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COBI Promises To Make Your Bike A Genius, Integrates 10 Different Functions Into One Unit

Written by Tim Krueger
21 Comments
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iCradle, Inc. is launching COBI, a smart biking device that can gives any bicycle headlights, turn signals, brake lights, GPS, weather forecasting, power meter and cycling computer.

Following the common way to launch leading edge tech products, the COBI is on Kickstarter starting today. The COBI was developed to reduce the crowding of the many separate gadgets that each perform a small function, and bring them into one integrated, future-proof unit.

Jump past the break to see an exploded view and more info on the project…

COBI-eMTB-Heroshot-1-street-nologo-print-300dpi

Andreas Gahlert from iCradle said “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 rate tracking. COBI eliminates the clutter”

Most interesting, there is a security system that can only be unlocked with the user’s smartphone password, and a battery pack that can charge a user’s phone. The COBI can be easily installed onto nearly any existing bicycle, is Android and iOS Compatible and future proof because it is designed to evolve with easy-to-replace parts.

The Kickstarter campaign is now live, and will run through January 1, 2015, and aims to raise $100K. Backers can get in and receive a COBI for $159 and expect to receive it by May 2015.COBI-System

www.icradle.de
Tim Krueger
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21 Comments
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Alex
Alex
10 years ago

Anyone that calls it “biking” is to be automatically disregarded….

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NASH
NASH
10 years ago

At firs glance I though I was looking at the klingon bird of prey, but then the other picture lets it down.

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SamSkjord
SamSkjord
10 years ago

So you go mountaincycling, Alex?

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Blake
Blake
10 years ago

Bicyclecycling

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jm
jm
10 years ago

Biking is totally accepted here, it’s not bigringriding or velominati.

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Dave B
Dave B
10 years ago

Now that we have argued the semantics of what we call riding a bicycle, anyone have any thoughts on the product being shown?

The phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” occurred to me. It tries to do everything but does nothing well.

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Gunnstein
Gunnstein
10 years ago

@Dave B: It could be master of all trades for those who happen to like the way the various features are implemented. Like all integrated solutions it is great if it fits you, not so good if you have other requirements. My guess is many will have other requirements for the headlight, and it may not work well for those who use several bikes, or nonconventional bikes.

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Greg
Greg
10 years ago

Needs more parts

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Gunnstein
Gunnstein
10 years ago

It could be interesting to more commuters if they had a dynamo powered option. Add the dynamo power input, and make the battery much smaller (you only need a small buffer, to keep the light on when stopped).

@SamSkjord Nice one 🙂

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Slow Joe Crow
Slow Joe Crow
10 years ago

The thing that bugs me the most is his original problem statement “a whole mess of unintegrated gadgets – one for music, one for speed, another for heart rate tracking”. Why do you need so many gadgets? Seriously what is wrong with just going for a ride?
If you need to know how fast you are going and whether your heart is pounding, a Garmin will integrate HRM and power meter data and music is best reserved for stationary trainer sessions where you can play your boom box.

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Andrew
Andrew
10 years ago

That’s some serious Brookstone stuff ( wich means it’ll break up after a couple of rides)

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3G
3G
10 years ago

@Andrew
Ha! Indeed. That’s funny.

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Gunnstein
Gunnstein
10 years ago

Reading the Kickstarter. They actually have a form of dynamo support. To be expected really, since apparently they’re German. Many good features, and a developer SDK. Good price.

One problem is that it seems only certain phones are supported. Could be a hassle to attach/remove the phone. The potential deal killer is that mobile phone screens will either be on all the time and eat tons of power, or they are off meaning you have to enter the pin code while riding to use it – major hassle.

Slick, but I think I’ll keep the Garmin for now.

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Alex
Alex
10 years ago

I will also be utterly impressed if they can go from renders with no visible connectors, parting lines or fasteners to shipping product in 5-6 months….

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LawyerKnowItAll
LawyerKnowItAll
10 years ago

The phone should be completely encased to prevent it from damage during a crash.

I would buy one if they could integrate di2 battery and shifters. You could use it on a commuter with alfine di2, road di2, and xtr di2.

Extra battery power is a really nice touch.

I wonder how much it will weigh.

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LawyerKnowItAll
LawyerKnowItAll
10 years ago

Double post….

I just watched the Kickstarter video.

It is cringe worthy. You know this was made by designers and not cyclists (or bikers, as they put it.) They have an attachment for “fashion.”

Most obvious thing about this is that their design CAN’T have all these features. The phone case is too minimal to plug in to the power supply.

Basically, this is just their concept, not the production unit. Misleading if you ask me.

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Jeb
Jeb
10 years ago

@Alex nailed it. An idea and a Solidworks license will not be enough to get people to shell out cash.

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Gunnstein
Gunnstein
10 years ago

@Jeb It seems it is enough. They are 1/3 of the way too $100.000 already, after just a day or two. (I’m not backing.)

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codyish
codyish
10 years ago

I’m not sure I trust a cycling tech developer who is using separate devices for speed and heart-rate.

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sean
sean
10 years ago

I wish them good luck as at $340 full retail they are competing against garmin’s 510 which is $11 cheaper or a Edge 1000 which can be found for around $400 if you know where to look.

Honestly the coolest thing in my opinion about the setup is the brake and turn signal function which really would only be useful on group rides as with little separation I don’t think motorist will be able to tell the difference between blinking and signaling a turn.

Also has anyone realized that this setup will add 444g to the bars alone instead of putting the battery pack on the bike somewhere like under the saddle. I think this is kinda heavy as I can put a 2500 lumen light/garmin edge 1000 and still be 100g lighter on the bars; which effects your steering/control.

Finally there is one huge thing they could have done to make this an awesome setup and almost make me want one and that was put a camera in the rear light and one in the front recording/displaying to the phone.

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Tom Acland
Tom Acland
10 years ago

I don’t want to barge in but, since you’re discussing COBI, I thought you might appreciate a POV from the makers:

Your smartphone is already a master of many trades, across different industries and demographics.  So instead of building a new platform, we’re focussed on how to enable the phone to do the job: like embedding extra battery capacity (6000 mah) and charging via hub dynamo.

From there, we integrate with third-party peripherals using standard wireless (e.g. ANT+/Bluetooth) and CAN (used on eBike systems & Di2) to support many features. We’re not trying to replace proven stuff, but bring it together more intelligently.

We’ve made COBI attractive, but alongside renderings, we have engineering models, board layouts, optical simulations and physical prototypes (as seen in the Kickstarter film).

Many of us are regular cyclists, but we’re all different.  We can’t hope that COBI will be perfect for everyone, but constructive feedback will help us shape the final product. Thanks for your interest and comments.

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