Getting ready to deliver the Valour - Building an ecosystem
To some, a year seems painstakingly slow to get their product delivered. But to build a commuter bicycle like the Valour, we’ve moved at the speed of light to build an ecosystem of hardware, electronics, data architecture and software.
After almost a year in development, design, engineering, testing and production - the Valour is ready to ship out on July 15. Its a remarkable feat and one that we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish without the support of our community. Now, we’re more eager and excited than ever to ship the bicycle of the future. The Valour is not just a step forward in innovation; its a behavioural leap towards the smarter cities of the future. This humble bicycle might one day help us build cities around people.
When we started working on the Valour, we weren’t out to reinvent the wheel. We wanted to retain the bicycle’s design elements, ones that have been carried since its inception in 1890, whilst introducing the functionality that it deserves for the evolving world around it. Its quite a bummer to think that the only innovation we’ve seen in the industry have all been focussed on gears, brakes, weight and locks. At Vanhawks, we think that innovation has to be geared around the people using it.
Think of everything in our lives touched by innovation; in the name of user experience, our phones have gone from rotary dials to beautiful touch screens. Long distance travel went from steam ships to air travel with jet engine and cars are moving from combustion engines to electric drive-trains. The things we invented centuries ago, evolved and changed over time for the users. Yet the humble bicycle, which saw so much innovation in late 1800s and an entire US patent office devoted to such inventions, has more or less stayed the same.
We aren’t just building a smart and sexy commuter bicycle; we’re building a personal transportation ecosystem and a community of Valour users to make cycling better-suited for the city. The first-ever cyclists shared roads with horse-carriages and not speeding cars and buses. Avoiding traffic congestion wasn’t always a part of our daily lives. The last mile of the journey was never a problem. People used navigation devices and compasses to find their destinations and not to avoid grid locks and congestion delays.
Its time we think about sustainable cities and personal transportation like the Valour is ideally suited for urban commuters in today’s world. As Valour riders, we’re challenging the mindset that the car is the only viable mode of transportation in cities. Electric cars and on demand car rides like Uber, Lyft, and Hailo won’t solve the congestion problem at hand.
The Valour’s features are targeted at hesitant cyclists who would otherwise drive. It hasn’t been easy to put all the pieces together but the Vanhawks team has lived up to the challenge. We are hard at work and nearing the finish line. We truly believe that technology empowered by big data will transform our cities. As Valour riders collect the data, cycling will start to make more and more sense to the average citizen for a short or medium-distance trip. As we focus on delivering the Valour, the software team focuses on the users that will help us grow this infrastructure for better and always.
The concept of finding the perfect ride for the city is constantly unwrapping. We’re taking the first step towards the future of personal urban transportation and hope that you’ll join us to shape and transform the cities of tomorrow.
We’re sure that you have many questions on your mind. We invite you to join us for a live Q&A next Thursday on April 16th at 12pm EST and we’ll work to answer any questions you have.
We recently had the pleasure of hosting a live Q&A session with our backers and supporters to address some burning questions and concerns about Vanhawks and the production of the Valour. We realize that not everyone was able to make it to our session so we took the liberty of recording and indexing all of the questions for ease of viewing.
Intro
What's up with the handlebars?
Does the blind spot detection work?
Why haven't you designed the Valour for proper fenders?
Do you expect anymore delays?
Why can't you tell us more than Spring 2015?
Is the red accent gone for good?
When will your mobile app become available?
Why did you choose the Nuvinci n360 over Rohloff/Alfine interal gear hubs?
Did you ever think you would get to this point as a company? Feels like yesterday that Vanhawks was just a Kickstarter project!
I saw that you guys have a rideable prototype ... hows the ride?
What is the roadmap with this bike and future products?
Why do you only sell online? Are you guys planning to open up the Valour to retailers? I want to try the bike before I commit!
How do I go about servicing the Valour or replace parts?
The rear lights and ultrasonic sensors are integrated ... will they be durable enough to withstand riding since they are so close to the axle?
What kind of stress test will you be running on the fork and frame?
What about mounts for water bottle holders and air pump?
Are you planning to release an app for Windows phone/Blackberry/wearables?
I want to be a beta tester! How do I become one?
You offered a naked carbon finish during the Kickstarter but you discontinued it! Why?
Are you planning to release an e-bike version of the Valour?
Are there plans for an aluminum version of the Valour?
Why don't you ship to my country? How do I get a Valour?
Can you tell us what you consider to be one of the biggest challenges of being a startup?
Are there any startups that exemplify marketing an entirely new consumer product?
If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any other questions. We plan to host more Q&A sessions in the future and expect to iron out all the kinks since our first broadcast!
The Olympic Champion Triathlete Lets Us Into His World
Being a Canadian-based company, we were very excited to connect with one of our country’s most recognizable athletes: gold and silver Olympic medalist, triathlete Simon Whitfield.
Simon has spent years, decades in fact, competing at a crazy high level as a triathlete all over the world, meaning he has probably put more hours in on a bike than just about anyone we know. We’re very proud to call Simon a friend and member of the Vanhawks family. We recently had the chance to talk with him a bit about his life, his passion for bikes and what kind of things get him excited.
Seems obvious, but for the few who may not know, who are you?
You know, I love that question. Most people know me as a triathlete, the guy who won a couple medals and carried our flag. Or as the person radio and TV stations call for comment about sports-related news items. But that’s not really who I am.
