Peter Suciu | Evolving Consumer

Interbike 2011: Louis Garneau Rolls Out Mondo Evo Jersey and Bibshort

Proving again that performance doesn’t mean sacrificing quality, Louis Garneau is rolling out its new Mondo Evo Jersey and Bibshort, both are designed for performance as the jersey offers an aerodynamic fit, and the ibs have been clinically tested to increase blood flow and blood oxygen levels in the body.

The Mondo Evo Jersey features Aero Lazer Band sleeves that are laser-cut and hemless for a smooth transition from fabric to the skin, while also being superlight and thin to provide a second-second feel. The Mondo Evo Bib is made from a Cell-Ion fabric, and in addition to providing better flow, it has been clinically proven to relieve pain, increase comfort and actually aid in healing. The bib reportedly balances body temperature to help athletes achieve maximum performance. The 4Motion chamois combines 3D pre-shaped wings and a deep split at the back to provide multi-direction motion, while the central channel is shaped to help relieve pressure, plus the chamois has a high-tech baceriostatic carbon top sheet.

Both the bib and jersey feature reflective accents to add a level added visibility while riding or training in traffic. So you can feel good and feel a better safer still. The Mondo Evo Jersey will be available for $159.99, while the Mondo Evo Bib will be available for $189.99, and both will arrive in stores in October.

Louis Gareau Official Website

Interbike 2011: Keeping a Cool Head So You Don’t Sweat It

Keeping a cool head while riding is a good idea to play it safe, and Headsweats is introducing a line of headwear that is ideal for those hot summer days when the temperatures climb higher than most riders. This new headwear is designed to help manage excessive sweating on hot days.

The new line of Super Duty under helmet headware (MSRP $22), which will be available in black and white in February of next year, will feature moisture management and “Perspiration Technology,” along with a COOLMAX fabric terry sweatband. The COOLMAX fabric shell will keep you dry as well, while the Eventure elastic will make for a perfect fit. It should allow you to truly keep a cool head.

Headsweats Official Website

Interbike/Health + Fitness Expo 2011: Virtual Travel in HD

Travel is not fun, and as we make our way to the Interbike and Health + Fitness Expo we can you that getting there isn’t half the fun. But there is a great big world to see, and unfortunately most of us will never be able to visit all of it. But the Passport media player is the next best thing to working out in a distant land – and without the crowded seats or security lines along the way.

Available only to Johnson Health Tech Passport, featuring Virtual Active technology, offers the a rich high-definition experience with real destination footage and matching ambient sounds. This exclusive technology, which to date has only been available at gyms around the world on Matrix line of equipment, is now being brought to the consumer market on the AFG 7.1 AT treadmill.

Since its founding in 2005, the 10-person, San Francisco-based company has been busy sending camera crews around the world to capture the most realistic, breathtaking footage available on an exercise machine.Users can connect to their own home entertainment system and get taken away during their workout. Sure beats watching the news during a workout – with all that’s going on that might not be good for your heart!

Virtual Active Official Website

Easton Packs In a Lot in Portable One-Person Tent

Smaller is better, at least when it is something you have to bring along while hiking or biking. Smaller is not better when it comes to having someplace to rest your weary head however. But Easton Mountain Products has come up with a solution in its new Kilo 1P ultra-light one-person tent. It basically 1 uPs the Kilo tent that was introduced last summer, and which turned heads at the 2011 Utah Innovation Awards.

The Kilo 1P is a three-season, minimalist shelter that is designed to be an alternative to traditional bivvy shelters, and includes shorter pole segments that make it easily packable into a daypack, kayak or bike pannier. It features one person capacity, is there-season usable, weighs 1 pound 14 oz, and is made of waterproof nylon ripstop material. Continue reading Easton Packs In a Lot in Portable One-Person Tent

Strap It On For When You Might Need It

When you’re out in the woods it never hurts to have an extra length of high-strength cord, but with all the gadgets, gizmos and gear that you might carry it might seem that bringing one more thing is the cord that broke the hiker’s back. However, the folks at Survival Straps had another idea.

Maybe they watched that old Wonder Women series on TV and saw that magic bracelets are the way to go. While the Survival Straps won’t stop a bullet, there is a lot these things will do. Essentially the straps are made of a paracord – 550 test military spec paracord to be precise – that can be untied and unfurled when the need arises. The Regular Survival Bracelet is about $25 and is an inch wide, resembling a watch band, and it unfurls to about 16 feet. This can be used in anyway where paracord might come in handy – to replace a boot lace, sling an arm, replace a broken strap on a pack or just about anything else. Continue reading Strap It On For When You Might Need It

Fitness Game System For Those on the Go

The wave of motion control-based video games systems, including the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft’s Kinetic and the PlayStation Move are designed to get users off the couch, but Silicon Valley start-up Striiv is looking to allow gamers to take it on the go. The concept is built around a $99 device that will reportedly measure a user’s activity and movement, and reward them in gameplay with their respective level of activity.

