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Stuff: Sweden's V-Bike
posted by Joe on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - Permalink
A new design out of Sweden that combines small bike convenience with extra carrying capacity:
Small balloon tires, a low-rider frame and lots of hauling attachments are the features Swedish cycling company Skeppshult felt would be most needed in a short-trip urban bike. ... [It's] maneuverability and its front and back hauling attachments are pretty nifty. There are extra-wide package racks (widely used in Sweden) that can fairly easily be positioned into either frame end, and black or silver attaching boxes with lids that can take about a 20-pound load, as well as metal attachable baskets.Via TreeHugger.
Labels: stuff
Stuff: New Light Source Lasts 12+ Years without a Charge
posted by Joe on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - Permalink
At first I thought this new Litroenergy thingy from GloPaint had to be toxic to be able to glow for so long, but apparently it's non-toxic and cheap. Perfect for helping light up you and your bike at night:
“The Litrospheres are not effected by heat or cold, and are 5,000-pound crush resistant. They can be injection molded or added to paint. The fill rate of Litroenergy micro particles in plastic injection molding material or paint is about 20%. The constant light gives off no U.V. rays, and can be designed to emit almost any color of light desired.”
Via Ecoble.
Stuff: Extreme Folding Bike
posted by Joe on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - Permalink
Folding Bikes are cool - take them on transit, stick them in small trunks or backseats... but what if you need them to fit somewhere smaller?
We love folding bikes. Because they remove one of the arguments about taking up cycling; “I don’t have any room for a bicycle.” Here is a folding bike concept to would give short shrift to that excuse, were it ever to transition into a real world commercial product. Gregor Dauth, a student at the Coburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany has worked with Cube bikes to develop his Urban Street Concept Bike. Gregor reckons you can fold up his full size bike to fit in a Smart car. Continue folding it like the blades of a Swiss Army Knife and he says the frame willl fit into a rucksack.More at TreeHugger.
Labels: stuff
Stuff: PackNGo Panniers
posted by Joe on Monday, March 03, 2008 - Permalink
Well, this looks cool - bike panniers that turn into luggage:
More luggage than bag, PakNgo is made from rigid polycarbonate, which helps fix the load securely to the back, and protects your stuff in the event of a close shave with a four-wheeler. Waterproof fabric keeps your stuff dry, and neatly detaches from the back when you get where you're going, turning into wheeled luggage or messenger-style bag. The design has been shortlisted for an Dyson Student Award at the Australian Design Awards.
Via TreeHugger.
Labels: stuff
Stuff: Glo Gloves: Gloves with Turn Signals!
posted by Joe on Monday, March 03, 2008 - Permalink
This is a really cool product that I saw recently on BikeHugger:
Glo gloves are simple, reflective over-gloves which will help you survive your night time rides. Here’s a good review by the Gadgeteer, but you won’t need too much convincing once you understand the value of the gloves.
These are the same gloves you see police officers directing traffic with, although there are 3 models, only one of which has the ‘stop sign’ on the palm. You can get this model online or at uniform stores here in Seattle and elsewhere.
The gloves will help you stay visible during one of the riskiest road maneuvers for a cyclist — turning. Signalling is a great way to improve your safety, but if drivers can’t see your signals they don’t count for much. Glo Gloves increase your odds of being seen. At around $20 they’re incredibly cheap insurance.
More on BikeHugger.
Stuff White People Like: Bicycles
posted by Joe on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - Permalink
I came across this site after reading something about how it's politically incorrect (does that even mean anything anymore?), but I gotta say, as a white person, I find the site hilarious and often quite accurate (such as recent posts about Oscar Parties and Threatening to Move to Canada).
There's a good post about bicycles on it:
For the most part, these rules have been unisex. But there is a special category of bicycles that appeal far more to white women, the European city bike (pictured). White women have a lot of fantasies about idealized lives, and one of them is living in Europe and riding around an old city on one of these bikes. They dream about waking up and riding to a little cafe, then visiting bakeries and cheese shops and finally riding home to prepare a fancy meal for their friends who will all eat under a canopy with white Christmas lights..