I guess first, I am a father. I have two amazing young girls who are hilarious and full of energy, and spending time with them is my favourite thing to do. We get outside as much as possible and go on adventures or stay in and build forts – or play whatever games they dream up. The way they perceive the world is curious and exciting to me. It’s fun. Living in Victoria BC, I’m also afforded the opportunity to enjoy the environment. Since I stopped competing professionally in 2013, I have taken on some new sports like paddle boarding, which is a super good time. I have competed a bit in that too, but it’s mostly just for fun. What else? I suppose just live a normal life. I have a great girlfriend who I also love spending time with and friends that keep me entertained, either playing soccer or just hanging out. Oh, I work too.
Are you a bike commuter?
Absolutely. I commute by bike as much as possible, which is pretty well year-round in Victoria. It literally takes less time for me to ride downtown on my bike than it does to drive and find parking, plus it’s less expensive.
What do you ride now?
Right now I just ride a single-speed commuter. It’s something I sort of pieced together over the years. Nothing too fancy. But I can’t wait to get on one of your bikes! Really, I’ve been talking about it with my housemate and we have both completely geeked out over it. Super excited.
Why do you commute by bicycle?
There are all kinds of reasons. Obviously the health benefits are there, both physical and mental. Even though it’s just a short ride, it’s a chance to clear my head. I can push it or just cruise, depending on my mood. But more than the health benefits, I also enjoy the community of it. For people who don’t bike to work, they probably don’t know that there is a solid community out there that feels like a team. If you do it throughout the seasons, you’ll get to know people. Sometimes it’s just a familiar nod, but sometimes it turns into more than that. I’ve made friends with people living in the city by stopping at a place called Relish for coffee a lot of mornings. It’s usually just casual banter but it helps me feel more connected to the people in my community. It’s something you can never get by driving all the time.
I also often ride to school with my kids. It’s a short ride, but just that 10 or 15 minutes every morning is a great opportunity to interact with them. There’s a noticeable difference in our interaction if I drive them to school, with them in the backseat. I can more easily find out what’s going on in their lives and we can simply enjoy our time together. It’s a totally different experience and I cherish it. Sooner or later they’ll want to do the trip on their own, which is fine, but for now I’m taking full advantage!
Do you see commuting by bicycles growing?
Definitely. I mean, it’s not like our population is getting smaller. Cities are become more densely populated and as that happens I think more people are going to start to recognize the benefits of cycling over driving. I already see it, with bike shops that were once primarily focused on road and racing bikes now shifting to include commuters. Young kids to seniors can be found on the paths and bike lanes in Victoria, and that is an increasing occurrence. It seems inevitable that more and more people will get on two wheels, especially in cities that support a biking culture.
How did Vanhawks get on your radar?
Honestly? I think it was a bit of envy. When I was only a kid, I had dreamed up the idea of putting turning signals on a bike. I even drew sketches of it. Then I saw your Kickstarter project and thought I’d check it out. At first I thought that the Valour was just going to be another gimmicky project, but as I started digging, I realized that you guys really know your stuff.
After we first connected in person, I knew I wanted to become involved with the company. It’s one thing to have the idea, but you need a team – and your team is solid. And I’m not just saying that because this interview is for you! Really, I see a lot of projects I could potentially get behind that wind up falling flat, but yours has everything I would want. It’s like you’ve mined my brain for ideas and then put them into your concepts!
Beyond the signals and internal hubs and that sort of thing, I think what really excites me is the potential to build a smart bike network. As communities like Victoria continue grow around the world, space is going to be an increasing issue. We can either keep pushing forward with vehicle-based infrastructure and turn space into an unaffordable commodity, or we can start building networks and systems that focus on less obtrusive commuting options like biking. I really think you guys are on to something that has a lot of potential to have impact on an exploding cycling culture. Looking forward to being part of the ride!
Follow Simon Whitfield on Twitter: @simonwhitfield
We’re doing this post together since we want to talk about the design and development process behind the creation of the mobile application that will be part of the Valour riding experience.
When we set out to design the mobile application for the Valour, we wanted to make it an interface that built around the experience of riding a connected bicycle. This meant we would be treading new waters, since no [one] had ever created a bicycle that required an advanced user interface that was part of the actual product. Being avid cyclists and commuters ourselves we knew the problems we were going to face and focused on the ones we knew all commuters faced.
The application had to do the following as its core functionality:
provide a bike specific navigation solution in a map interface that we were used to
provide metrics from our rides
offer a central location for us to control our Valours.
With these guidelines and other requirements at heart, we went through several design iterations before we came to the version that we are currently implementing. Previous versions solved the above problems but were too clunky or contained too much information. See below for a look at one of our first iterations.
(*Please note that these are original internal design/development mockups. The colours, values, copy and other design elements are all placeholders. We believe in you seeing what we actually work with, rather than creating “prepared” imagery for you to see.)
As we designed and tested each iteration, we learned new things about what we were building and what we wanted the application to be.
We eventually changed one of our central guidelines to:
provide commute relevant and understandable metrics from our rides
Design is an iterative process and it can only get better as you go through many solutions.
However, development and implementation are an important part of the process as well. What makes a design come to life is the implementation behind it all, so we always work with both views.
We chose to focus on making one for commuting, and one of the ways we could do that is to focus on the stuff that matters to a commuter: displaying relevant trip data in a manner that makes it easy to go day-by-day to week-to-week or even month-to-month. So, this is what the latest version of the mobile application looks like now.
