Straitline unveils the worlds first iStem
Sunday, April 1st, 2007Straitline unveils the worlds first iStem
We all love to ride with tunes pumping in our ears, the wind in your face helping you escape from reality.
I was having the best ride ever with David Hasselhoff’s “Get Into my Carâ€, (it has the perfect riding beat) cranked full blast on my iPod, when I saw some riders gathered down the trail. Being too embarrassed to admit that Hoff was even on my iPod, let alone get busted by a group of riders when I stop to chat. I quickly tried to change the tracks to some hardcore stuff before they found out how Euro my tunes were. Then it all happened!
Still rolling I had to remove my left hand from the bar to reach my iPod stuffed away in my backpacks side pocket. The second I removed my hand and fumbled for the controls my tire clipped a root on the trail sending my ass over the bars and into a tree. Not only was it embarrassing flipping myself in front of the seasoned locals, I had to lay on the ground in pain with David playing full tilt as everyone stood over me.
After my crash I had lots of time to look back on the crash and think about how much that sucked! If only I didn’t have to keep removing my hands from the bars just to flip tracks.
The next month I challenged the guys to do something about this common problem.
They gave me the first ever, iPod compatible Stem!
Introducing the iStem!
Features include:
- Optional microphone attachment for hands free group talking
- Seamless integration with the Straitline iStem
- Internal Lithium battery source with Solar charging available
- Compatible with iPods new wireless head phones. Transfer songs with your friends via infrared.
- Stream music to friends in the group with 802.11b technology
- Change songs hands free with the optional microphone via voice commands
“This is exactly the kind of forward thinking innovation that our industry needs. We are so impressed with this product that we are thinking about specing the iStem on most of our 2008 bikes.”, said Kevin Menard and Kyle Young, owners of Transition Bikes.
“We are just excited to bring to the public what they want. People are tired of the industry hype and have been craving a versatile product that allows them to show their own personal style.
At Straitline we take progression very serious and promise that we will stay ahead of the game by introducing innovative products with no hype, only our finger on the pulse.†said
Greg Parish, Marketing guy at Straitline Components
Watch the promotional video here
April 1st, 2007 at 5:07 am
nice one. AFD efforts have not been lost on me.
April 1st, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Ha ha haha…..perfect idea
I already see my nose in the iPod lol 
April 1st, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Heh, thats actually pretty funny…. nice
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:20 pm
This is one of the most foolish things I have ever seen. Tell me it is an April Fools prank gone suprisingly well….But, considering how huge the aftermarket supply of dumb ipod add-ons is…
if it *is* real
how does it keep your Ipod from bouncing out of the simple slot
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Haha, yep. Everything marked April 1st was an april fools joke.