Most riders who take their biking seriously pony up the cash for all sorts of mounts and lights to make their trips more manageable, but their handlebars end up being anything but. To put it simply, handlebars are extremely cluttered and the more functionality a rider wants, the worse it becomes.
iCradle, Inc.’s COBI connected biking system is taking what cyclists want in their ride and combining it all into an unobtrusive, wireless system. On its own, COBI gives riders an automatic flashlight, turn signal, and a proximity start-up that senses a cyclist’s iPhone or Android device and reacts accordingly. The COBI’s main draw is its handlebar dock. When a smartphone is inserted, COBI instantly adds over 100 intelligent features to any standard or electronic bike, all controlled with a handy thumb controller that allows focus to stay on the road ahead. A lot of these features, like intelligent navigation, the ability to call friends, a fitness tracker, Spotify integration, and a smart theft alarm, all make use of their large, colorful screens, and their high-powered internals —all while being charged with a 6000mAh battery pack for standard bikes or an e-bike’s hub.
COBI is extremely modular, allowing riders the freedom to pick and choose which components they’d like to add or remove from their systems, handy when more are created in the future. The company has created four separate types of designs to accommodate different types of riders: racer, city, urban, and mountain. They mainly differ in aesthetic, though. A complete kit for standard bikes goes for $255, while an e-bike gets a small discount being that they come with compatible controllers at $199. iCradle, Inc. is looking to ship the product in June 2015 provided they reach their $100,000 goal.
The COBI connected system is extremely polished and full-featured, traits sure to attract a large number of supporters and adopters. With add-ons to protect from tough terrain and inclement weather, the thought behind the design and implementation of the product is obvious. Combine with the Helmetor to get maximum efficiency out of any bike.