by Ed Brazier May 28, 2020 2 min read
When we launched the Fade we made no secret of the fact that it was a gamble for us. The first batch of 50 sold well. The second batch of 50 sold really well. So we decided to roll the dice again and make 100. The idea was to have plenty of stock - enough for a few months at least.
We couldn't have predicted what happened next.
We sold half of those before they even arrived, and almost all the rest since then, but before the first drop of build kits was even delivered. Yes, that's good for business. We love building bikes. But what we really hate is letting people down, so we've decided to do things differently...
The Fade frame is now sold out, with another batch due early Autumn. To get us from now until then in a way that's fair to everyone, we'll release a small drop of Fade Luxe and Fade Works bikes for sale each month.
There are no preorders. Fade bikes will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis on the first of the month.
We don't have a lot of stock. They will sell out quickly each month, but we think that's better than pre-selling everything now and then making people wait.
We're dealing with a huge amount of contacts at the moment, whilst juggling working-from-home and rotating one person in the workshop at any time. Some answers to the most common questions:
Can I buy a Fade frame only?
We have sold all of the 'free stock' of frames so all remaining frames are reserved for the monthly drop of bike builds.
Can I preorder from the next monthly drop?
No. We have decided to stop taking preorders as lead-times were becoming unmanageable.
Are you still doing custom builds?
It's not possible to do custom builds now as we're effectively selling stock builds that have been planned months in advance. We can't break those up.
What time of day do sales go live?
Sorry, we can't say exactly. Working-from-home whilst also looking after kids means it's very hard to do things exactly as planned. We'll try to get stock live early in the working day.
When should I expect my bike to arrive?
We chose the first day of the month for sales to go live as the clearest way to do it. But the build kits may not be in place on the first. Our suppliers are also working hard in difficult conditions. It may take us a while to get each bike built, but we anticipate it will be within the month of order.
Ed is the owner of Airdrop Bikes. A former web and graphic designer, he sacked off his job one day and decided to start up a bike brand.
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