When I’m “going green” and using pedal power for my travels, I still enjoy taking along some of my favorite tunes. But I’ve been leaving the music player behind because conventional earbuds and earphones block out too much traffic and other sounds I need to hear while biking.
The Tunebug Shake is an ingenious solution, turning a bike rider’s helmet into a speaker. And it still allows me to hear traffic and that dog that decides to give chase—a much safer solution than earphones or earbuds.
The Shake is a battery-powered puck that attaches to the helmet. Two different mounts are included. The Shake connects to a portable music player with an included cable. Or if you don’t want a cable getting in the way, it will also connect via Bluetooth.
It can be recharged through a computer USB port and a full charge lasts around five hours.
Tunebug calls this technology SurfaceSound and I was surprised how good it sounded. It’s not the same as a $500 set of earbuds, but I wouldn’t expect that. The Shake, as promised, delivers a very listenable sound through a helmet and doesn’t drown out other sounds I need to hear. It would work just as well on skateboard or snowboard helmets.
Weighing in at 2.4 ounces, the extra weight on the helmet isn’t even noticeable. Two touch-sensitive buttons turn the unit on or off and adjust the volume.
The Tunebug Shake retails for $119.95 and is available from the manufacturer’s website or Amazon.
A helmet may be a strange-looking speaker. But the Tunebug Shake makes it sing—with no worries about the sounds you’re missing.
#1 by Jennifer - August 26th, 2010 at 08:25
Very cool! That price needs to come down though if they expect it to sell well. It’s 4X the price of a good bike helmet.
#2 by tim k - May 24th, 2011 at 19:53
hey wow great product have you heard about the green speakers they did an episode on shark tank you could attach that to anything with a speaker shape like a cup and the bigger the item the louder the sound is that the same with this?
#3 by Ted - August 31st, 2011 at 17:02
As mentioned #2 comment by tim k – May 24th, 2011 at 19:53,I also saw that shark tank episode.Is this the same as what was showed and is it safe to ride on a public road without hearing the traffic.
#4 by Taylor - September 6th, 2011 at 09:51
Like you say, this is a great alternative to wearing ear buds and not being able to hear anything else.
As far as how loud it is and how that may also block out other important sounds, the user is going to have to use their discretion to get the best of both worlds (tunes on the road while riding safer)
#5 by Fred - November 8th, 2011 at 03:08
Basically, it function as a speaker driver. It moves back and forth as that of a speaker. But can I use this on full face motorcycle helmets?
#6 by Fred - November 8th, 2011 at 03:09
And by the way, I also saw this kind of product attached to a glass pane producing music. cool gadget.
#7 by peedog69 - November 16th, 2011 at 11:55
Really cool idea, it is like hands free driving, but when it comes down to it safety is number1.