(*Again, please note that these are original internal design/development mockups. The colours, values, copy and other design elements are all placeholders, and will change as we progress. We believe in you seeing what we actually work with, rather than creating “prepared” stuff for you to see.)
We focused on summaries as the central visual style for the Activity Tab.
As commuters, we wanted to be able to compare individual days with other days and do the same with weeks and months as well. This focus freed up a lot of space and provides clean and relevant information.
Moving forwards or backwards in time is done by simply scrolling up and down. Switching between Daily, Weekly, and Monthly can be done from the buttons above the list and by selecting the respective week or month item.
The individual trip breakdown pages were also changed to reflect the new guideline. We are incorporating a slider that will progress through your ride line and display your distance, time and calories up to that point. This method actually gives you a detailed breakdown of your trip, as opposed to a trip summary page. There are many other reasons why we’re incorporating a slider and we believe it will evolve overtime to incorporate future iterations.
In the end, our design process allows us to make changes that give us better solutions to our current iterations as well as laying the development groundwork for all future iterations too. As all things app design go, nothing is ever finished but that's the beauty of it all.
Cheers,
~Daanish & Niv
You can follow Daanish and Niv at @DaanishMaan and @nivivon
I have just gotten back from a long trip to Asia, with multiple visits to Taiwan, China, and a trip to Pakistan, to meet with our manufacturing and production partners. What I originally booked as a three week trip, quickly stretched into six weeks.
I want to spend a moment to give you an update on what we've been up to and how things are shaping up on the production side of the Valour.
In China, we have finalized our bill of materials for the electronics. This process has involved the coordination of our contract manufacturer in China and our integrated circuits distributor in Canada. This took a bit of back and forth trying to find components that fit our specifications, were economical, while having short lead times. The production versions of the sonar modules have also been prototyped. The modules will be die-cast aluminum; an ideal process that give us the form we wanted while remaining durable. The next step is to finalize our waterproofing solutions. We have also finished prototyping our main PCBA and are about ready to go into pilot production.
We finished prototyping two handlebars—one CNC aluminum version and another in 3D printed plastic. The aluminum version allows us to better understand how to best manufacture it. It has proven to be very helpful in working with vendors.
The challenge with the bar has been that it is easily the most complex mechanical part on the bike, with numerous design constraints and a high degree of interaction between parts from different vendors. We have to make the mechanical bar accommodate the bulk of the electronics, while still retaining a design which is coherent and consistent with the visual identity of the bike, while still finding a way to manufacture it. That last part has been a persistent road block. Many designers and engineers will tell you “price, development time, innovative—choose two.” While we have found it very challenging, we have been fairly insistent on not compromising on any of the three. Though it's possible to say that we've stretched our original development time expectations, we have accomplished in a short six months what would take many companies years. We are still working out a last few kinks, but feel we are pretty damn close to the end of this road.
This brings me to the bad news.
I went to Pakistan to be there for the opening of our first frame mould. We were able to get a few frames out of our moulds before I left. These moulds were then sent to meet me in Taiwan where we would fit them up with our part specification to check fit and alignment.
The first few frames out of the mould are generally called mould samples. They are not intended to be perfect—that generally happens during what’s called pilot production. However, you can get a sense of what needs to be fixed.
These frames were certainly no exception to the roughness we’d ought to expect out of a mould sample. Generally, I would sort the problems into categories of:
issues you know how to fix pretty immediately and,
issues for which a solution will have to be discovered.
Of the first category we had plenty of known problems with known solutions. For instance, we knew going in that the mould inserts would have some issues, so we knew that there would issues with headset and bottom bracket IDs.
Where things got more concerning is with the consequences of having a split chain/seat stay for the belt drive. On a normal unibody carbon frame, the unibody alignment is fairly simple because, as long as the carbon lay-up fills out the mould correctly, there isn’t much room for things to go wrong. This is in contrast to traditional carbon construction, where the frame is split into three moulds, then each section is bonded together. This can be tricky, but experienced factories can do it fairly flawlessly.
However with the split chain/ seat stay for the belt drive, the uni-body frame becomes a whole lot harder. In order to mould the chain and seat stays separately you have to create space between them in the mould. This become tricky, because they need to be moulded outside of the position where they will end up when the bike is put together. This makes alignment really tricky. Conversely, on a traditional three mould process, this is less of an issue because you can effectively put the chain stay and seat stay in their final positions when you bond them together, and with the fungibility of the bonding process, you can make sure alignment is perfect in the jig.
We have some promising ideas for how to go about fixing the alignment issue with the uni-mould frame. However, if we have learned anything in the last six months, its that it is extremely difficult to estimate accurately how much time it will take to resolve an challenge or problem to which you have not previously dealt. We could tell you that we think we can get this all sorted out, with a one or two month delay but the reality is, there is no way for us to know that.
The good news however, is that we are fortunate enough to have found a solution, which while delaying things a little bit, will bring considerably more reliability to the rest of our production process. We are working with our fork manufacturer in China to help shift production to their Chinese facility.
We are confident these are the right partners—they work with all ranges of carbon bikes, from entry level carbon frames to $5000 + frame-sets that push the limits of the process and material. They are one of the first two or three companies to move carbon production to China, and are a leader in their field. Their carbon components are likely in many of the premier road and mountain bike brands that you already ride.
I think it would be fair for us to admit that we underestimated the challenge of making something as nuanced and complex as the frame.
