On the bike, your smartphone isn’t just a communication device, many apps turn it into a cycling computer. But it’s difficult to see the readouts from the screen if you have your phone in a back pocket or pouch. Australian start-up Annex Products has a Quad Lock case and mount that solves that problem.
Continue reading Keep Your iPhone Secure in Action with Quad Lock
The price for a pair of sneakers easily competes with the cost of a fine pair of Italian leather dress shoes — for men or women. Yet sneakers are the last article of clothing that anyone thinks about washing. You might polish those fine Italian leather shoes, but will you use a shampoo-like wash and scrub brush to keep your running shoes, or even your boutique sneakers, looking new?
Activity meters are the new fitness gadget to beat. Unfortunately, the new-ish UP from Jawbone may have been beaten. However the company is making strides to remedy the situation and keep its users happy. Even if making its users happy means giving them the device for free.
Technology influences fashion with enhancements to microfiber. In the coming seasons, the fabric is said get softer and lighter. Israeli-based Nilit Fibers released its trend concepts for bodywear and active-sportswear for Fall/Winter 2013-2014. With a preview of garments ranging from bodywear to activewear, the company illustrated four trends in yarn innovations.
Nilit Super Microfiber provides “ultra-lightness” and a soft touch. Comfort is the emphasis. The company suggests fabrics shouldn’t hinder the wearer. This couldn’t be more important than in activewear, which needs to give the wearer full freedom of movement for a particular sport or activity. Nilit has developed a nylon Super Microfiber that is 6.6 filaments. The company reports this thin filament creates fabrics with maximum lightness and ultra-light, soft handle.
Nilit Britex and Nilit Brillion provide “glamorous” shine. The two fabrics are used to create garments with a “gleaming second-skin” appearance. While both fabrics lend themselves to lingerie, they can also have applications in the activewear category as baselayer garments and other performance gear.
Nilit Ecocare and Nilit Innergy give garments the ability to slim and shape. These fabrics provide body shaping to hide bulges. We hope they’ll also be used for compression garments that enhance our workouts. Nilit boasts that its EcoCare recycled yarns offer wellbeing as well as environmental responsibility.
Sport Protection is the aim with Nilit Aquarius and Nilit Innergy. The fabric combines elements of style, comfort and high performance. Garments made from these materials will have a multifunctional ability, though fitness and training are the main goals. These fibers offer breathability, compression and moisture management. The Aquarius yarns wick moisture and provide thermal protection. Innergy yarns used in compression-fit garments protect and warm muscles during physical activity.
[via Knitting Industry News: Nilit Bodyfashion & Activewear trends AW 2013-2014]
What’s the one thing that comes standard on a bike? Reflectors. Yet many of us remove reflectors to shave weight, reduce drag and remove encumbrance. You can add a light to your bike. But we’re waiting for a better solution that effectively lights the road, alerts traffic to our presence and has a decent battery life.
Revolights might be our solution. This Kickstarter project is a set of front and rear lights installed on the bike’s rims. When turned on, the LED lights glow white in the front and red in the back. The lights are coordinated to your speed, so while they flash, the lights are in sync with the ride and serve their purpose of making you visible, and lighting the road ahead.
Revolight Official Website
[via CNET: Revolights inventor lights the way for safer cycling]
Biking to work is a challenge. You want a secure place to lock your bike, and sometimes you need a shower before going to the office or meeting. The city of Santa Monica in California is addressing the issue with a full-service bike parking center on the 3rd Street Promenade. The bike center is located in a storefront of a new mall in the area.
The Santa Monica Bike Center takes up 5,300 square feet. It has slots for bikes to be locked, showers, lockers and a self-service repair center. The center will also have attended valet parking for those shopping in the mall that want a little extra service. It’s reported the ground-level garage cost $2 million.
Cyclists will need to become members of the facility in order to use the amenities. Membership terms include daily, weekly and monthly rates.
Santa Monica Bike Center Official Website
[via Transportation Nation: PICS: Santa Monica, Calif. Opens Nation’s Largest Bike Parking Center]
The days when we can walk out of our house with just a phone, which will serve as method of payment and ID, aren’t here just yet. But iLID, a compact iPhone case, packs essentials including credit card, ID, cash and a house key. The iLID case is a Kickstarter project.
Made from polycarbonate material, the iLID is rugged. It measures in at just 17 mm thick, and slips into your pocket. If you’re biking or running, you have all the essentials in one small package that doesn’t take up too much space or add bulk. The iLID fits the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s.
The iLID design is streamlined, and a good solution for iPhone users. Other smartphone cases on the market also carry cash and cards. The Callet, which has cases for the iPhone and several BlackBerry models, also holds a few key items.
