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Motion France says failed Kickstarter still won’t cause their fork to dive

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Running a successful Kickstarter campaign can be hard. Especially when you set a goal of €200,000. According to Motion France, they chose such a high funding level to ensure that they could meet all of the costs to produced the fork in France. The Kickstarter did manage to raise just shy of €60,000, but due to the nature of the campaigns, all backers got their pledges back because the threshold wasn’t met.

So what does that mean for the wild looking Motion fork? Motion’s Director of Communication Thierry Leclercq says the project will go on. Stating that they are working on the last prototype which will refine a few details over the previous model, Motion will supposedly have rideable samples by 2017. The failed Kickstarter has forced the company to reevaluate their production strategies, but they still hope to ship forks by the middle of next year.

On the opposite end of the news spectrum, the Motion fork was recently given a design award along with Axena Design by the French APCI (Agency for the Promotion of Industrial Creation). Taking home the Star of the Observeur du Design 2017 from the award show hosted on the 16th of December, the award highlights the integration of technology and aesthetics.

More when we get it.

motion-france.com

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Veganpotter
Veganpotter
7 years ago

Rideable samples? You’d think they’d already have those if they had a Kickstarter. It’s been a bit since then too. Also, coming so far away from your Kickstarter goal may be a sign that you need major changes

chasejj
chasejj
7 years ago

So begging the public for donations to start your for profit company didn’t pan out?
Maybe doing it the old fashioned way is still valid?
Interesting idea. I would actually like to ride one someday.

Ol Shel
Ol Shel
7 years ago
Reply to  chasejj

Oh, like going to traditional lenders who insist that you prove you’re already making enough on the product to get a loan to produce the product? And that you’re willing to lose all of your equipment and possibly your home if you can’t pay back the entire loan? You’re talking about the lenders who insist that the entrepreneur carries 100% of the risk? Good luck with that; that’s why Kickstarter began.

Those traditional lenders are big corporations who believe that entrepreneurship is combining existing businesses into one. They don’t create and they don’t take risks because they’re no longer local businesses who care about business in their towns.

Tim
Tim
7 years ago
Reply to  Ol Shel

What Ol Shel said. Exactly. @chasejj- Motion France is giving the money back, so what’s the big deal?

J-Red
J-Red
7 years ago

So now they’ll be made in China/Taiwan instead

michael
michael
7 years ago

A failed kickstarter, I would think, should be used as a means by which to guage the expected viability and sustainability of one’s proposed product…but I could be wrong. Vive la Motion France.

Madm3chanic
7 years ago

I really love the idea of a fork that doesn’t dive under braking, but do the benefits outweigh the extra weight and all those pivot bolts that I’m sure will develop a knock over time? Bit of a hard one. Love the concept tho 🙂

chasejj
chasejj
7 years ago

The more I look at this fork the more I like it. But unless you tailor it to the Enduro crowd and make certain ALL users can set it up for any weight and terrain and ride it not just 130lb French XC riders going on a friendly group trial ride then it will be doomed to failure.
That damper buried in the steering head needs to be shown as to what it is and how it is constructed.
If you bury something sophisticated in there with some adjustability, you could be on to something.

Maybe a much larger steerer and head tube design is needed to optimize this?

JGW
JGW
7 years ago
Reply to  chasejj

Lets say such a setup existed, would you prioritize brake dive or wheel path? Is the cycling community even interested in more complex setup options including rake/trail which can come with linkages, let alone brake dive tuning?

Tim
Tim
7 years ago
Reply to  chasejj

Tailor it for all riders? It already goes up to 150mm or so of travel, and has tons of axle options, including 20x110mm. It already is tailorable for all riders.

Muchachos
Muchachos
7 years ago

I am here to tell you that if you dont have rideable samples right now, there is no way it will be to production by the middle of next year. OR, if somehow it miraculously happens, as a consumer I would be VERY scared of those production forks

Parker
7 years ago

Bit of a hard one. Love the concept tho. Thanks for the background info

Lawrence
Lawrence
7 years ago

Trying to get funding for a product that technically doesn’t yet exist is a huge red flag and I believe the kickstarter community largely agrees. This product, if it’s any good, will make it to market despite the lazy detour into fantasy finance.

Axa
Axa
7 years ago

Considering the German:A forks now have been in production for many years despite durability issues that Motion France clames to have found a solution to, so I’m convinced they eventually will make it to successful production. Just sad that the mtb market is so obsessed over how bikes and components should look rather then function.
Another innovative example that have been bashed for being outside the norm for both looks, function and performance is http://www.tantrumcycles.com that just finished a successful Kickstarter campaign, and soon will be launched at Indigo go to..
My dream bike is a Tantrum with this fork up front. But not until it’s been tested to perform and last as promise.
Also a simple on/off lock-out is of no interest for me. Fully adjustable rebound dampening is much more useful as it also can be used as a lock-down for efficient climbing with steepening the geometry.. Imoh..

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