Bike Phone Charger, Thanko Very Much

I have posted on ways to charge a cell phone for cyclists before, and have done so with some frustration over the price of the systems, or lack of them. While fumbling about the net this weekend, I came across another entry into the portable charging realm that is not unlike the others except for one really big thing.

Thanko is offering a portable usb plug in charging system for regular old bicycles. Thanko appears to be a Japanese company like ThinkGeek with a hint of Best Buy and Walmart. They are the ones that brought us such great things as the USB Kittymask, and the AnyChair sleep at work chair. Innovation for Nerds, Japanese style.   Cool.

It is not the first by a long shot in the same design, a bottle generator, a transformer box, and a mounting unit for the handlebars. It is not really even the best of those similar designs since it lacks a battery for continuous charge, or storing excess power generated for evening out the charging session. It would be a "who cares about this" if not for one factor. The price. At only $26 this is great. It may not take a smart phone in full use to full juice, but it will keep a dying battery alive as long as your moving. That may not sound like a big thing, but if you use your bike for long trips, keeping a battery from draining during the trip and keeping a phone usable is huge. 

The downside, is that if you follow the link, be prepared to translate the page. All Japanese. It does have a cart for ordering, and I took it as far as the checkout page to verify it was available. I did not order this...yet. Not really sure if they will ship to the U.S. or not, and it is unclear from what I can figure out of the website if they can or plan to. The other downside, which is not really hard to understand, is you have to provide your own USB charging cable for your device.  For only $26 I would not imagine they would want to offer all of the cable types that exist.