However, it would be considerably more of an error, to fail to learn from these challenges.
By moving to China, we alleviate a considerable risk associated with the product. We are ensuring that you will receive a high quality product that has been thought through—from how it rides to how it is constructed. As a side note, we aren’t giving up on Pakistan, in fact, our partner in China is helping us gain valuable industry knowledge, in order to build high quality frames in Pakistan.
We are now finalizing some minor design alterations to the frame in order to accommodate for the difference between processes. We will be opening the tools in the next couple of weeks. After a couple weeks of tooling, each size will go through testing, ensuring they meet ISO and EN standards. Once everything is ok with the frame, we will enter pilot production. This is where they sort out the minutia of manufacturing—from how to ensure consistency, to how improve efficiency. After about 20-30 pilot units they accelerate into a full production capacity.
This all means that we will be shipping all Kickstarter orders in Spring of 2015, just in time for most of your riding seasons.
As a side note, all of our orders should shipping in fairly quick succession because they will be made at the same time. So no need to worry if you are nearer the end of the queue!
Our goal is to ensure that all of our backers and customers receive a product that is of the highest quality in both design and build. I'm sure that this news will generate a few curious questions as we continue to forge ahead.
With that, we'd like to invite you to an open video live-chat Q&A in the new year (early-mid January) where you'll have an opportunity to ask your most burning questions to anyone on the team.
As 2015 rolls in, we'll be posting further details via Kickstarter, email, and social on when and how you can take part!
Until then,
Our vision is to provide safer and smarter routes to all riders across the globe. The first step in achieving that goal is to create the world’s first connected bicycle; the Valour.
Before I joined the team, what the Valour should be was already defined; phone connectivity, bike to bike communication, navigation, geo location for antitheft, blind spot detection, integrated headlamp, haptic feedback, and no need for wall charging were all part of the vision.
When I started at Vanhawks, my first task was to specify how exactly we were going to achieve any of the aforementioned features. One feature of particular interest to me was the bike to bike mesh, and how we’d go about creating a mesh network early in our product launch when we have as little as 2000 bikes spread across the world.
Before my time with Vanhawks, the original plan was to use a sub GHz radio, like an Xbee, to get a two way radio with up to a km range. Unfortunately, with a ground level antenna, urban centers, such as downtown Toronto, limit the range to under 200 m (non-line of sight). While 200 m is quite impressive in an urban canyon, the power required to achieve this raised SAR compliance concerns, as the antenna was to be housed in the handlebar (less than 20 cm from the rider). To add to our woes, a proprietary sub GHz link, even at 200 m, was insufficient to build a mesh unless we had a valour at every intersection of a city.
The solution to our problems: use a more ubiquitous protocol, such as WiFi. In fact, since we were certain cyclists would not like a GSM subscription fee, WiFi made the most sense. WiFi allows us to use WiFi direct (or similar) for bike to bike communication, albeit at reduced range compared to a sub GHz radio (100 m line of sight max). Of course, the largest boon of WiFi is the ability to build partnerships with vendors to jump onto open WiFi networks, or even ask Valour owners to help build the mesh by sharing their home WiFi. WiFi literally makes the Valour a connected bicycle, and allows us to build our connected framework even with only 1 bicycle in a city.
What else does WiFi get us? Consider this situation; you go to Starbucks, connect to their free WiFi, and your phone then provisions the Valour with the same credentials. Now, when your Valour is tampered with, you receive a notification of what is happening with your Valour. We also get the added benefit of the Valour automatically syncing ride data to the server when you get home, as well as improved geo location features. Of course, choosing WiFi wasn’t all roses and rainbows; the range is shorter, and the protocol is harder to use, but thanks to a plethora of prebuilt modules, we were able to cut out months of development time. Admittedly, evaluating all the WiFi options were a bit of a headache, but luckily support from Arrow was a pretty good painkiller.
Communication aside, powering all the Valours subsystems is something I really enjoyed working on… but that’s a post for another day. Until then!
"It's not just about sitting around and dreaming up what something might look like"
Contrary to what someone may think, the process of designing the fork wasn’t about dreaming up what it might look like. Instead, I began the process by setting necessary requirements:
The fork’s crown had to mate seamlessly with the frame’s unusually wide headtube.
The fork had to mount a disc brake on one side and accommodate a dynamo connection on the other.
Stiffness had to be maintained in the lateral direction, and flex in the fore-aft direction for comfort.
The cables had to be routed internally through the fork, for a beautiful, integrated aesthetic.
Fender mounting needed to be accommodated.
The ultimate goal of this project was to make sure the fork matched and complimented the frame, both functionally and aesthetically.
First of all, we needed to check off all the functionality boxes. The cable routing, the fender, the crown meeting the headtube, and a balance between comfort and stiffness of the fork. Ideally, a fork should be designed to have high lateral stiffness to resist side-to-side forces.
To accomplish this, the fork adopts quite a wide stance. With a relatively thick cross-section, we created a wider triangle for a more stable geometry that lends to the aforementioned stiffness required for our fork.
However, from the side view, you’ll notice that the fork is quite slender. As we move up the blade of the fork, the cross-section gets wider and wider to achieve the necessary strength.
This allows the fork to to flex in the fore-aft direction in order to absorb as much of the vibration and forces of the road as possible.
The resulting design aims for high lateral stiffness while being relatively soft for shock absorption and ride comfort.
