Just sent this to bell... Hopefully something good comes from it.

[KJ FiveTwo]

They wouldn't have to really even make a whole new helmet. Just put a viser on the Bellistic and Drop, add the option of no vents, and possibly give you a little more visibility when in a tuck. It would take someone who knows there way around AutoCAD about 10 minutes to make the adjustments.

[Tripped]

Downhill and freeride mountain biking is actually quite large, there are mountains such as whistler built for mountain biking, and all the major bike companies produce downhill and freeride bikes.

It is interesting to note though that biking started in Vancouver as an illegal activity and slowly evolved into the sport it is today. Hopefully speedboarding will grow in a similar way and then we'll have all sorts of products to choose from.

Mountainbiking pretty much started with Cove Bikes from north vancouver, and now longboarding is really taking off here too! love Vancouver!!! Love B.C.!!!!!

[speshlspeclsteak]

any news on this letter reece?

[Reece Man]

No news yet... I'll post up if I ever hear anything back.

[tylerdwhite]

well if we really wanted to convince them we need to show them the market potential.

Ive already started compiling race attendance numbers and growth rates and message board membership numbers but if there was a way to do ownership rates of full face helmets that would be the best.

we need to show bell that they can make money on doing this

did they happen to tell you where they got their info from?

you are so naive. Bell has an entire MARKETING DIVISION. It's entire reason for being is to research this stuff. I guarantee you they have done more research on this topic with marketing/data mining software so advanced you wouldn't even begin to know how to use it, yet you are trying to convince them with some numbers you scrawled down on a napkin at the last 5 races you went to? good luck trying to "learn" a multi-billion dollar corporation.


-Tyler

[Reece Man]

Some chick is sending it to their marketing manager...

[neuros]

Nice. Hopefully marketing will see this fit for production. All we realllllly need is for them to make faceshields for the drop to a dead-stock fit... less vents woulllld be nice

i'm watchin' this!

[B_Dubya_B]

They wouldn't have to really even make a whole new helmet. Just put a viser on the Bellistic and Drop, add the option of no vents, and possibly give you a little more visibility when in a tuck. It would take someone who knows there way around AutoCAD about 10 minutes to make the adjustments.

and then hundreds of thousands of dollars for new molds.

dude, retooling manufacturing lines is big bucks, its not as simple as everyone thinks it is.

[B_Dubya_B]

you are so naive. Bell has an entire MARKETING DIVISION. It's entire reason for being is to research this stuff. I guarantee you they have done more research on this topic with marketing/data mining software so advanced you wouldn't even begin to know how to use it, yet you are trying to convince them with some numbers you scrawled down on a napkin at the last 5 races you went to? good luck trying to "learn" a multi-billion dollar corporation.


-Tyler

dude, did i say anywhere that i though that this was a good idea?

im a marketing student, ive been researching this for months, while i may not have access to the data banks and data mining software they do, its not beyond the reach of anyone to go out and talk to race organizers to get attendance numbers from each race.

Im asking where they got their info because i am curious, not because i think they are wrong.

naive indeed...

[neuros]

who thinks retooling is simple?

[Reece Man]

Everybody shut the **** up. Stop arguing in my thread.

[T.V.A.R.]

The only thing that would make me want to switch to a Drop would be the price. I have hit my head in a Charly at 70mph and walked away with no head trauma. Same with Kevin Reimer in the same fall. I crashed with D-dub at 55+ and when he hit his head, the entire side of his Charly caved in. Still, no head trauma. To me, those helmets have proven themselves time and time again as far as safety, style, and general practicality are concerned. If you've got the coin, and you want the convenience, the safety, and the look, It's a no-brainer. Charly 4 LYFE.

[d-dub]

The only thing that would make me want to switch to a Drop would be the price. I have hit my head in a Charly at 70mph and walked away with no head trauma. Same with Kevin Reimer in the same fall. I crashed with D-dub at 55+ and when he hit his head, the entire side of his Charly caved in. Still, no head trauma. To me, those helmets have proven themselves time and time again as far as safety, style, and general practicality are concerned. If you've got the coin, and you want the convenience, the safety, and the look, It's a no-brainer. Charly 4 LYFE.

I like Charlies just as much as you Zak, and hope to have one again, but you don't know the extent of my injuries. As far as head trauma goes, I had a concussion and a hematoma in the lower part of my brain. Things still don't make sense to me though...

Where I hit hardest was in the upper white section where there is a nice chunk missing:



And here is where the hematoma is:



Too much happened in that crash, from hitting a guardrail to going off a little hill and landing in a gulch, for me to know what happened. You have no idea how lucky you are that you were able to walk away from that crash Zak.

[mrgumdropman]

i like it, i like it alot

[DPerjar]

Brain injuries are very finicky things, you can't really go off of the helmet.

[Reece Man]

Zak, I can't believe you stayed in LA yesterday and missed the most awesome race ever to watch your wheels get poured

[msk]

Even if speedboarding is a smal market I that I don't think (mtb isn't that large either)

The last time I checked, there were somwhere between 40,000 and 50,000 licensed mtb racers in the US alone. Racers only make up a tiny percentage of the market.

The company I work for (bike manufacturer/distributer) is a distributer for several smaller helmet brands. We ship out hundreds of full-face BMX/DH helmets a week, and we don't even carry the big brands like Bell and Giro...

[Robato]

Man... The guy sends a letter to benefit longboarding. Spread the stoke. not asshole remarks. Yeah, maybe it's not gonna work today, but the fact that our sport is growing and there ARE people out there that want it and last time i checked, btw there are 27771 members on the fish. And no. I'm not a marketing student but a 80 dollar full face with a visor would sell like hotcakes on Landyachtz and Loaded's websites. And I know a thing or two about hotcakes. I like them.
But damn..... I've sent a letter too. I guess I just wasted my life and should feel ashamed for trying to make the sport affordable to the people, not their parents.

[Largeboarder]

I swear I read "Just sent this to hell... Hopefully something good comes from it."

[Homas]

is the bell drop honestly safe for dh? mountain biking is pretty dangerous and all but not really anywhere near speedboarding.