Tired of Your Frustrating and Heavy Bike Rack?
Discover the Bike Rack You've Been Waiting For
If you're an avid cyclist, you know that transporting your bike can be almost as challenging as the ride itself. The joy of cycling often gets overshadowed by the hassle of dealing with cumbersome, heavy, and frustrating bike racks. Whether you're struggling to lift it onto your vehicle, wrestling with awkward installation, or constantly fighting for access to your trunk, traditional bike racks can turn a simple task into a major headache.
But what if there was a way to eliminate these frustrations and make transporting your bike as enjoyable as the ride itself?
The Problem with Traditional Bike Racks
While functional, traditional bike racks come with many issues that many cyclists have accepted as part of the deal. Let's break down some of the common problems:
Weight
Many bike racks are bulky, heavy, and awkward, making them difficult to install, remove, or even carry from your garage to your car. This can be particularly frustrating if you need to remove the rack frequently. (Most bike racks weigh between 35-70 lb!)
Complex Installation
The installation process for many bike racks can be complicated and time-consuming. It often requires tools and multiple adjustments to ensure your bike is secure.
Storage Challenges
When you're not using your bike rack, where do you put it? Traditional racks are large and awkwardly shaped, taking up valuable space in your garage or apartment. We even know someone who stores their bike rack on their outdoor balcony!
Vehicle Access and Parking
Even when you aren’t transporting bikes, you still feel the effects of a large bike rack. Need to access your trunk? Good luck. Many bike racks block access to your vehicle's rear, making loading and unloading other gear a hassle. Not to mention that your rear camera and sensors are obscured when reversing or parking, which makes you more likely to damage your vehicle or someone else's car (forget about parallel parking in a city!).
Aerodynamics and Fuel Efficiency
Bulky bike racks can affect your vehicle's aerodynamics, which reduces fuel efficiency and increases costs over time. People who leave bike racks on their vehicles year-round see reductions in MPG by 2-3% (without bikes installed), which costs an extra $50/year in fuel ($200/year for roof racks!).
These pain points can make cycling trips feel like more trouble than they're worth, but it doesn't have to be this way.
Introducing the Dragonfly Rack
Enter the Dragonfly Rack—a revolutionary bike rack designed to solve all these common problems and more. Here's why it stands out:
Ultra-Lightweight Design
To prove how light the Dragonfly Rack really is, our CEO Teo Fleming ran the entire San Francisco marathon with it on his back (all 26.2 miles!!!) in a time of 5:55:00. Weighing just 12 lbs, the Dragonfly Rack is significantly lighter than traditional options. This makes it easy to install and remove within seconds. You can even carry it with one hand. Say goodbye to the struggle of lifting a heavy, awkward rack onto your vehicle.
Teo running across the Golden Gate bridge during the 2024 SF-Marathon
Dasha holding Dragonfly Rack with one hand
Compact and Portable
The Dragonfly Rack's minimalist design allows it to be easily stored when not in use. It folds down to a compact size that fits comfortably in your trunk, garage, or even a closet. No more sacrificing space or tripping over a bulky rack. We’ve even flown domestically with it inside our luggage!
Dragonfly Rack fully assembled in a closet for scale
Dragonfly Rack in a checked bag while packing for a flight
Quick and Easy Installation
The Dragonfly Rack is designed for simplicity. It installs in seconds, with no tools required. Whether you're heading out for a quick ride or a weekend getaway, you can get on the road faster without the frustration of complicated setups.
No Interference with Vehicle Access
With the Dragonfly Rack, you can easily access your trunk or rear hatch without removing the rack. Its innovative design ensures that your bike is secure while still allowing full access to your vehicle.
Dragonfly Rack can tilt 45º (with bikes installed) to maintain easy access to your hatch or trunk.
Aerodynamic Efficiency
The Dragonfly Rack's sleek design minimizes wind resistance, and weight, helping to maintain your vehicle's fuel efficiency. And since Dragonfly Rack is designed to be easily removed from your vehicle when not in use there is no penalty for when you aren’t transporting a bike! This not only saves you $50/year in gas. But also reduces your environmental impact.
Dragonfly Rack in Clarks garage.
Ready to Ditch Your Frustrating and Heavy Bike Rack?
If you're tired of dealing with the challenges of a traditional bike rack, it's time to upgrade to the Dragonfly Rack. It's more than just a bike rack—it's a solution that enhances your cycling experience, making it easier, faster, and more enjoyable to get on the road.
