Wireless Bike Speaker Beams Tunes From iPod To Handlebars

LAS VEGAS -- If you're into music while riding your bike -- but you're concerned about the safety risk of plugging headphones into your ears -- the iPod-compatible Cy.Fy wireless speaker system might be for you.

Mounted on the handlebars, the $180 Cy.Fy speaker can play tunes from the iPod in your pocket via an included Bluetooth transmitter as you ride your bike.

"Forty miles an hour riding downhill you can hear it," says Mike Michels, vice president of operations at Cy.Fy, which is based in Los Angeles. "If you're riding with a partner, you have to turn it down to talk."

The Cy.Fy is no Bose Surround Sound system though: It was drowned out by the cacophony of the Sands Convention Center. It may, however, perform better in quieter surroundings.
Looking like a streamlined Star Trek prop, the Cy.Fy speaker has rechargeable battery and is water resistant, the company says.

The basic model is compatible with Bluetooth-equipped cell phones and PDAs. A $200 iPod model includes a Bluetooth transmitter that plugs into the iPod's dock connector.