Perhaps the most unusual thing about the Valour’s fork was the need to internally route a dynamo cable through the fork. While there are some carbon fibre forks that route disc brake cables internally, there are very few forks with an internal dynamo cable (if any at all!).
We experienced some unique challenges with this particular design element. On the surface, the goal was simple; ensure that the cables were able run through the fork in a way that they can properly connect with the components and stem bar without interference. Our goal was for both the electric and mechanical cable to route into the fork at the same point of entry. However the electric cable took a somewhat contrived route to achieve this. It was an essential part of our integrated aesthetic. We worked hard with our manufacturer to get this element just right, and are grateful that they bought into the importance of this design element.
As is often the case, the aesthetic considerations were the last to drive the design. However, when it comes to aesthetics at Vanhawks, “last” never means “least”! That’s the difference between us and the proverbial “them”. Where one may have called the project “complete” after meeting the technical requirements, this to me is where my design process actually begins.
Once we laid the groundwork for what the fork had to be, we talked about about what it could be. I had actually started thinking about this when I initially started working on the frame when I first started at Vanhawks. It was a challenge that I constantly had in the back of my mind; “what would it look like? what could it be?” In the end, while I didn’t work on the fork right away, I had a lot of time to think about what I intended to accomplish and was well prepared when we eventually reached the fork design stage.
When you are designing a component like a fork, to match the rest of the frame, you have to draw inspiration from other areas of the bike. That way, you’re able to design something that looks like it came from the same product family. In this case, the fork borrows from the cross section of the frame while the blades of the fork mimic the curves of the seat stays and top tube. As a package, the frame and fork then start to “talk” to each other and compliment one another. This helps to create a harmonious form.
Interestingly, when borrowing from other forms on the bikes, you don’t typically end up with a lot of options for your design. If I was to design this fork again, I don’t know if I would do it any differently. This is probably the best validation a designer can get.
~ Mark
Follow Mark on Twitter @mremennik
P.S. Here's a teaser of the rear LEDs/blindspot sensors
“A light, carbon fibre bike that calls home when stolen.”
This was the initial concept of what is now known as the Valour. I was brought on as the CTO of Vanhawks to do just that; add a GPS to the bike and create a mobile app that alerts you when it’s stolen. This was our ultimate goal as a four man co-founding team. As we worked towards this, Sohaib (CEO) would ask me, “Is this really the bike of the future?”. We were approaching the commuting problem in a way that no one else was; we were integrating technology into the bike.
Fast forward a few months to Founderfuel; Alex Lynn (Director of Special Projects at Real Ventures) took Ali and I out for coffee while Sohaib was away. He asked us, “what fears prevent people from commuting by bike?” This discussion opened my mind to solutions beyond purely software. We came up with the concept that encompasses the Valour as we know it today; a carbon fibre bike that learns from your rides to give you safer, smarter route suggestions, shows you where to go with LEDs built into the handlebar, warns you of cars in your blindspot, and calls home when stolen.
This was a lot to digest. I had a strong background with software but had minimal experience with electronics and firmware.
Before we launched our Kickstarter, Ali flew to SF to showcase the Valour to the media. The weekend before he left, I knew that in order for Vanhawks to pitch a convincing case, we needed to have a working prototype. I had to create a LED navigation system, blindspot detection system, and speed monitoring, all of which communicated with an iOS app via Bluetooth. Integrating all of this into the Valour in 48 hours was a monumental task, one that I managed to finish the prototype an hour before Ali had to go to the airport.
People ask me what it’s like to be the CTO of a startup. That weekend is the perfect answer.
That weekend: I didn’t sleep, I worked nonstop, and learned at lightning pace to bring the company’s vision into fruition. I’m constantly on the clock because if any live technology issues occur, I’m the only co-founder who knows how to fix them, and I love every minute of it. When you’re truly passionate about what you’re doing, seemingly impossible tasks truly can be accomplished.
Vanhawks is unlike many other tech startups. On top of web development, mobile apps, and server architecture, we also work on printed circuit boards to house the electronics inside of the Valour, and the firmware to give the electronics functionality. There aren’t enough hours in the day for one person to accomplish all of that within a reasonable time period. We knew that our team had to expand in order to able to deliver a quality product in a timely fashion.
Thanks to our incredible backers, our Kickstarter funding allowed us to expand our company’s technology department and bring on Eric (Head of Hardware), Steve (Firmware Engineer), Amir (Web Developer), and Drew (Android Developer). With them, my role shifted from purely developing to overseeing and ensuring that the “brains” of the bike stays on track. They have alleviated my responsibility of implementation of everything but the iOS app, allowing me to focus on Vanhawks’ main goal, making cycling the number one choice for personal urban transportation. These guys are extremely bright, hard working, and motivated. They have made my job extremely easy. I feel that our team is now capable of tackling any technological challenge that may occur.
Starting a company is a leap of faith and like anyone out there, we, the co-founding team, didn’t know whether to take it. We were hesitant to leave our comfort zone.
It boiled down to digging deep and understanding that its a lot easier to take the plunge when you’re doing the things you love and the market is willing to open its arms to you.
Before the Valour, there was the SF-50—A novel idea to build a bike with a new composite manufacturing process. In the summer of 2011, we were invited to Munich, Germany for Bike Expo to share our innovation. To our surprise, we were finalists for the best initial design award in Carbon Fibre Construction.
