Gadget-fu: Use your bicycle as a phone charger

Many people love a good bike ride; down the street, down the beach, maybe through some trails in small wooded area by your house. Many of us also like to be playing some of our favorite jams or stop every so often to see if we have a text. It’s a pain in the ass to be out in the middle of nowhere on your bike when your phone decides to die. Well, someone got sick of dealing with that problem and decided to do something about it- they created a device that can create power to charge while you’re on the move. The Ride-a-long is an attachment for any bicycle that you can plug your phone (or any of your devices) into. Installation is easy enough, no tools are needed; everything can be put on with a simple set of thumbs.

The device works when you install it to the wheel of your bike. As your wheel spins, it engages an integrated generator on the inside of the weather-proof plastic box. That generator in turn charges a detachable battery on the device, which has a cord running to you phone or iPod. You can charge while you’re moving or take the detachable battery with you while you explore off-trail; just remember at that point the detachable battery with be like an external battery pack. It will need to be recharged again as some point as well.

The Ride-a-long can be used with any iPhone 4 or newer, any iPad and iPad mini, iPod 4 and 5, or any Android phone or tablet available. You can find this new toy on the following website where it is being sold for $129.00.