Hey everyone, hope all is well! First things first:

Production Timeline Update

We are slowly but steadily getting closer to shipping helmets to you. We are in the middle of lab testing right now, and nailing down final specifications and details. For example:

Strap fabric

We’re most likely going to go with this strap fabric. It’s slightly thicker than that of the average helmet and is robust and durable.   

Adjustment wheel for retention system

We are refining the gears in the click wheel at the back of the retention system so that it is not too hard and not too easy to adjust, and gives a satisfying tactile feedback when you adjust it.

Moving forward here is how we believe the next few months (based on all the information we have today) will unfold all the way through shipping to backers:

July

• Complete lab testing by end of this month.

August

• Early - mid August we’ll do final production dry runs to iron out the kinks in the system and ensure that we’re getting consistently high quality product off the assembly line.
• In mid-August we will be updating you with:
• Detailed pictures of the helmet in Charcoal Black, Pearl White, and Cobalt Blue so you can make your final decision as to which color you want.
• Prices and details on how to purchase additional remote mounts for those of you who have multiple bikes.
• Along with that update we will be sending a FINAL SURVEY where you will have an opportunity to (1) Change your color selection if you like, (2) Purchase additional remote mounts, and (3) Confirm your shipping address.
• Late August we’ll ship our first big batch of approximately 2,000 helmets to backers. Helmets will get shipped in the order that they were placed, as long as you completed the final survey!

September

• In September we should be fully ramped up and we’ll be able to produce and ship approximately 2,500 helmets every 2 weeks.
• By the end of September we should have shipped out helmets to > 90% of backers if not to all of you!

We’re entering the final stretch, so hang in there! We really think that you’re gonna like what you receive.

On that note, we have a question for you guys!

What if your Lumos Helmet could connect to your phone?

During our Kickstarter campaign many backers asked if the Lumos Helmet would be able to connect to a smartphone. It was definitely something that we had thought about carefully before launching on Kickstarter. Connectivity opens up possibilities for new features and interactivity between the user and the helmet, but we decided against promising it on Kickstarter because at the time we did not have the resources in place to execute on that feature, and we were not willing to market something that we did not have a clear plan and high confidence that we could deliver on.

But we still really wanted to do it. So we told ourselves that we would work on it on the side. It would be independent of the helmet (and so will not be a source of delay for the main project) and if we develop the app on time, that would make for an awesome added benefit/surprise for our backers (since it was never mentioned as part of the product during our Kickstarter campaign or on our website).  

And that is exactly what we have done! At Lumos we try to keep things as simple as possible. Start small and focused, and build on it over time. So we defined the simplest app we could think of that was still useful and delivered value. We made a short video to show you what it does:

Screens of the app:

Our goal in building this app was to let the helmet give you relevant information (ie. battery levels) in a seamless and convenient way. Lumos already makes it more likely that you will always have a great set of lights with you. Now through a bluetooth connection with your iPhone, you can also always be informed when it needs to be charged so that you’re never out of juice. Plus you are able to personalize some basic settings of the helmet!

We hope you guys find this cool, but more importantly that you find it useful and that it helps you have a safer ride. Talking about the technology is fun, but if we did our job right, the technology will fade into the background and only be helpful when required, allowing you to focus on what matters more: Enjoying the beauty, simplicity, and sense of freedom that comes with riding your bike.

What do you guys think? We would love to get your feedback and you can provide it to us in this survey HERE.

Lastly, beta tester stories!

We’ve still got beta testers riding with their helmet and we’ve got another of their stories to share with you! Patricia lives in Finland in an area close to the Arctic Circle. She’s been using her Lumos beta helmet almost daily since she got it in January and rode with it all through the Finnish winter. Check out what she had to say about her experience here!

Eu-wen, Jeff, and the Lumos Team