Goodbye 2021, hello 2022 👋

Hello everyone! What an eventful year 2021 was (again), a year that no one could have predicted. Fortunately, there were also bright spots, such as the monthly Bidon Collant boxes 😉 First of all I would like to thank you all for your great enthusiasm.

For Bidon Collant, the first full year was occasionally bumpy. Due to late deliveries, misjudgments on my part and problems with the postal companies, I realize that sometimes you received a box that did not meet your expectations. Growth comes with growing pains. Nevertheless, I am proud that Bidon Collant has continued to grow and still has excellent customer satisfaction. More than 1000 boxes were folded, filled and shipped this year, which in itself is a huge number.

From 2021 I have learned. And from these lessons, some (10) changes will come into effect from January 2022.

Are you already thinking: wow what a long text, scroll down for the summary 😁


Deliveries

Although I really like to work with collection points, the interest in them is not always great, so the collection points in Mechelen (Chamizo) and Leuven (Noir) will disappear. The collection points in Bruges, Ghent, Oudenaarde and Antwerp will continue to exist, and they will welcome you there with open arms in 2022. However, a cost of 1 EUR/box will now also be charged for delivery to a collection point.

In addition, the current shipping cost for home delivery is no longer sustainable, so it will increase from EUR 3/box to EUR 5/box.

the boxes

Bidon Collant will of course primarily remain a subscription box for cycling enthusiasts like you! In order to be able to continue to guarantee the quality and variation of these boxes, the monthly price of the Kopman subscription will increase to 29 EUR/box excl. delivery. There were two choices here: either abandon the guarantee of a retail value of EUR 50 (which is frankly not always easy to achieve) or a small price increase (which I find very difficult to do myself). I chose the latter anyway because Bidon Collant wants to continue to stand for quality and this also made room for the following change in the functioning of Bidon Collant:

Until now, I did fill the boxes myself, but this became increasingly difficult given the associated stock and space that is needed and my workshop (read: attic and living) is not suitable for this, also with the necessary back pain as a result 😅. That is why I am very proud to now start working with SOBO, a custom-made company from Bruges, to fill the boxes. 

So if you have a Kopman subscription with home delivery, this means a price increase of EUR 4/month. That is not obvious, I realize that all too well. But it is absolutely necessary.

A third change in the boxes is that it will no longer be possible to choose between the magazines. You choose either a box with magazine or a box without. If you take out a subscription and choose the magazine, you will receive GRINTA alternately per month! and Cycling. Being able to split between GINTA! and Cycling per month resulted in incorrectly filled boxes and an overstock of magazines.

Finally, there will be 11 boxes per year instead of 12, just like this year there will be no November box, but the December box will be a double box that has a value of 100 EUR.

Community

Community, it's a commonly used term these days and that's why I haven't touched it yet. But I notice that an enthusiastic group is starting to exist within Bidon Collant. A community is also interesting for the partners, read: they can offer you nicer products via Bidon Collant. That is why a Facebook group will be started that is open to every cycling enthusiast and mutual communication will also take place. The website and Strava will also be used more intensively. To be clear, partners or other companies will not be able to advertise in that group.

A direct positive result of this community is that all Bidon Collant members (ie the subscribers) will have permanent benefits with a large part of the partners. You will soon discover more about this!

The golden tickets become golden challenges where the challenge is sponsored by one of the partners. If you complete the challenge, you can win a product from that month's partner.

Summary

  • Collection points Mechelen and Leuven are disappearing
  • Delivery at a collection point will cost 1 EUR/box
  • Home delivery increases from EUR 3 to EUR 5 per box
  • The price of a Kopman subscription increases from EUR 27 to EUR 29 per month
  • SOBO Brugge will now fill the boxes
  • No more split between GINTA! or Cycling
  • Community: A Facebook group is being created
  • Community: Members will enjoy permanent benefits with partners
  • Community: golden tickets worden golden challenges
  • There will be 11 boxes per year: the November box will disappear but just like this year, a double December box will come.

If one of these changes means that you can no longer be a subscriber to Bidon Collant, or you have just become more enthusiastic, please send me an email (thomas@bidoncollant.be). Subscribers currently using GINTA! and/or Cycling will receive both magazines in the future. If you don't want this, simply send an e-mail 😊 Subscribers who have had their boxes delivered to Chamizo or Noir will receive an email with their options.

So, quite a sandwich, but that's how you are aware of the plans of Bidon Collant for 2022 that I've been working on behind the scenes in recent months. I hope you are looking forward to 2022 as much as I am!

Happy New Year! 🎄

Regards,

Thomas