Around this time, I was still in medical school on my way to becoming a doctor and Adil (Vanhawks CMO) was building Dita field hockey sticks. We talked about doing something better with our lives on a near daily basis. And the acknowledgement at the Bike Expo was validation enough for us to take that leap of faith. We just knew that Vanhawks had to grow beyond our dorm room.
For a while, we struggled with the idea of just licensing the composite technology to a big name brand. It would’ve been a quick exit and fast cash. But I recalled a Steve Jobs quote I once read,
“We’re here to put a dent in the universe, otherwise, why else even be here?”
This was enough to right the ship and stay true to the course of building a company.
So, we knew we had a damn cool carbon fibre tube but our survival couldn't rely solely on putting carbon and rubber together. If I am going to quit school and blow my dreams of becoming a doctor then there’s no point in half-assing it. But to go big meant making Vanhawks the best damn thing out there.
Go big or go home as they say.
At this point, we started building the Valour. Adil worked with me to overcome the manufacturing obstacles of the design and I would do the FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to make sure we were on track.
As we poured our hearts into the bike, it grew from being just a product into an idea for a robust cycling experience. We needed the talent to make the bicycle more than an extension of the leg but rather an extension of the mind, body and soul. I called on Ali, my little brother, to come onboard as a UI/UX designer for the connected bike app. Ali then pitched the idea to Niv for making the app, and shortly thereafter, our team doubled in a matter of hours.
Fast forward to summer of 2013 and we found ourselves working out of a shared working space called Project Rhino in Toronto. We slowly started to make connections but nothing was working for us. Summer flew by, Ali and Niv were back in school, I was now a dropout and Adil was no longer making field hockey sticks. We just had to make this work.
Ali’s hustle got us the first interview with FounderFuel - an accelerator program run by Real Ventures in Montreal. Ian Jeffery, general manager of FF, liked Vanhawks and after two rounds of interviews, we were injected with $50k to make our dreams come true. FounderFuel was no cakewalk; I constantly questioned my judgement and decisions. “Will this work? Can we make Vanhawks more than just a pipe dream?”
These thoughts kept us awake at night with ideas running through our heads of all the things that we knew could and wanted to accomplish
A connected bike was a very hard sell—maybe we were only meant to be a composite company. So why not just license the technology and build everything out it. Alan Macintosh and Sam Haffar were the people who helped to strengthen my resolve and teach me to trust my gut feelings.
On May 1st 12:30 pm, Ian Jeffery came to confirm a tweet he was about to send: ‘Vanhawks is about to launch something big’ - I read the tweet and the last two years of our lives flashed before my eyes. I knew that Kickstarter was the next logical push and I knew that timing was everything. At 1:00 pm EST on May 1, 2014 we went live to share the Valour with the world, and on May 31st, we were the most funded campaign in Canada—It didn't happen just like that, Its not just a journey - its a wild ride
More than three years have passed since we formed Vanhawks. I am now writing this post before we celebrate our office launch tonight. No, I haven’t become a millionaire startup founder, but I know the only team capable of changing the future of personal urban transportation is working at 164 Princess street in Toronto!
Hi, everybody! (Hi, Dr. Nick!) My name is Daanish and I’m the Head of User Experience at Vanhawks.
I’m responsible for the conception and design of the mobile software and digital interactions integrated within the Valour. We faced and continue to face a lot of challenges with regards to the design and functionality of the mobile application and I’m happy to say we’re getting to a point in our timeline that we will soon be testing the app in conjunction with a functional Valour.
any experience that moves beyond the simplicity of riding a bike had to be done in such a manner that it doesn’t take away from the riding experience itself.
That’s why we made the early decision to remove the “start” button. The “start” button is an actual interface element and a metaphor within our design language. The actual interface element is the button a user would have to press to “start navigation” or “start recording my ride”.
Why did we think that this button—which is so central to apps like Google Maps, Strava and many other map-based apps—should be removed? It’s because it causes usage friction and in effect, reduces both use-frequency and app-reliability. We found that many users tend to stop recording their rides and activity as time passes. This was related to the idea that you have to “prepare” an app and hit “start”. This process was the one big hurdle that holds many users back from recording all of their trips and activity.
By removing the start button, we have to teach the Valour what it means to go on a “ride”. In our case, a ride is classified when a rider is on the bike and moving along on the ground. We quickly found out that a bike moved in so many different ways that doesn’t involve a rider on top. The bike could be moving on a bike rack on or above your car or bus or train. People also tend to carry bikes up and down stairs. If we can teach the bike what it means to go on a ride it will know when to start and stop tracking your rides.
Imagine what that would feel like; never having to press “record” or start navigation but still having all of your rides recorded!
Beyond this, we also wanted to emphasize the need for a user to quickly look up locations above everything else. This was very difficult with our initial plans for a burger-styled menu navigation. We eventually got rid of the entire menu and had come up with an entirely new way of organizing the app layout to emphasize the navigation function. Now, access to the map is always visible and the simple question: “Where to?” is always just a tap away.
These examples highlight the main design principle that we’re following through the rest of the the application as well as all software that we'll be developing. As time progresses I’ll offer an in-depth look into how each part of the app works, and maybe showcase it in a video or two :D
“Industrial design is a bit of a marriage between art and engineering.”
My name is Dave Waddell and I'm an industrial designer at Vanhawks. Let's take a moment to talk about the form direction of the Valour’s handlebar and stem.
