By Sarah Reiter, Saris Car Rack Product Manager
The curtain rising. The passing of the baton. Making the dream a reality. The transition from the theoretical to the practical. Whatever the visual cliché is that speaks to you about the first production run of a new product, insert it here. But no matter how you package the thought, I'd say it's pretty damn exciting.
A few months ago we began production of the newest Saris car rack, our SUPERBones. You see, at this point in the product development process, the transition to production is a little bit like having your final exam checked by the teacher. And by teacher, I mean the one who is whip smart and has more experience in the subject matter than the text book writers. The expert. The guru. The kind that makes you hold your breath when she picks up your paper, glances at your name and reads the opening sentence.
This same feeling holds true with the Saris production team. We have a saying around here that "The ultimate test of the product is done on the line." These guys know their shit. You can see in the photos that they are carefully inspecting and working with the parts to ensure the SUPERBones delivers on the Saris brand promise, is of the utmost quality and lives up to its lifetime warranty. They are also having fun – it's not a bad day at the office to be making history with the first build of the best trunk rack on the market.
At Saris, we build our products in our facility in Madison, Wisconsin, and we make only bicycle products.So that means that the team that builds the bike rack you use to carry your precious 2-wheel cargo could be the same team that built your bike trainer, and they intimately know bikes in all scenarios.This team knows exactly how your bike is going to fit and respond to the details and parts of the product.They spend ALL their time working on bike products. Plus, they are cyclists – they proudly use and make products that they would use themselves. Because they do use them, and they care a lot about their bikes - just like you. So when a new product comes to them, they inspect with the critical eye of a connoisseur.
It was an exciting day when we built and shipped the first SUPERBones bike racks. It's the prize for the hard work of the design process. The SUPERBones delivers an easier to use, more intuitive, and more beautiful car rack that looks amazing, takes care of your bike, and protects your car.And after months and months of final tweaks, user testing, design refinements, etc, etc, it's ready to be released to the world.
The success of this product is built on many, many people – from the design team, to the testing team, but most importantly, to the experienced team you see here in Madison, Wisconsin, who are making this car rack the best one you will ever own.Each and every one of these people is responsible for making the SUPERBones a reality.So, thank you and congratulations on the success.And, to you, our SUPERBones users – happy trails.