We all know a guy who obsesses over the weight of his bike only to load it up with a massive saddle bag, right? After a similar experience, Silca decided to eliminate the seat bag for good. But without a seat bag how are you going to fix your flat? Drones. Yup, drones. If Amazon can use them, cyclists can too. Built to carry up to 2 seat bags, c02 cartridges, and even a frame pump, the Silca PSD or Personal Service Drone is programmed to follow you on your route and will descend to provide assistance should you have to stop for a mechanical. There are even some additional features including coffee shop locating services…
SILCA PSD is a quad-rotor support drone developed by the engineers at SILCA as an automated follow vehicle for individual or group rides. Designed with under-wing quick-disconnects, the SILCA PSD can carry up to 2 seat bags, an array of CO2 cartridges and even a frame pump if you can find one. Controlled by automated, cell-phone based software, the PSD follows riders at a distance of 10 meters and using onboard Automated Collision Avoidance (ACA) can even be used off-road.
“The idea came to us after somebody showed up on the group ride with an EPS/Dogma and what had to be a 3 Liter seat pack, it looked like he was going camping’ said SILCA sales director David Hallander. ‘Everybody has that story about the time they had 6 flats and ran out of CO2, yet modern frames and the ‘Pro’ aesthetic keep us packing as minimally as possible. Short of an autonomous follow car that you could also climb into when you were shelled, the drone seemed like the most logical solution, not to mention those Google people have patents..lots of them! Anyway, you can have a flat and be back on the road in about 5 minutes using the practical frame pump, plus everybody can throw their tools into it at the beginning of the ride so you can support an entire group,’ Said Hallander.
SILCA engineer Shane meadows also designed in mapping software that sends route coordinates directly to your GPS head unit. ‘The PSD auto-creates your ride routes so that it can find a coffee shop every 2 hours for recharging. In this way, it makes for more social riding as well since you always end up at the coffee shop. Nothing says ‘Pro’ like sitting with a cup of coffee, a super clean looking bike AND your own personal follow drone,’ said Meadows. ‘It can even be fitted with an on board camera so you can film yourself riding, film yourself at the coffee shop or if you have a helmet cam, you can film yourself, filming yourself..the possibilities are endless if you think about it..’
The SILCA PSD system begins shipping April 1 from SILCA’s new Indianapolis Headquarters. Please read more about it and check out pricing and other important details on the SILCA website. Plus use a FREE Shipping Code: ‘APRIL1FREE‘ at checkout to receive Free Shipping on ALL SILCA orders placed April 1!!
WARNING: SILCA PSD may use various decommissioned Defense Department Components and Sensors. SILCA not responsible or liable for injuries or death resulting from use of SILCA PSD. Do NOT Taunt SILCA PSD.
