Helios Bars: Turn Your Bike into a Smart Bike

Changing the way your bike works forever, here come the Helios Bars: a modern, elegant set of handlebars that add a lot of smart features to the traditional bicycle.

The Helios Bars are presented as the world’s first integrated blinker and headlight system for bikes, fitting almost any bicycle and being very easy to install. They are probably also the first handlebars to use GPS and Bluetooth 4.0 to transform your bike into a smart bike.

The handlebars are equipped with three built-in LEDs – a frontal one and two on the sides, that act like blinkers to signal when the cyclist wants to make a turn. The cyclist just has to press a button to activate the LED on either side.

Users will be able to choose what color they want for the LED lights, through the accompanying iOS application. The LEDs will also change color to indicate your speed, as part of an innovative visual speedometer system that uses your smartphone’s GPS. For example, speeds of 0 to 10 mph would be indicated by the LEDs turning red, while speeds of 30 to 40 mph would turn the lights blue.

The LED system can also interact with Google Maps API to support turn by turn navigation. This way, your rear lights will be able to indicate when a turn is approaching.

Another cool feature is the proximity lighting system. Using Bluetooth 4.0 to communicate with your iPhone, the headlight will automatically turn on when you are near the bike and off when you are away.

The Helios Bars are also equipped with a GPS module with which you can track the location of your bike anywhere across the United States. So if your bike has been stolen, all you have to do to find out its location is to send it a text message. You will get an automatic reply with a Google Maps link that shows your bike’s location.

As for battery life, the handlebars can function up to 7 hours before needing to be recharged. The GPS module has a separate battery that lasts up to 15 days.

The Helios Bars are currently on Kickstarter, where the campaign has already exceeded its $70,000 goal. Manufacturers are expected to start first shipments in December. Backers who pledge $199 can get the bars in white or black, while higher pledges of $249 come with a wider range of color options.

[Image via Digital trends]