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Turn your bike into an, er, motorbike with Turbospoke

Simple accessory a surefire way to win you the respect of the petrolhead community

Oh dear, what is a poor cyclist to do in these cash-straitened times? As Jeremy Clarkson pointed out on Top Gear last weekend, "work hard you can have a car," but what with public sector jobs under threat, personal disposable income squeezed and utility bills appearing to add an extra zero each quarter, times are tough. Buy a car? We'll be lucky if we can afford a moped.

Of course, you and I know that most adult cyclists own cars, and that the demographic profile of your average regular cyclist is pretty upmarket, not to mention that the rig you're sitting on may be worth more than the jalopy that's pulled up next to you at the lights (assuming, being a cyclist and all, that you haven't ridden straight through them or taken to the pavement to bait pedestrians).

But the poor sap sitting in the traffic jam, his Carlos Fandango Superwide Wheels inching forward on the road to nowhere, rear spoiler blocking his view of the cars backed up behind him, he doesn't know any of that that, does he?

Well, your worries are over, fellow cyclists. Now you too can aspire to cut-price entry to the petrolhead community by fitting an exhaust to your bike. Okay, it's not a car, but you're bound to get some appreciative nods from any Hell's Angels you come across. Find some old Rock Racing kit and you'll be looking the part and ready to go.

But don't take our word for it, over to the manufacturers, Tomax Ltd, owned by Tom and Andrew Maxwell, "two brothers with a passion for anything engine or car related" - such a passion, in fact, that has led them to develop Turbospoke, "an Exhaust-Sound System for your bicycle."

Now why didn't we think of that?

"Imagine if you could transform your everyday bicycle to have the look and sound of a real motorbike. - Well imagine no more because Turbospoke does exactly that!!

"Turbospoke not only has the look and feel of a real motorbike exhaust pipe, it also makes the most awesome realistic engine sounds. The engine sounds start as soon as the wheels turn, so the sound changes as your speed does! What’s more is that Turbospoke requires no batteries to make it work, it is 100% pedal powered."

Okay, that last bit, we like.

"The sounds are made by a thin plastic ' Motocard' which is held against the spokes of your wheel. Each Turbospoke comes with 3 Motocards which are tuneable for up to 6 different sounds. The sound travels up the exhaust pipe and gets even louder!!

"So whether you’re a fan of Nascar, motocross, Formula 1 or rally you’ll be able to tune a sound that makes you VROOOM!!"

We're off to order ours right now before they sell out, and we're pretty sure this will be the must-have accessory for cyclists this summer. If ony there were a carbon-emitting version too...

We can't help thinking it would look especially good mounted on a Trek TT bike and painted in the old rainbow stripes [watch it - ed] - UCI regulations might have a word or two to say about motors, but we're sure you're safe if it's just an exhaust.

[Alternatively, you could just view it as a kids' toy that will provide hours of fun while zooming round the local streets on the BMX, but that wouldn't be half as much fun to write about]

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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20 comments

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davebinks | 13 years ago
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Ice cream lolly stick was our weapon of choice, but that was 55yrs ago, long before margarine came in anything other than greaseproof paper!

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Gotta Ride | 13 years ago
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This is going to look so sweet on my '77 Colnago!!  39

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nick h. | 13 years ago
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WOOT! The ideal accessory for Critical Mass.

How much does it weigh, and can I have it in carbon?

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mr-andrew | 13 years ago
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Piece of cardboard bent round and held in place with a clothes peg always did it when I was a kid.

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giff77 | 13 years ago
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defo brought a smile to my face also  4 - off to scrounge a deck of cards and a toilet roll tube for the amplifier  26 oh yeah, why the heck does the 'bmx' have a stand  7  7

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OldRidgeback | 13 years ago
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Ha - my BMX is a proper racebike and not at all like that Halfords special.

Cornflakes packet - you were lucky - we had to borrow playing cards from the blokes repairing the roads while they were on their tea break - etc etc

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John_the_Monkey | 13 years ago
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Cornflake packet? You were lucky. We had to tie flatulent mice to our seat stays.

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dave atkinson | 13 years ago
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yeah, margarine tubs! forgot about that  1

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IHphoto | 13 years ago
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Cardboard box and a clothes peg I concur Dave - or as I found out way back then (when Batman & Robin capes and masks were popular too)big thick plastic margarine tubs (the Kraft sort) cut up made even more durable versions. Eat your heart out Evel Knievel.

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dave atkinson | 13 years ago
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CAUTION: THIS PRODUCT IS AWESOME.

 4

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dave atkinson | 13 years ago
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That appears to be a grown man on that BMX, no? Not the target audience I'd say. I reckon OldRidgeback has been helping them with filming  1

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dave atkinson | 13 years ago
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Quote:

Back in the day we used to use playing cards for this

Playing cards? You were lucky. We had to make do with bits of old cut-up cornflake packet.

And you try and tell the kids of today, etc and so on

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mad_scot_rider replied to dave atkinson | 13 years ago
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dave_atkinson wrote:
Quote:

Back in the day we used to use playing cards for this

Playing cards? You were lucky. We had to make do with bits of old cut-up cornflake packet.

Cornflake packet? You were lucky.

*ends Python reference AND Yorkshire accent*

Love the tone of this article - made me grin like mad in the office

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gandberg | 13 years ago
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OldRidgeback | 13 years ago
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I've got a BMX and a high performance motorbike already (not to mention a car and three mountain bikes). I don't think I'm the target market. It may be the thing to get for the person who has everything but it appears I've everything and more.

Back in the day we used to use playing cards for this. They loosened the spokes and even by the standards of a (then) 12 year old, were a bit naff. Maybe there's a retro market to be tapped for tongue in cheek fixie riders but I'll pass thanks.

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MCLK | 13 years ago
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It reminds me of when we were kids, we used to make motorbike noises by placing a flattened drinks can between the forks and tyre of our bmx's.

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awkward | 13 years ago
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this needs to be a Schwag!

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simonmb | 13 years ago
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I'd love to see the company's R&D budget. Perhaps it all got spent on a night down the pub and the curry afterwards while they came up with this idea.

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mr_fox | 13 years ago
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I'm thinking this is a MUST for my commuter bike - might work better than the bell on the shared cycle / walker paths i use to get to and fro.

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John_the_Monkey | 13 years ago
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Pair that up with one of those "throttle" handlebar grips (twist it, and it makes a realistic[1] motorbike noise) and you have pretty much my 12 year old self's dreambike.

NICE.

[1] May not be realistic

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