Modding this for a Garmin Edge or 305 would result in hotcake-like sales among the road biking crowd. Guaranteed.

Oops, forgot those models were the same thing.

Still, Radonneurs (long distance roadies) would love this, since they're not super-weight weenies.

I generally eat dirt at least once every other ride. I would destroy the phone on the first crash. Good idea though..

Cool idea. Saaaayyyyy! Isn't that the MIA Motofone? The one I want. Anyone seen them in North America yet?

Well, there have been power-generating hubs by a couple of companies over the last couple of years, e.g. the one by Shimano. It gives you 6V AC, which is not so hard to convert into 5V DC and, did I hear somebody say USB? Actually, I have this hub already integrated in my front wheel, and for the purpose of charging my cell/GPS/muscle relaxing vibrator. I was just too lazy (and maybe stewpitt) to change it to 5V DC yet. Somebody do that and, as long as you stay reasonable, you've got a customer.
adriang: you can accomodate your cellie in one of thos... and, since you won't go scubadiving with it, leave the charging cable running through at the end and strap the whole thing on your handlebar. I have mine between the two bars of my Syntace aero. Might not be sufficient for your more drastic use of your bike, but just as an idea...

hmm, the man over at giz ate my link to aquapac and replaced it by ... So, here goes again (or did I write something undecent?). aquapac Well, maybe I forgot to close some tags the first time...

Seems that the man at giz ate my link to aquapac for the waterproof celly protector. Here it goes again: aquapac

I've been keeping my eye on the Motofone F3 as well (the cell pictured above). It seems to have rolled out early this year for sales abroad, but to date I have only seen it as dual-band GSM and not the tri-band or quad-band needed in the US. I see them on ebay every now and then, but they're selling for $100+, not the initially promised $50. I'm optimistic that they'll ship state-side soon.

If that's a micro USB connector (like most Moto phones now have), wouldn't it charge many other devices with the same connector?

That's an awesome idea. I'm thinking of going on a bike camping trip come summer.

Anyone know if it's possible to somehow connect a cellphone to one of those generic old-school bicycle dynamos for powering headlights? I should think a special hub lik ethe Shimano one would be very expensive.

How long before someone creates a "torture your little brother" hack for this.

As soon as they come out with a bike that's powered by a cell phone, I'm buying it and hooking up this device! If I hook both devices up at the same time, and assuming no friction (which they let us do in class), both the cell phone and the bike will run For Ever!

(sorry, that wasn't really necessary, but I just learned how to do it)

Dissassembly photos of the Motofone: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68046081@N00/sets/72157594464...

The answer is - it is available in Chilie and Mexico, both of which use GSM 1900... therefore it will work in the USA (as it is a 850/1900 dual band). However... it is unclear of whether or not the Motofones in those countries are locked to a service provider, most likely Telcel in Mexico.

> If that's a micro USB connector (like most Moto phones now
> have), wouldn't it charge many other devices with the same
> connector?

It doesn't - it has a (3mm?) jack, which serves double-duty as a headphone jack.

That picture shows a $250 B&M dyno. A guy buying a $40 phone isn't going to pedal a rig wearing a 12v dyno. Those 12v dynos are very high end.