Looking for opinions on a cycling related project

[Ziggie]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this community and would like to introduce myself. Before you stop reading, NO, this is not a sales pitch. I'd simply like to hear your thoughts and opinions on a project my team and I have been working on. Hope I'm not breaking any rules, like I said, this is not an advertisement.

My name is Ziga and I'm from Slovenia (EU). My friends and I are all cycling enthusiasts and we came up with the idea of recycling discarded inner bicycle tubes by using them to make bicycle bags. As my name suggests, we call it the Ziggie Bag. Design-wise, we went for the type of bag that attaches to the handlebars, so you have it right in front of you at all times. We also added a spot to attach your smart phone and added a powerbank which you can use to recharge your phone or other electronic devices. I don't want to get to technical at this point, since the pictures and video tell most of the story.

What I would kindly like to ask you for are some opinions on our product, our landing page and our video. I'd like to hear your thoughts - the good, the bad, the ugly, we want to hear it all! Any suggestions on how to make our project better would also be much appreciated and I will gladly answer any questions you might have.

With the video we went for the first-person narrative approach – Ziggie Bag tells it's story. The video was shot in Ljubljana (capital city of Slovenia).

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We wanted the landing page to be very simple and explain everything in as few words as possible. The layout is straightforward and there's a newsletter application form at the bottom.
http://ziggiebag.weebly.com/
We also have a Facebook page and a Pinterest page if you want to check out photos of the prototypes. We will be uploading more ASAP.
https://www.facebook.com/Ziggie-Bag-712741505515955/
https://www.pinterest.com/ziggiebag/our-product/

We plan to launch a crowdfunding campaingn next month (that's the plan anyway, we'll see how that goes) with a fairly modest goal. On a personal note I'd like to add that as much as we are all cycling enthusiasts, we also share a passion for promoting the importance of recycling and that is just as important to us as the business side of the project. I guess that mentality comes from our upbringing since Slovenia is a small country and therefore has limited natural resources. Either way, we'd like to make our project as appealing as possible. Oh, and a fun fact: Ljubljana is the European Green Capital 2016! Yay for us!
I hope to hear back from as many of you as possible! Thank you in advance!

Ziga

P.S.: Feel free to move this post if this is the wrong board, but I would appreciate one of the mods contacting me if I broke any rules by posting this.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

1. Credit for trying to manufacture a useful product.
2. Credit for trying to recycle discarded inner tubes.

Now, for my two cents worth: I really do not for any of the products I've seen that were made from old inner tubes. Good luck anyways and I wish you success.

 

[Ziggie]

Thanks for the comment Bob! I din't quite catch what you were trying to say with that last part. Maybe you skipped a word?

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Just my personal taste in wallets, belts, bags, etc. Our local bike shops have products made from recycled inner tubes and I do not like how they look or feel.

 

[Ziggie]

Ah, I understand. The do feel a bit different but if it's done right, it kind of looks like leather from a distance, or at least as cool as leather we're all big on recycling so we refer to tubes as "leather... but better!"

But as a consumer I completely understand that personal taste is what matters most in the end.

 

[Corzhens]

I don't click links and even in Facebook, I do not play videos. However, with the way you described your product, it looks like a good utility bag that is in front and with the convenience of a power bank. The bag is important for a biker when going far (I seldom go out of our village so I don't bring that much baggage) especially when on a recreational tour. I think it's a good product and if affordable, I would buy one.

 

[dabac]

I wonder about the attachment to the bar and stem. Do those colourful straps simply go around the bar, or is there a bracket that has to be mounted to the bar first?

Stuff mounted loosely to a bike tend to rattle around a bit. If there's no bracket to hold it I'd be concerned that the faceplate of the stem would eat its way through the bag quite fast.

Powerbank and light are nice features, but - assuming the light is strong enough to ride by - how do you aim the light?

 

[Ziggie]

Thank you for your comment dabac! The colorful straps are there to secure your phone actually. The bag attaches to the handlebars using two velcro strips on the verticle back panel - when the bag is not mounted the strips are hidden under the flap (the one with the colourful straps). I'v uploaded a picture to our pinterest page to show this.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/53339576814970539/

In our experience this attachment method is very secure but keep in mind that the bag is designed primarily for urban cyclists. I will be the first to admit that there are probably better options for MTBs at the moment, but we are working on new designs that will be aimed at those as well. Similarly, the light is primarily meant as a safety measure although it is strong enough for cycling in the dark. It's just not meant for late night offroading, where you wood need something more powerful. Our LED is circa 150lm and the powerbank is 5000mAh.

 

[Ziggie]

Since many have been asking us about saddlebags, here is our take on the design. Introducing the Ziggie Saddlebag... ok, maybe that won't be the official name, but that's what we're calling it for the time being. What do you guys think? We've been told many times, that a handlebar bag is of little use for a pro cyclist, and since we had the saddle design in the works, we thought we should show you the prototype ASAP. Obviously it has a retro vibe going on, the leather is artificial of course.

 

[dabac]

I've got several bikes, and don't want to keep several saddle bags stocked with tools and spares. I like to use ONE bag, and move it from bike to bike.
For that to happen easily, I will only consider a bag with a reliable quick-release, and from a brand willing to sell me several items of the saddle half of the quick-release.

 

[Ziggie]

Thank you for pointing this out to us.

Anyway, we would like to thank each and everyone for their help with regard to our bicycle bags. We are now happy to say that we will try our luck on Kickstarter, where, hopefully, we will obtain enough funds to keep on developing and improving our bags.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1313897411/ziggie-bag-dont-just-cyclerecycle