Cy-Fi: Wireless iPod Speakers for Bicycles
The cy-fi is a $150 wireless speaker set that allows you to listen to your iPod on your bicycle without blocking yourself out from the world around you. The speakers mount on your handlebars. Although I can't find anything that confirms this specifically, it looks as if they point up towards the rider's head, not just out; perhaps that's such an obvious thing to do it doesn't bear mentioning.
Cy-fi uses wireless technology from Kleer, a product platform I've had my eye on Wired's Eliot van Buskirk first pointed their technology out to me at this year's CES. Kleer is essentially what Bluetooth A2DP should have been: lossless; low-power (1/10th the draw of Bluetooth, they say); small (mostly from the smaller batteries). But the coolest thing about the Kleer products are that they should interoperate between different brands, so this iPod transmitter that is included with the Cy-fi should work with a pair of Kleer-powered headphones from another vendor. (We'll have to see how well that works out after there are more products on the market, of course.)
Because of the wireless connection, the Cy-fi can perform a couple of neat tricks. You can change volume and skip tracks using the speaker controls—no need to remove your iPod from your pocket. You can also link up to four speaker sets into one transmitter, allowing a group of riders to share a simultaneous anthem. A niche use, sure, but slick.
My only reservation is not technological, but social. I live in New York City. Riding a bike with headphones here is asking for a broken bone or worse. But because the city is so crowded, it's unlikely I'll ever be riding in an area without people. I don't want to be the guy riding around blasting his neighbors.
If you're interested in the Cy-fi, you can sign up for a pre-order now, but they won't be shipping until March of next year. It looks cool, but there's no harm in waiting for the reviews.
Product Page [MyCyFi.com via Playlist]
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I have a radio that sits on my bikes handlebars. I listen to sports while I ride, college football on sat, nfl on sunday. i ride along a path with a lot of blind turns and i've found that the radio is an early warning for people ahead that can't see me yet. i think it is overall a good thing, but does make the bike look kinda funny and destroys any 'cool' factor someone might want to project (not me) i think an ipod with podcasts would be great on a bike ride
I've always thought that someone would eventually build small wireless speakers (not headphones) into a bike helmet so that you can hear your music without disturbing others while still being able to hear traffic.
Or you could do like the codger who passed me this morning on his bike, with a little old transistor radio dangling from the handlebars, meekly pumping out classic rock radio. Of course, the sound left something to be desired and you don't get the custom playlists...