 | When we sprayed the bike seat with the hose last week, water seeped in to the stashbox, which is a no-go for people riding in the rain. So yesterday we spent the day trying out several different gaskets to make sure water can't get in to the stashbox. We ripped off the gasket the factory made (it looked like engine gasket material, way too hard for what we need), and bought some weather-stripping from the hardware store. The first iteration was a tubing-type of gasket material, much softer than the factory gasket. Results from the hose test = failure (though it was better than the factory gasket). |
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We figured the water probably got in at the corners, where we cut the tubing, so we added some additional gasket material at the corners and tried again. Results = getting better, but water still got in.
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Now for the second gasket we bought from the hardware store. We took the time to set the gasket without any seams at the corners. Results from the hose-test = success!! Our third iteration was able to keep the stashbox completely dry, even after running the hose over it for 5 minutes or so.
Results from the day: Now we've got a design that we will send back to the factory to modify the gasket and keep the stashbox dry. We also really like the look of the white gasket with the black color of the bike seat frame and cushion and are going to have the factory include that as well!
Results from the day: Now we've got a design that we will send back to the factory to modify the gasket and keep the stashbox dry. We also really like the look of the white gasket with the black color of the bike seat frame and cushion and are going to have the factory include that as well!
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Based on the gasket changes and a handful of other minor, cosmetic modifications that we'd like to see from the factory, we decided to have them make two more units and send them over for verification before they make the rest of the first hundred. We want to be sure that they have everything spot on before we pull that trigger. The bummer is that this next iteration will probably take a month or so, not to mention that it's Chinese New Year right now, and the factory is closed for the next week and a half. But, necessary steps to make sure Companion Bike Seats are a great quality product, worth the wait!
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