I am a manufacturing engineer, so I have a firm handle on where your cost is was coming from. Using 3rd part printing sources of course drives the cost up. I am also familiar with mold making and 3D printing. Machining and printing go hand and hand in todays world. I fully understand why you can’t make these injection molded, it is the same reason all the bike manufacturers don’t have something similar. It simply does not make sense from an investment stand point. It is also why Felt only has one crappy design that fits all their bikes.
Let me make some suggestions
-Make the mount to the seat post a separate piece, this reduces the printer size needed.
I am assuming your are using some online service for the 3D print, these are all more expensive then you need.
Start calling around to local machine shops that have started 3D printing. I live in a 300k metro area, and two of the shops I use regularly have 3D printers now. If you had two piece design, the cost for those prints would be around $50.
-You can buy some really nice printers for 4-5K
Lastly, in a niche market. Mark up over wholesale in niche markets are typically much much less than mark up in consumer goods. 25% over wholesale is a good day in niche markets such as bicycles. It is the reason why it is so hard for a bike shop to stay in business.
But how do they ride??? Be great to get some user feedback from testing the prototypes. Is there any movement or vibration in the box when going over bumps. The lack of a fixing at the base of the box looks like a potential rattle source. We all hate rattles.
Admittedly no one has ridden the bike with the box yet. But I stand behind my product, the design is proven on the P5 and will actually be better on the Felt because of the arc and the stabilizers.
As for the BB box for the p3, it’s coming. I’m working on it today. Hoping to have 3d print of the prototype tomorrow for test fitting on a p3.
That’s also a great place to put your race number. That’s what I (and a lot of people) do with the draft box my Speed Concept. It’s extra security.
So to confirm the ones for the Felt IA are one size fits all? I have a 58 and this is exactly what I’m looking for. I’d love to order one!
Yes, they are one size fits all. For the IA, the same box was fitted on a 48 and 54, so minimum size for the IA is 48. On the DA the box was fitted on a 51, therefore minimum size is 51.
I know this one’s ready to ship, but just a suggestion for future versions.
I have the Felt BTSPAC. The lid on it hinges to open. With bottle cages behind my seat I can open the container to maybe 70 degrees. I can sort of pull it to the side and go around my bottle cages to get it to open fully.
It would be awesome if the storage container would simply unclip from a separate mount. That way you could install the mount and then clip the storage on / off to easily access contents.
Not sure it that makes things easier or harder on your end. Just some feedback from a real life use case.
I know this one’s ready to ship, but just a suggestion for future versions.
I have the Felt BTSPAC. The lid on it hinges to open. With bottle cages behind my seat I can open the container to maybe 70 degrees. I can sort of pull it to the side and go around my bottle cages to get it to open fully.
It would be awesome if the storage container would simply unclip from a separate mount. That way you could install the mount and then clip the storage on / off to easily access contents.
Not sure it that makes things easier or harder on your end. Just some feedback from a real life use case.
Thanks for the feedback. For my boxes, the lid does not use a hinge, so the lid just comes off and dangles on the side by a short leash.
As for clipping or unclipping the box from the bike, I have thought about it, however that does add a whole other level of complexity and cost. The boxes are made to be able to get your hand in and reach the bottom of it with your fingers if need be. That is why the boxes are not so deep. I’ve seen the rear box for the Quintana Roo and it is so deep that you have to remove it to get anything that fell to the bottom of it. Removing it is also not so easy.