Stuff: Bike Storage, Made Swedish
posted by Joe on Thursday, February 21, 2008 - Permalink
I'm a pretty regular visitor to a site called ikeahacker, where people share IKEA products that they've hacked to be more useful or stylish or more appropriate to their home decor (because what could be more fun that taking a swedish fjaarngaard and turning it into something un-fjaarngaardish?)
I'm happy to share with you a recent hack for storing two bikes in a house or apartment that helps get them out of the way and off the floor using a stolmen post, some brackets and some hooks:
"there are a lot bicycle storage/rack-systems on the market, but none of them met my expectations in function/style and price. i wanted to get 2 bikes on a wall in my apartment.Full instructions on IkeaHacker.
so i build one on my own. here's how it looks:all you need to get from ikea is one stolmen post, two brackets and four hooks. you’ll also need some screws and some aluminium 20x20mm square pipe, maybe some foam rubber.
Pretty stylish and modern for about $50.
Labels: stuff
Stuff: A Bicycle That Creates Clean Air and Water!
posted by Joe on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - Permalink
Here's a very cool invention from Specialized and Google's "Innovate or Die" competition.
The "Aquaduct" Bicycle "consists of a storage tank, filter, peristaltic pump, clean tank and clutch.":
Via TreeHugger.
Stuff: Solar Headlights on your Hat
posted by Joe on Tuesday, February 05, 2008 - Permalink
Ride at night a lot? Want some extra carbon-free illumination on your ride?
The "2CLight Solar Cap" may be right up your alley:
More on TreeHugger.Spend the day in the great outdoors and when the sun dips below the horizon you press a switch under the same brim and Sol’s captured energy is still with you, beaming out via a couple of bright light emitting diode (LED) bulbs.
The LEDs are designed to angle down and shine about 2 metres ahead of you for effective night walking, and not blind companions when you look them in the face.
The award winning design comes from New Zealand, but with limited international distribution at this stage, they're selling the caps on line for about $35 USD. Three basic styles are on offer, and there is also a winterised version with fake fur ear flaps.
Labels: stuff
Stuff: Stay Dry with RainGo
posted by Joe on Monday, January 21, 2008 - Permalink
Here's an interesting way to stay dry on wet and soggy days:
Via BikeHugger.This photo shows an old, way-old flyer for the Raingo Stay dry rain shield system. I’ve googled and can’t find this system, but it could inspire some SUB riders to develop their own. As much as I love Bettie, she’s a cold ride, on a cold day. It’s sitting upright, high on the bike, with your face in the wind and rain.
Labels: stuff
Stuff: On-Bike Camera
posted by Joe on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - Permalink
For those of you who like to film while you're riding - a camera built for your bike:
This 'All Terrain Camera 2000' - or ATC2K for those in the know - is a simple concept. Mount it on your bike and off you go. Or, if you're the type to wear a helmet, mount it up there if you prefer.
Capture video of your ride or any other outdoor activity and either watch it on a TV with the AV-out function or download it to your computer for editing and uploading for all the world to see.
Nerdy specs:
AVI format in three sizes: 640x480, 320x240, 160x120.
Two frame rates - 15fps and 30fps.
AV-out for TV viewing.
Runs on 2 AA batteries.
Multiple mounting design.
USB interface.
(via The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog)
Labels: stuff
Battle of the Folding Bikes
posted by Joe on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - Permalink
Want unusually chipper British television hosts waxing enthusiastic about folding bikes? Want to see a show-down between the A-Bike and the Strida?
Your weird wants are fulfilled:
(via TreeHugger)
Velomobile: This Bike Looks Like A Car
posted by Joe on Monday, December 03, 2007 - Permalink
The Toronto Star wrote about velomobiles yesterday:
"That's quite the little thingy you've got there," says a young man – ring in his nose, backpack, slouchy trousers – as he passes Ray Mickevicius's bright yellow vehicle, sleek as a dolphin, on Queen's Quay E.
