I got the idea for the boombox bike from a GRL video. Riding around on a human powered vehicle blasting rap music is very appealing. Their setup is nice with an amplifier and a car battery. My rig is much less fancy, but it is still very fun.

My version includes a bmx bike, a fisher price boom box, an mp3 player and some wire. I started by getting the mp3 player to work with the boombox. This was easy because the boombox came with a little microphone that lets you sing karaoke to your favorite radio station or tapes. After a bit of tinkering I figured out which wires needed to be soldered together. I was pleased when this worked, but I have to admit that the sound quality is poor. There is very little low end. Still I continued undaunted.

The next step was removing some plastic from the boombox's tape player so I could have a spot for the mp3 player to live. This was not difficult with the help from some wire cutters. It was a tight fit. The modified microphone cord turned aux cable was a bit bulky. My solder and electrical tape barely fit in the tape slot with the mp3 player, but I managed to fit it all. I removed the little window that was designed to let you watch your tape spinning so that I had access to the mp3 player's volume and next button.

The next obstacle that I needed tackling was mounting the boombox to the bike. About a year ago I salvaged some wires from a telephone company box that a car smashed. The wires have been living wrapped around my handlebars. It was not a stretch to think that these wires could be used to mount the boombox to my handlebars. This is the only place that the little boom box would fit on the little bike. The boom box had some spots that were perfect for attaching it to something with wires. It worked so well you would have thought they were planning for this exact occasion when they designed this little beast.

Finally it was complete. I took it outside for pictures and loaded the mp3 player up with some Notorious B.I.G. After a quick twitter update I set off on the maiden voyage. I went to the outdoor mall area near my house to test it out and to try to get a reaction from the unsuspecting consumers. There were not many people around, but I did get a couple looks. The setup worked, but it had some shortcomings.

next steps

• I need to rig up some vibration dampening. The wires held well, but the whole thing made a lot of noise when I went over bumps.
• The little flap that usually holds tapes but now held my mp3 player flew open a few times. Luckily my mp3 player lives to see another day.
• The sound quality is really terrible. I like the size of the little boombox, but I wasn't pleased with the distorted audio.

Overall this was a successful proof of concept. What concept you ask? Bikes + rap music = fun. I could have rode around listening to my headphones for a much higher quality aural experience, but this would have only provided a fraction of the level of fun.