of months and concentrate on the
delivery of the QuattroVelo when it is ready for production probably by year’s
end. I expect that the initial rate of
production for the Quattrovelo is going to be initially one a week so it would
take about 27 weeksor slightly more than 6 months for the Quattrovelo currently
on order to be delivered once the production starts.
IntercityBikes
ICB hoods are being shipped to those who
ordered them. People who have received
them report that GPS reception under the hood is significantly diminished. A certain loss of signal is something I
experienced with the Velomobielonderdelen.nl hood sold by Wim Schermer however
I was able to place the GPS in a position near the Lexan windshield that gave
me adequate reception. I hope that I
will be able to do the same with the ICB hood.
ICB is currently looking at producing a
hood for the Quest/Strada/Mango based on the DF hood. Daniel Fenn has asked for rider input for the
new hood. The goal is to provide a
lighter, sturdier and maybe more aerodynamic hood for these velomobiles but
also be able to accommodate a helmet while riding. This is an issue for Quest/Strada/Mango
riders participating in events where helmets are mandatory. Since this is still not officially announced,
I suggest you contact ICB if you are interested in this new product.
ICB delivered 10 velomobiles in September 3
DF and 7 DF-XL. At the end of September
there are 41 velomobiles on order at ICB but it is interesting to note that
only 10 of these orders are for DF and 31 are for DF-XL. This means that the
wait time is getting much smaller, certainly less than 6 months and probably
closer to 4 months at the current production rate.
Australian Pedal Prix
Several new rider videos of the latest race
have been posted recently. Here are a
few of them including one from the young the one from the young team Eric the
Half Bee. Who dominated its category all year.
You can check them out on the Australian Pedal Prix Facebook page
