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Aloysius Low/CNET
SHANGHAI — China-based Sooall has served up an interesting spin on the exercise bike with the Next DNA eBike at the inaugural CES Asia. Its name might be a mouthful and inexplicably include a DNA reference, but if you’re thinking ‘eBike’ means electric, you’re wrong. At least in the traditional sense. This bike doesn’t use electricity to generate speed, it uses speed to generate electricity.
Located at the rear of the training bike are three battery packs, which are charge up when you pedal on the bike. Once charged, you can use these USB-friendly power packs to juice up your devices. There’s no word on the exact capacity of the battery packs, and how long you’d have to pedal to deliver a full charge. I’ll update should we get a clear answer.
That’s not all the bike has up its sleeve. A Sooall spokesperson said the bike will also have a virtual coach that will help you train, and can alter the resistance of the pedals based on a real route. If you’re “climbing” a mountain, expect pedalling to be pretty draining on your legs.
Since everything in the world is meant to be smart and connected these days, the Next DNA eBike will also support multiplayer. If you have friends who also own the eBike you can cycle routes at the same time. This could be great for staying motivated, making you feel more accountable to completing a training session when you have friends putting in the effort at the same time.
The unit on display was a prototype so we couldn’t take it for a test ride, and the battery packs weren’t the real deal either. A Sooall spokesperson said the company has plans to launch this bike in the next two months in China, at 10,000 Renminbi (around $1,615, £1,040 or AU$2,060). So if you’re thinking about getting this, you better be putting in the effort to get your money’s worth.
Aloysius Low/CNET
