Stephen

Build #3 Shipping Tally to Date (as of 8/22/14):
Taillights Shipped: 99
Headlights Shipped: 32
Number of lights currently in process: Batch #9 = 4 headlights
Total lights remaining to be built: 0 taillights, 0 headlights
STILL On deck for shipping:
Bruno D.

July 9th, 2014
Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th! Things are still moving right along on the next batch of lights. Finally got some samples of my new silicon switch cover. In keeping with the RED theme, I decided on a nice bold red color, which should look pretty cool next to the bead-blasted anodized black. The nice thing about this piece is that it also seals the lid. It couldn't have turned out any better... I basically popped the piece in as you see here (with NO silicon grease!) and stuck the housing under 12" of water for 3 DAYS, and it stayed dry as a bone! We did a neat trick with the housing machining so it essentially forms a double seal. I'll be starting a dedicated Build #4 thread later on, but just wanted to share this little bit here since it was such a cool result. Note that the lens cover you see here is from Build #3, so it sticks out a bit in the corners.


June 6, 2014
A landmark event... I finished the last of the build #3 taillights, and will be shipping them out as soon as possible. The last 5 headlights are in progress. No new headlights will be built in the next batch, but the design for the next iteration of the taillight is coming right along. Here's a super secret sneak peak at the new housing, coming later this summer. A little more rounding of the corners, and a big power button... still deciding on the color for the silicon. May have to go with clear in order for the new status LED to be visible.



May 21, 2014
Still working to finish up the last of the build #3 lights, but also trying to procure the parts for potential build #4, so there's a lot going on right now behind the scenes. I haven't been very good at getting back to emails lately, but will try to get caught up soon!


April 28, 2014
Just finished up taillight batch #7. Moving on to the last 10! Really hoping we don't have a repeat of the tornadoes from two years ago... Battening down the hatches today.
The "Wall of Power"



April 7, 2014
Got 4 of the 11 in-progress lights finished, and actually got to ride this weekend! I've started a new forum topic today on managing old batteries and the path forward for existing users to replace their batteries. Haven't completed it yet, but at least wanted to make mention of it here. Once I get a few more lights finished, I'll get back on the email list and start making contact with prospective customers.

March 27, 2014
OK, I'm back after a wild couple of weeks. Was having some bad health issues for a while and had to get everything checked out. Preparation for CT-scans and colonoscopy/endoscopy is so NOT fun, but it was a real blessing that I could get seen and have these tests performed so quickly. Thankfully, no super serious issues, but they did show that I needed to be on a certain medication, which has really helped. I am very grateful to be back to a semi-normal routine. It's time to FINISH up the last of these lights! I have actually made some good progress on the current batch of 11 taillights. Power wires are all installed and completely prepped for mating up to the electronics boards.

The events of the last few weeks have just further solidified my need to NOT continue building these lights on my own. My hope is that these great lights could continue on with some sort of partnership or licensing agreement with an entity looking for an opportunity to enter the high-end cycling market. I welcome any and all inquiries in that regard.


March 7, 2014
Ready to mate the lid assembly with 11 more taillights.
Remaining tasks:
Solder main power wires to PC board.
Install PC board inside housing (Thermal compound + screw + Loctite)
Route and solder drive wires to LED boards.
Install lid and front face O-rings (apply silicon grease).
Install lids (4 screws with Loctite)
Install front lens cover o-rings (with silicon grease)
Install lenses and lens cover
Mate the housing with extender bar mount.
Test...Ready to ship.


Feb 3, 2014
.... and just like that... *poof* it's 2014. Not sure what happened to 2013, but I'm sure it probably has something to do with me getting older.

My workbench has not seen a lot of action between December last year and now. Instead, I've been spending some much-needed quality time with the family. However, it's definitely time to make the final push and get the rest of these lights finished and out the door. A lot of the guys who are in my database and have their names on the the last 20 or so lights have been waiting for over a YEAR! I'll be attempting to make contact with these folks this week and see what the remaining lineup of lights looks like. In the event that I end up with a few extra available lights, I'll likely be putting them up on eBaY, just as an experiment to see what kind of interest is generated. If/when this happens, I'll put an announcement on the home page here.

Right now I'm at a cross-roads... over the last 3 years of tweaking and refining the design of the lights, this home-grown project turned into a hobby business with a lot of satisfied customers putting a huge amount of collective hours on the design. As it stands today, the DS-500 is still arguably one of the best overall taillights in existence. The headlight is still an ideal road-bike performer, but THE BIG PROBLEM is that I cannot continue building these lights myself. Tedious and time-consuming would be a major understatement. In order to make a light like this "mass-producible" several design changes would need to be made, not to mention the need to find a quality CNC shop that could crank them out. The guy who cut the housings for me last time really is just a "prototype" shop. In other words, a lot more time and capital would be involved in taking a project like this to the next step. For now, at least, it looks like that ambition is going to have to wait.