Soul Cycle Slim: Immersive Audio System for Bicycles.
The Soul Cycle Slim is the most advanced Soul Cycle to date: in its striking lines, its ease of use, and its sound quality. It's a 2.1 system consisting of two midrange speakers up front and a rear mounted subwoofer. The immersive quality of music on this bike is amazing. The left/right stereo separation and clarity is fantastic on vocals, rim shots, and horn lines. Due to the orientation of the subwoofer driver, the rider doesn't have to turn up the volume super-loud to feel 'in the music'. It's not a wake-the-neighborhood kind of rig. It's more of a refined personal audio system, that's still capable of powering a small party ride -- say 5-10 people.
Of course, it's got several of the signature Soul Cycle features: front mounted controls, backlighting in the speaker cabinet, and concealed wiring. Because of the custom nature of this project, I was able to work with framebuilder Curtis Inglis of Retrotec to come up with an Xtracycle specific cruiser frame that has an integrated load-carrying capacity in front of the handlebars. Putting load on the frame instead of the handlebars makes steering feel effortless (great for cruising). I used translucent fiberglass matrix panels that break light into hundreds of dime-sized 'pixels'. They're also extremely stiff, which helps you get maximum bass response out of a small cabinet.
The rear cabinet has an integrated passenger seat and backrest. It fits between -- and doesn't interfere with -- the Xtracycle's V-racks. This means that you can use or not use the V-racks, depending on whether you want to carry something to a party, or show off the clean lines of the Soul Cycle. The cabinet mounts directly to the frame with two bolts. Due to the build quality of the subwoofer, and the solid mounting system, there are minimal extraneous vibrations on this bike -- beyond the vibrations of your music, that is. In other words, this bike feels very solid when crossing San Francisco's trolley tracks.
Another nice aspect of this bike is that it's light weight. One can carry this bike up the stairs to a BART platform without too much pain. Using Low draw (yet hi-fi) amplifiers and a NiMH rechargeable battery, in addition to the custom curved carbon fiber panels on the rear mounted subwoofer, all helped reduce the weight.
Another really nice feature of the bike is its integrated passenger seat. With a leather padded seat and carbon fiber and mahogany backrest, you'll find you may end up with new friends very quickly. And of course, a bike as custom as this needs a clean chain line. So in order to provide a hill climbing gear, I went with a Sturmey Archer 8 Speed Disc hub.
Although this bike was done as a custom job, we are able to make reproductions. If you are interested in having your own party bike, please call me at 888-354-BIKE.
Key Features:
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60 Watt personal audio system
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Lightweight (commuter friendly for 1-5 mile commutes)
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Sleek, translucent integrated subwoofer with mesmerizing backlighting
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Passenger seat with wooden backrest
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All controls on front console
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Cosmic clarity from high end amplifiers, crossovers, and speakers.
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Safer than headphones.
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Compatible with Xtracycle bags and accessories.
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Works with iPod or MP3 player
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Thing of beauty -- inspires others to join social rides.
Inquiries welcome. Soul Cycles are a labor-intensve product and have a 6 month lead time.
