German company iCradle is launching COBI, an all-in-one smart biking system that’s designed to be installed on any bike, starting at just over £100.
They call it the ‘world’s smartest connected biking system’ and say that it adds over 100 intelligent features to your bike.
The COBI system is partly hardware that gives any bike headlights, brakelights, and turning signals.
It’s also a smartphone app that offers GPS navigation, fitness tracking, weather forecasting, and Spotify integration.
COBI offers some features that are unprecedented in biking too – at least as far as we know. These include a security system that can only be unlocked with your smartphone password, and a battery pack that can charge your phone.
"I love biking, but I was so tired of looking down at my handlebars and seeing a whole mess of unintegrated gadgets, one for music, one for speed, another for heart race tracking,” said Andreas Gahlert, founder of iCradle. “COBI eliminates the clutter."
Gahlert has previous experience developing connected car systems for Audi, and has applied the same principles and functionalities to bikes.
COBI is being made available first via crowd-funding website Kickstarter. Of course it is!
You can get the system for US$159 – which is £101.47 at today’s exchange rate. iCradle are looking to raise pledges of $100,000 before 1 January 2015. As ever with Kickstarter, they won’t get anything unless they reach that target. Delivery is scheduled for May 2015.
Get full details on the Kickstarter page.
-1024x680.jpg "“Clear anti-cyclist bias”: Lawsuit filed against Toronto police after cop doored cyclist… before ticketing rider over incident")
14 thoughts on “Cobi smart biking system launches at £100 + video”
Ok that’s pretty cool.
Ok that’s pretty cool.
“One for music”?
Rubber on
“One for music”?
Rubber on tarmac sounds good enough to me.
Braking and turn signals? No
Braking and turn signals? No car driver is looking for those, so you still have to signal turns with your arms.
Headlight? Don’t see why you need to control that from a smartphone, they’re either on or off.
Everything else can be done on your average smartphone anyway.
Nice technology, but ultimately no better than what’s around already IMO.
Would i take away what
Would i take away what cycling is all about? The feel and sound of the wind in your ears, finding new routes, getting lost in the countryside, leaving for a century not knowing if you are going to get rained on 20 minutes later etc etc these are the pleasures i ride for. Not to ‘looked after’ by a phone app. I ride to escape my busy life, forget about phones, weather, work and everything else apart from the sound of my gears and tyres on the road. Saying that i think its ok, but i wouldnt have one. OLD SCHOOL all the way for me.
whuppingboy wrote:Would i
What he said 🙂
The reason I prefer separate
The reason I prefer separate devices is that each knows how to do its own job best & you don’t have an issue with battery life. To keep that lot going I suspect you may have to look out your old rusting dynamo & try to get it working or spend £00’s on a new hub. Also if it’s nicked/broken/starts raining, you’ve lost the lot !
Don’t let me put you off investing tho’
Timsen wrote:Also if it’s
for info, there is a rain cover
Looks neat. I could put that
Looks neat. I could put that on my fixie / commuting bike.
It would work well on a
It would work well on a dynamo hub, because what sort of mega-battery would power all those features without needing a nightly recharge?
“I wish I hadn’t taken that call from my boss and listened to the Lady Gaga album on the trails, because now my headlight won’t come on and I can’t even ring my digital bell to console myself.”
Great idea. Lovely bit of
Great idea. Lovely bit of kit. A lot of potential for future add-ons and technical enhancements. I would defo have one – if it was it was around the £50 mark. Unfortunately I don’t have a money tree in the garden. Bike clothing, accessories and components are so expensive these days (never mind the bike).
“I love biking, but I was so
“I love biking, but I was so tired of looking down at my handlebars and seeing a whole mess of unintegrated gadgets, one for music, one for speed, another for heart race tracking,”
Oh. Take ’em off then 🙂
Seriously, “100 intelligent features”? The mind boggles.
As competition for a Garmin
As competition for a Garmin 1000 I would think they would be very worried. Will be seen by many as a game changer.
Kind of like comparing an iPod to HiFi separate components. Those who have invested in and carefully chosen the separate components won’t get it. Everyone else will get lots of extra functions and won’t notice the specific limitations over dedicated lights/gps etc while also saving a fortune.
But it’s not a challenge to
But it’s not a challenge to the Garmin (or Mio etc for that matter). GPS will still rely on your smartphone, with all the battery concerns, and there are already solutions out there (e.g. Cateye Strada Smart) if all you want is a gutless head to your phone.
Hi truffy,
Actually with
Hi truffy,
Actually with either a battery included, a dynamo connection or an ebike battery connection it should solve the smartphone battery issue for many users.
The Cateye Strada Smart does not help with route finding.