This project was a bit of a challenge for me because of the rigorous demands and requirements we set for what we considered to be the ideal component. Finding a way to integrate all of the lights and indicators into the stem and handlebar while maintaining both the best aesthetic and structural strength was and continues to be a monumental task.
We first played around with the idea of creating a detachable capsule that contained the Valour’s brain. The stem would allow for an insert to be placed inside. This was quickly dropped for security reasons; it was too easily targeted by thieves.
We eventually established that the electronics would be placed inside the stem/bar; the first iteration was developed and it started to look pretty voluminous. This plan was initially rejected; I thought it was crazy—not only would we have to create a really large gap to fit all the electronics, but the form of the stem/bar was heavily influenced by the form of the circuit board.
The design sort of looked like a bison’s head. Picture how a bison’s horns meets up with its skull. I really wasn’t happy with the way this form was looking.
I spent many days on this, just re-sketching and trying to make something that looked good. But every time I came back with a new sketch, the response was always “that looks huge!” and “how can we make it visually distinctive but bring the volume down significantly?”
The first breakthrough occurred after a discussion with Sohaib (our CEO) and we came to the conclusion that it would be okay to move away from a traditional stem. Normally, stems are attached to the fork by way of a 2-bolt "pinch" clamp, but that’s not the only way to do it. Everything changed when we made the decision to go with a 4-bolt rear-mounted clamp. This made installations a breeze — we no longer had to cut a huge mouth at the front of the stem (the initial plan). Now we could install certain components from the ends of the bar and the larger components from the rear of the stem.
When all this was decided, we moved towards a form factor that everybody was happier with. We ended up with this pronounced head with these kind of tapered shoulders. This would be the top view and it’s really important that this be a look that we’re happy with because that’s what the rider looks at, all the time and constantly. We wanted this form to be unique and something that was visually pleasing.
Here’s an initial concept where used we used bullets and that’s typical of any stem where you have hardware. When we integrated these bullets into the form, that’s when we started to see this flaring (at the rear of the stem). It echoes the flaring we see at the front of the bar and it gives the form a lot more of a flexed muscle feel. It also echoed certain elements of the bike frame itself.
In the end, no design is perfect. There is still a lot of work to be done on this handlebar as we consider the switch to alloy from carbon. I wouldn’t expect this current form to be the final product but this is the look and feel that we’re moving forward with.
"Think of the production of the Valour as the union of two worlds."
Just over two weeks ago I left for Asia to meet with our numerous component and electronics suppliers that are based out of Shenzhen, China and Taichung, Taiwan.
While I could have accomplished most of this over email, the ability to meet in-person is integral to communicating our unique needs. More importantly, the opportunity to build relationships with our suppliers is requisite for operating effectively in Asia.
Now that I have largely recovered from the jet lag, I just want to take the time to give you guys some insight into what I experienced, what I learned, and how these things might affect the production of the Valour.
Its easiest to think of the production of the Valour as the union of two worlds. On one hand, we’re building a bike. We make many of the same decisions any manufacturer would; what components are best suited to our purposes, how do these components emphasize certain attributes—durability, performance, design. But we're also an electronics manufacturer trying to tackle the challenges of building something that has numerous core competencies.
Curiously, Shenzhen is home to significant shares of the global market for both electronics and carbon fibre manufacturing.
You might be surprised to learn that the vast majority of the bicycle industry manufactures their carbon fibre components in China—from frames to wheel sets.
While much of the carbon fibre industry began in Taiwan, the industry saw a migration to mainland China in search of competitive labour costs. China was quick to develop the knowledge base required to produce some of the highest quality carbon components in the industry. Now, the question isn’t whether or not to manufacture carbon in China, but rather, who in China to manufacture carbon with. There are plenty of choices, but the trick is finding someone with the experience and capability to meet our expectations. We’ve sought out partners with whom we can sustain strong communication and who provide us with an honest assessment of what was possible. Many vendors often promise quick turn arounds, but few have the capability to deliver. Our final contractors work with numerous other major brands, including many premium-level brands. We hope that these relationships lead us towards producing the best possible product experience.
On the electronics side, I met with the suppliers for our ultrasonic sensors and manufacturers that could provide end-to-end manufacturing services. The Valour has a tremendously complex bill of materials for its electronics. This presents numerous risks in terms of building a reliable supply chain, given that we become beholden to the slowest link in the chain—if one supplier doesn’t deliver, everything is held up.
We are keen to centralize manufacturing and shrink the scope of our supply chain, both geographically and by number of vendors. In doing so, we reduce the risk of things getting delayed further.
After seven days in Shenzhen, I made my way to Taichung, Taiwan. Taichung can be best described as the epicentre of the global bike industry, hosting the headquarters of Giant Bicycle and Sram Components. My time in Taichung proved incredibly valuable; I was immersed into nearly every aspect of the bike manufacturing industry. I had the chance to visit everything from hub factories to assembly factories within the span of less than a week. Altogether, I had a crash course over 15 meetings in three business days. Dizzying isn’t it?
In this trip, we explored how to best produce the handlebar. As many of you know, we had originally planned to produce our handlebars with carbon fibre. We discovered that because of the number of holes required for both indicator lights and antennas, we would have to alter or enlarge our designs to strengthen the fibre structure. With carbon, you can’t just drill or machine holes; the original layout of the carbon fibre sheets has to accommodate all structural elements from the get-go. Because of this, we are exploring the use of various alloy construction methods—like 3D forging—which wouldn’t compromise the structure of the design, be considerably stronger, and only cause marginal weight increases. The vendor which offers some of these manufacturing processes works with leading brands which produce some of those most innovative components on the market.