Those disposable plastic rain ponchos come in handy, but then they pile up as waste. There’s a bioplastic alternative from a company called Equilicua, based in Spain. The company creates a spud raincoat made from bioplastic derived from potato starch and other natural, renewable resources.
Not everyone is willing or able to grow a full beard to stay warm in colder weather. Beardhead has a line of hats and beanies that give you an instant beard to keep you warm and add a little humor into your day.
Knit hats from Beardhead, which cost around $30 a piece, add a knit or scraggly beard to a head covering. Most hats are knit from a 30 percent wool, 70 percent acrylic blend yarn that will stay warm and dry all season on those cold days when you want to wear a balaclava but don’t want to be mistaken for a robber.
Styles include Grandpa, Ginger (redhead), Pirate, and Santa in the knit variety hats. The barbarian collection has a knit horned helmet paired with a hairy beard in several lengths and styles. Expect to get plenty of looks when you put this on next time you go out for a run.
Beardhead Official Website
[Via Be Sportier: Beardhead Winter Sport Hats With Personality]
The makers of PowerPlate have a new trick up their sleeve, or at least a new piece of workout equipment. The PowerBIKE looks like an attractive spin bike, but the pedal and crank system produces vibrations. These vibrations create muscle stimulation for the legs and glutes as you spin.
Benefits include burning more calories and building more muscle, while the makers say the bike can improve circulation. A stabilization system in the PowerBIKE reduces joint pressure, so you shouldn’t get pain from your workout.
Indoor trainers and spin bikes get boring. You spin your wheels and don’t go anywhere. It’s all you can do to keep on spinning and not fall off the bike sometimes. We’ve found a few trainers that provide more enjoyment whether it’s through better resistance control, the ability to lean, video that shows you where you’re virtually biking, or recreation of rides of the Tour de France. The vibration occurring with the PowerBIKE is another way to do more than just spin.
You may normally get up before the sun to go for a run or head to the gym, but the Friday after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, has many people getting out of bed early to hit the stores. This year we want to point out some deals to be had on fitness-related items.
Callet cases for a number of smartphones including the iPhone and several BlackBerry models. These rubberized cases have a slot in the back to hold ID, credit card and a few dollars.
Use the code “Callet 30″ for 30 percent off the case, which costs $19.99.
Griffin Technology has its products marked down as much as 80 percent during Black Friday. Save on rugged cell phone cases to fit any smartphone or tablet, plus loads of accessories.
Get 30 percent off products from Grace Digital through November 29 by entering the code “bFriday30″ at checkout.Choices include a rugged, all-terrain speaker case and other waterproof audio accessories.
Life Time Fitness plans to host a Black Friday event with “over 30 incredible deals.” You don’t have to wait until January to join a gym. Get yourself and everyone on your list enrolled in one of many programs including a weight loss program, LifeSpa gift card, a program with a trainer and other activities.
The U.K. will get a limited edition of the Android-based Motorola Defy+ with a rugged shell from construction and demolition company JCB. The added layer, or armor, on the phone will keep your phone protected, regardless of your extreme activities. If it takes a fall, you won’t have to worry so much. The built-in case improves the phone’s shock resistance capabilities.
In addition to the armor, the limited edition phone will come bundled with apps such as Therodolite, Spirit Level, Torch, Decibel Reader and B&Q store locator. The Motorola Defy+ with JCB features is an exclusive, limited edition phone available December 6 exclusively from Clove in the U.K.
[via Ubergizmo: Motorola Defy+ gets JCB treatment, becomes even more rugged]
It’s not a standard option. But fenders are useful for commuter bikes where the riders need to arrive clean, without mud splatter up their backsides. The add-on shields clothes to a certain degree. SKS has a new fender, the Commuter II Fender, which will replace its existing Commuter Fender.
One big change in the new Commuter II Fender is the use of CAB plastic instead of PET plastic, which SKS previously used. CAB plastic (cellulose acetate butyrate) is wood-based. It produces a glossy surface that is permanently weather and UV-resistant. The material produces a flexible product that stands up to years of use in all kinds of weather conditions.
Alternatively, PET plastic (polyethylene terephtalate) is derived from the family of polyesters. The material is flexible and glossy when new, but breaks down after years of hard use.
While CAB plastic is the primary material, the mudguards are produced with two different plastic materials in a sandwich with aluminum foils.
SKS says Commuter II Fenders have several advantages to additional advantages. Commuter II features two points of fixation for extra stability. It uses 3.1 Stainless V-Stay that’s more secure. Commuter II offers significantly extended coverage on both front and rear over the old style SKS Commuter.