Other men (and it was clearly a man thing) circled it curiously. A pair with leather jackets and sunglasses dropped their briefcases, and one started snapping photographs. A man in a Fair Isle sweater asked questions. "Do you ride this in Toronto?"
The "thingy" is a velomobile, a ground-hugging, three-wheeled horizontal bicycle, sheathed in fibreglass. About three metres long, it looks like a miniature race car, but it's powered by pedalling. It has a steering bar, 27 gears, turn signals, lights and a speedometer.
Velomobiles are aerodynamic, keep bad weather off you and are non-polluting.
They also range from almost $4000 up to $13000. That price has to come down a lot for velomobiles to be anything but a toy for the rich cycling afficionado.
Stuff: TreeHugger knows Bike Storage
posted by Joe on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - Permalink
Remember the Leonardo? Well, TreeHugger has a great compilation post about a bunch of other novel bike storage solutions:
The cute and curious Cycloc is essentially a plastic bucket that has two opposing "lips" that use your bicycle’s own weight to hold it in place. The void in the middle of the Cycloc keeps your gloves, pants clips, etc, close to hand, while holes in the cylinder allow you to fix a cable lock as well. 
Got lots of bikes? Something like the Cyclepod might be what you need. It provides eight secure spaces for parking your bikes, storing the bikes upright, and the front wheel and frame can both be locked in place. More good news: Cyclepod is made from 95% recycled aluminum.
BikeTree!
Labels: stuff
Stuff: New Bicycle Seat Helps The Libido
posted by Joe on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - Permalink
I don't find my bike seat too uncomfortable (except when I've been biking for 5 hours straight or something), but the MoonSaddle looks like it could really hope those who have troubles with regular bike seats:
Dennis Bell was a busy engineer in Huntington Beach, Calif., when he noticed it was time to slim down.
He bought a bicycle at a garage sale, but weight wasn't all Bell lost to cycling.
"I started having boy problems because of the nose-on-the-saddle numbness, erectile dysfunction," said Bell, who now lives in Philipsburg.
While some men would have ditched the bicycle for the libido, Bell wanted both. An inventor holding more than 30 patents, he set out to create an alternative bike seat.
...
MoonSaddle has a growing list of customers who say the eye-catching seat takes painful pressure off sensitive parts without sacrificing performance.
"I could realistically ride 100 miles without bike shorts" on the MoonSaddle, said Barry Falcon, who completes century rides to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. "Even though I'm on the bike for eight hours at a time, I can get off and I don't have any discomfort."
Labels: stuff
Stuff: The StashKit Folding Helmet
posted by Joe on Monday, August 27, 2007 - Permalink
This is pretty cool. Good for those wanting to save space:
Is cycling your main form of transportation? If it is, then you have probably experienced the issue that the Stashkit folding helmet is meant to address, what to do with that bulky helmet once you get to your destination?Via Apartment TherapyRather than dangle the helmet from your bag or backpack as seems to be the most common option, the Stashkit helmet folds into a flattened U shape in order to make it more packable. The Stashkit helmet conforms to European CEN safety standards but there is no mention of CPSC, Snell or ASTM certification which are the ones that enable the sale of helmets here.
Labels: stuff
Stuff: The Leonardo - Sleek, Simple Bike Storage
posted by Joe on Thursday, August 23, 2007 - Permalink
Living in a small place without a secure garage / storage room to keep your trusty two-wheeled steed in? The Leonardo may be the answer to avoid locking your bike up outside where it's vulnerable to theft:
It gets your bike up off the floor with a minimum of material, eschewing an elaborate pulley system in favor of a single hook. The tire tray option helps keeps tire marks off the wall, and the whole thing is sleek enough not to be an eyesore when the bike isn't there. $19.99 gets you both the hook and the tire tray; you can knock five bucks off if you don't care about skid marks on the wall.[ via ::swissmiss and treehugger]
Labels: stuff
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