In the end, this may all sound rather dry to many. But the upshot is that we are much closer to finding the perfect solutions which are ultimately better suited for the Valour — an elegantly-implemented connected bike.
“You know when stars align and things just happen by themselves. That’s kind of what happened here.”
Joining the Vanhawks team could very well be equated to fate for Mark Remennik, former lead designer of Cervelo Cycles. Remembering the thrill of discovery and critical thinking he experienced during his design thesis in 2009 — which incidentally happened to be a commuter bike — the introduction of the Valour struck a familiar chord. Even before the dust has had a chance to settle, Mark's been working tirelessly to perfect the Valour as our Chief of Design.
Mark's design ethos for the Valour is fairly straightforward: to create a cycling experience that’s fun, safe and most importantly, simple.
“I rode an old beach cruiser a while ago. A really old, crappy, rusty beach cruiser that my friend let me try. It reminded me of my childhood” Mark reflected. “It was slow, heavy and sounded like crap but I was simply pedalling. I realized how amazing it felt when there was nothing to think about, but the ride."
"Drawing from that experience, I’m working on integrating all of the specc’ed components — like the Nuvinci internal seamless shifting hub and the Gates carbon belt drive — into a beautiful package that's intuitive, easy on the eyes and simple to assemble/service. The whole Vanhawks team is taking a lot of user experiences into consideration so that our users can free their minds and focus on their commute.”
Diving deeper into the technical elements, Mark has made a number of important changes to the geometry and design of the Valour.
“One of the changes includes lowering the [centre of gravity] closer to the ground, by dropping the bottom bracket further” Mark says. “Cycling in the park or on a trail is very different from cycling in the city. With the constant stop and go of traffic lights, we want to make it easier for the user to stop and put their foot down while riding the Valour. By lowering the cyclist's center of gravity, our goal is to make this experience as safe and comfortable as possible”.
Another specification to change is the overall length of the bike.
“The alpha prototype had a shorter, more aggressive wheelbase which is actually really great for cornering at speed. But in a straight line, the ride is twitchier, less stable and can ultimately feel a little dangerous” Mark explains. “We decided to make the frame longer in the front to make the ride of the Valour more stable for the average commuter. We want our riders to be comfortable cycling straight, looking over their shoulders and knowing that the bike won’t suddenly veer into traffic. With that said, the Valour still has a pretty aggressive geometry compared to other commuter bikes in the market. I think we’ve hit a great balance between comfort and performance; our aim is to design a commuter bicycle that’s both safe and fun to ride.”
That's only the beginning.
For Mark, the decision to join Vanhawks was never about design recognition or job security. It was about the opportunity to create something from scratch and make a meaningful impact in the lives of millions of commuters. Unlike performance bikes, where you try to bend the rules of the industry to achieve certain technical advantages, “the question for designing a commuter bike is simple: at the end of the day, does this feature benefit the user or not? It’s a liberating feeling because almost anything is possible and it’s a matter of discovering which possibilities will change our users' lives. As an industrial designer, it’s a breath of fresh air, to be given a clean slate to paint on.
It’s fun, challenging, hard and scary and I will do it.”
"It's just a damn bike! It's not gonna change the world. Get over it..."
It is often difficult to bring our imagination to look beyond what’s immediately present, perhaps because it is difficult to take it as an article of faith that your imagination is a worthy interpretation of the future. When we began to share our idea of utilizing our composites manufacturing process to build a connected bike, we were told
“its just a damn bike and its not gonna change the world, just get over it. You have invented steel and are trying to make a table out of it. Just license the carbon fibre tech and move on. Why are you making the app, and why does it matter to connect a bike?”
Change is inevitable and you can have no assurances that your change will be the one that takes a foothold. For us, it is not about building pretty interfaces, or a sexy bike, but building an environment where we can help shape the future of personal urban transportation. Its something that cannot just be built into a product—it’s an attitude we adopt. We learn to listen and to respond to changes in the environment. We can keep trying until we find what fits. Vanhawks’ change started with finding people who shared the same intuitions about what urban commuting could be, with their support we were able to acquire the determination to make our change possible.
Creating a product, while difficult, is not enough to facilitate change. In order to move the world forward we have to build communities which support change. For me, building a community started with building a team that shared a sense of what was possible. At first this was just my best friend and I, but we quickly expanded to include Ali and Niv. Now we are a family of nine, including some of the most innovative minds I have had the pleasure of working with.
Our community includes more than those we work with everyday. We wouldn’t be where we are without those who took a leap of faith and bought into our dreams. First off, I would like to thank Neil and Jeff at Project Spaces for providing us a roof under which to start. Second, I would like to thank the FounderFuel team, who trusted and supported us since we first pitched to Ian Jeffery, holding us to the standards we needed to support our ambitions.
The Vanhawks team is proudly based out of our beloved hometown Toronto, but our success started in Montreal. My thanks extends to the Montreal startup ecosystem where we got the early support and love from advisors and the FounderFuel family.
It has been and continues to be a long steep road, but the Vanhawks team is fully capable of the challenges ahead. Our backers and advisors helped us reach where we are. They are now more than just backers or advisors; they are members of the Vanhawks family. We are indebted and humbled by your continued support.
Ahead lies an exciting journey, and the future is promising. We are excited to have you ride by our side.
