Above: A floor full of iterations of boîtier's side drawer. Note: many of the pictured pieces have no finishing—final product will resemble the cabinet's Cherry finish on our homepage. We reuse unfinished and less expensive wood when prototyping to reduce costs. The wooden side brackets for the drawer will also be cut at cleaner angles but were undergoing rigidity tests when documented.
1. A Better Box
As we've worked towards a final build of boîtier's cabinet, we've been able to reduce its overall dimensions. Production cabinets will stand about 4 inches shorter on all sides. A reduced footprint, we believe, makes for a better product in a few ways:
(1) smaller cabinets fit in more places within a home
(2) the cabinet blends in even further within a room
This new size has made boîtier a slightly better fit for more homes.
2. Evolution of a Drawer
If you've followed our updates since October, we've spoken about one topic more than any other: boîtier for bike's side drawer. It is the most complex part of the product, yet the part of the product we knew needed to be great, since it is the interface between owner, cabinet, and bike. Through dozens of iterations of the drawer, we've landed on a final design which achieves two things:
(1) Allows users to stow and ride their bike easily. And when riding, the drawer needs to feel extremely stable.
(2) As furniture, the drawer's design needs to be discreet, organic when not in use.
Above is a shot of the spring system we introduced on the drawer earlier this year. Think of the springs as shocks on a car, coiled pieces that are coupled to a set of wheels. While shocks on a car absorb impact by compressing, making for a smoother ride, boîtier's spring system compresses to place the bike on the ground when it detects a rider. This system allows a rider to ride their bike with the feet of the bike resting on the ground—the same ride as a user's experience without boîtier. When a rider dismounts their bike, the springs then uncompress, lifting the bike off the ground, allowing the bike to be moved on boîtier's wheels.
This engineering was worked out to maintain a simple user experience from start to finish: (1) To work out, just pull open the drawer and get on your bike; (2) When workout is complete, dismount the bike and close the drawer.
3. Shipping Details
In late April we will be emailing buyers directly about delivery timelines. Deliveries are roughly on time (give or take 10 days), to begin shipping in late May, early June, starting with locations nearest our assembly facility in Louisiana and working outwards.
Buyers will be notified of:
A) A general delivery window. This window will be determined by a buyer's location + date of order. If you are located in Boston, for instance, you will be part of the Northeastern delivery route—trucks are being loaded with units in Louisiana, where boîtier for bike is being assembled, and offloaded to a warehouse in the northeast region, then individually delivered to a buyer's home for installation.
B) As a buyer's delivery window approaches, a buyer will be contacted individually to pick a specific day/time for delivery, to ensure boîtier for bike can be installed within a particular residence.
Buyers, look out for that email in late April for more details. Merci,
—the boîtier team—