Originally Posted by
maxxevv
That's exactly my point. You've just manifested it.
You've got a stake in it, and you tend to look through it with tinted lenses.
I've not come across any statements of late of any additional input of money into the company and there you go in 'good faith' that there shouldn't be problems securing any of it. Its a conjuncture from your part, or was it mentioned anywhere by Helix themselves, make that 'himself', ??
People who don't have a stake tend to look at it with a much larger dose of skepticism and to a degree cynicism. But nobody who does have a stake wants to hear "too much" of it...
Not that we as cyclists and enthusiast don't want Helix to succeed but we the skeptical have seen too many red flags along the way not to ring the bell. We all want a new product brought to market , its what make the products we have improve and improve out enjoyment of cycling too.
And competition also breeds better products in the longer term for everyone.
But lets leave it as "not to expect too much after it has dragged so long", and first delivery won't be able to make it in July either.
Missed this.
I have a stake because I am optimistic, not the other way around. I only became a 'backer' last week and made the decision to buy someone out based largely on the information and opinions shared on this thread, for which I have been grateful.
That optimism is based on the info available, reasoned conjecture based on my life experience and a weighing of risk/reward accordingly, all coloured by my own cautiously optimistic nature. I have explained my logic in other posts to date and have always been careful to distinguish between statements of information and of opinion in those posts.
I fundamentally disagree with your argument, if I understand it correctly, that information and opinion shared by backers must be unrealistic/unreliable because they are financially of invested.
There is no guarantee that this project will succeed and we won't know until bikes are rolling off the production line and reviews come rolling in.
In the meantime any view on the likelihood of the project's success or failure is of course conjecture. The question is how valid is the basis for that conjecture.
The arguments for being pessimistic have boiled down to:
1) There is no way a titanium framed biker can be delivered for the original backer price (lots disagree with this)
2) The project delays of 18+ months make it unlikely that it will succeed.
3) The project no way can afford the equipment investment.
4) There is no proof of progress.
The arguments for being optimistic, most best articulated by Jur, boil down to:
1) There are many positive indications of progress, albeit mostly only available to backers and not exhaustive.
2) Costs appear to have been tightly managed through the delay period. Helix have stated equipment is being leased not purchased, appear to have minimised human capital costs throughout the delay period and have provided some assurances that cash flow is not currently an issue.
3) The design appears to be outstanding and inspires significant market interest with proven marketability evidenced by KS and pre-order volumes potentially offsetting the negatives of delay and project management competence should Helix need to seek further funding.
4) It is just a bike and while more complex than many, is not an untried technology
5) The owner appears to still be fully committed to and invested in building his company
Far from definitive and everyone makes their own judgement accordingly.