The Daysaver Original9 Story

It has always bothered us that we bikers must choose between having either a useful but heavy and bulky tool or a small and light one – as we want it to be – but inconvenient to use. The common concepts are based on foldable tools. The disadvantage of such concepts is that many screws are not accessible because of the bulky design, and you do not have the right lever when it comes to applying the proper torque. So we either had to accept the situation or tackle the problem ourselves.

 

Tinkering for the Best Multitool to Take on your Ride 

In winter 2020, goofing around in the snow, Daniel brought up the idea of solving the multitool problem cyclists face once and for all. So we started thinking about it. Especially Daniel, the tinkerer among us, occasionally called MacGyver, couldn’t get the challenge out of his head. Every minute his wife and kids were busy or sleeping, he tossed around the perfect bike multi-tool problem.

 

Prototyping

So far, so good. As a result of such sessions, we got a clearer idea of what a mini-tool could look like. Now we wanted our vision to materialize. So we hopped over to our trusted 3D printer. And we were more than thrilled with the first shot! And along our journey from idea to product, there were of course even more prototype stages with different focuses.

 

Ambushing our Desired Partner

With this first plastic prototype, we approached PB Swiss Tools, not knowing how they would react. Would they partner with us? Their reaction was overwhelming. They liked our idea so much that they started refining the tool with us. In the following months, we started working on the prototype development of Daysaver with the engineers of PB Swiss Tools. And then came the day we held the first metal prototype in our hands, only a few months after the first sketches. That feeling was indescribable.

 

Daysaver has Become Reality

We scraped together our savings to pay for the first steps in developing the tool out of our pocket. We were so convinced of our tool that we agreed to accept the financial risk. Together with PB Swiss Tools, we have achieved our first goal and have completed the prototype phase. We have drawn up and processed an extensive specification sheet: Torque levels for each bit, handling, form factor, coating, rust resistance, weight, ecology, and security. Then we were ready for the next phase and started our Kickstarter campaign in order to take the second important step in tool development: bringing the tool from the prototype to series production. That means defining and testing the manufacturing process, adjusting the settings on machines and material, producing 0-series, etc. And then to take the final step: the actual production of the tool.

We were overwhelmed with the success of our campaign. After only three days, we achieved  our funding goal. At the end of our 30 days campaign, we convinced 1220 backers and funded CHF 121’261.–. We will always be thankful for the trust and support we experienced. It allowed us not only to offer Daysaver to a worldwide audience, but also to further develop the tool and bring in all the great ideas and inputs the community came up with. So the journey has just begun.