Don’t let your bike rack hold you back. Discover the freedom and convenience of the Dragonfly Rack today and transform the way you transport your bike. We are launching on Kickstarter: winter 2024
Save $75: Reserve your Dragonfly Rack today!
July Progress Update & August Plan
Dragonfly Rack is Becoming Real!
First, a bit of a progress update: in the last month of July, we’ve had several big wins:
Filed a provisional patent, allowing us to reveal the prototype publicly.
Ran the SF Marathon while holding our prototype.*
Shot a bunch of photos and videos of all of us explaining how the rack works to begin presenting it to the world. Keep an eye out for those coming soon!
Completed a detailed business plan to review with advisors and mentors.
Started iterating on marketing materials on Meta.
Coming up this month in August, we’ve got several important things we’re working on:
Starting the design of Dragonfly Rack V2, incorporating feedback from the last few months of Garrett using the prototype rack as well as making the design mass-manufacturable.
Iterating on marketing: releasing YouTube videos, posting to Instagram/TikTok, and updating the website.
Raising a first tranche of funding to help cover marketing costs for the Kickstarter.
Tentative: beginning the process of incorporating Dragonfly Rack Inc.
The launch of the Dragonfly Rack Kickstarter is tentatively scheduled for November 2024, and we’re excited to bring you along on our journey as we bring Dragonfly Rack to life.
* While I wouldn’t recommend attempting that with any bike rack (including Dragonfly Rack), if I can run 26.2 miles with our rack, you can carry it up to your apartment! (Or lift it a few feet into your trunk for safekeeping.)
Would you Run a Marathon with your Bike Rack? (Product Reveal!)
Running the San Francisco Marathon with a Bike Rack
During my last visit to Los Angeles, Garrett and I came up with a wild idea to demonstrate just how small and light the Dragonfly Rack is: I’m running the San Francisco Marathon on July 28, 2024 while carrying our functional prototype of the Dragonfly Rack.
I had been planning to run the marathon for several months, but running a marathon with a 12.5 lb bike rack prototype is another matter entirely. For the last month, I’ve been running either carrying weights in my hands and a weighted backpack, and I’m optimistic about my chances to finish within the time limit (6 hours).
I’ve been posting a few training videos to Instagram, and you should follow along to see how I do in the coming days!
Product Reveal
For the first time this weekend, we’ll be able to show you exactly what the Dragonfly Rack looks like!
We have been holding off on doing a full product reveal in order to allow us to finalize an important patent milestone related to the design of the Dragonfly Rack, which should be complete tomorrow (July 26, 2024).
That means that we can show you all the ins and outs of how exactly the Dragonfly Rack works and give you a detailed overview of Garrett’s experience using it almost daily for the last few months.
We are so excited to share our design with the world, and we’re happy to have you along for the ride with us.
– Teo Fleming, Co-Founder & CEO
Launching our Blog
Fellow Conspirator
Hi, readers and supporters. You're one of the select few who can feel that the current bicycle racks on the market leave plenty on the table. We believe a bicycle rack is a tool you can trust when you need it and disappear when you don't.
Why Blog?
We want to share our plan and let you make your own judgments about how our team can adapt and overcome the challenges that present themselves. We want our audience not blindly to trust us but to experience the commitment it takes to develop a relationship.
It takes courage to reach for an ideal because the very nature of the relationship between a human and perfection is an eternal chase. We strive to hone the skill of transparency, face the music of reality, and not sugarcoat the insensitive nature of creating a business from the ground up with those who want to share this journey with us.
We want to build in public for the curious. All the founders at Dragonfly Rack have learned a tremendous amount from people further along on their adventure, taking a moment to reflect and helping people when they can.
The best product designer is the product's user. We can share how we envisioned our product being used, but it's up to the customer to decide if what we've created successfully serves the purpose the creator intended. The relationship between an artist and her audience is symbiotic. One does not exist without the other. We want to hear your stories.
Moving Forward
There will be roadblocks in the short term, but we will adapt and execute our plan to achieve our long-term vision while taking you along for the ride. Our team believes in creating a better-connected world, and right now, that is embodied by reducing the barriers people experience when trying to use their bicycle as a tool to connect with nature, their friends, and themselves.
– Garrett Edson, Co-Founder & COO