The gadget has the ability to measure every step, and let’s players hit personal goals, compete with friends and even make donations for walkathons and other activities. The folks behind the gizmo see this as part of the so-called “gamify” health and fitness movement, with the goal of making non-game activities more game-like by providing rewards for regular activities. These could include challenges such as taking a number of steps in a certain amount of time, or walk the number of stairs that are in the Eiffel Tower or the length of the Golden Gate Bridge.

New goals and activities will reportedly be uploadable to the device, and Striiv should be in gamer’s pockets later this year. While these challenges and goals around walking could wear thing, especially as gamers tend to be quick to move onto the next thing, it still looks like the company could be striiv’ing to make a step in the right direction.

Video after the jump

Continue reading Fitness Game System For Those on the Go

Knock on Wood(en) Helmet

There is an old saying that “X doesn’t grow on trees.” This is becoming less and less true as many fitness related products are using sustainable materials. We’ve seen bikes made of wood, and shirts made of bamboo. Now Coyle Wood Design is looking to introduce a line of sports helmets that will rely on wood as well.

These brain buckets are handmade in Oregon and are the brain child of Dan Coyle, who has a personal interest in woodworking and sports. He’s reportedly made his own clothes and fitness gear by hand, and this year began to make helmets that are a natural alternative to the traditional ABS plastic and foam. The helmets are created using a patent-pending status designed for “natural fiber helmet shells’ that works with his CNC machining tools. Continue reading Knock on Wood(en) Helmet

No Need to Pump It Up With Self-Inflating Tires

Nothing can ruin a bike ride like a flat tire. While a crash of course is far worse, a flat is just downright annoying and frustrating because it is fairly minor but yet just enough to get you off the bike. Now Benjamin Krempel has developed a system that could keep you riding instead.

The PumpTire system consists of a tire, an inner tube that clips into it and an air valve. The concept is a different as clincher tires are from tubular tires. Basically the PumpTire is designed to automatically pump air into the inner tube by actually using the compressive effect when the tire rolls. To ensure that it doesn’t just keep inflating, the tube stops pumping when the desired pressure is reached.

Video after the jump Continue reading No Need to Pump It Up With Self-Inflating Tires

Turning on No Axle

Pedals are a very personal thing on bikes, and mountain bikers often times like prefer platform pedals that involve no clipping in. This is good for downhill and trials riding – as opposed to trail riding where riders typically want that clipped in feeling. Regardless of the system, most pedals are the same in that these are built around a sturdy axle.

But does it have to be that way? In other words, why can’t flat platform pedals in fact be actually flat? And not just flat but thin as well? To date the thickness of platform pedals has been determined by the thickness of the axle, which is where the Tioga ZEROaxle MT-ZERO comes in. It is ultra thin because it essentially loses the axle, with the result being a pedal that is just 7mm thick, making it the world’s “thinnest dual-concave mountain bike pedal.” And it is concave, so instead of the thickest part being the middle, it is actually the outer edges that are 7 mm, with the inside being just 4 mm thick, with the weight being just 450 grams or 15.87 oz. Continue reading Turning on No Axle

Hand Wipes Worthy of a Safari

If you’ve been to parts of Africa you know that having clean hands can be a difficult thing to obtain, even in urban centers such as Cairo. Being a germaphobe, this reporter typically carries all sorts of hand wipes and disposable towels, and while those are fine for walking through museums or past the Great Sphinx, they don’t quite do when it comes to wiping down after a bike ride.

Now you could use two or three moist towelettes, or you could pick up the Safari Towers, which are a massive 14-inches by 24-inches, making them ideal for cleaning up after a daily commute to work, or even making yourself presentable after a long training ride. The Safari Towels are about $1 each, or 42 cents per square foot. This might seem like a bit, but it could take several other towelettes to get just as clean.

As the Safari Towels come from the makers of Anti Monkey Butt Powder, we think they know something about surviving and getting clean in a jungle, urban or otherwise.

Anti Monkey Butt Official Website
[Via Urban Velo: Safari Towels]

Sound Protection

The sport of shooting requires that safety is addressed at absolutely all times, and this doesn’t just include gun safety in handling a firearm, but also in ensuring that proper protection is utilized for the eyes and ears. The problem is that many products that are offered to help protect the ears are uncomfortable, hot and just not effective. If sound is too greatly reduced, safety is an issue as shooters can’t hear their surroundings.

However, Starkey Laboratories has created a new in-ear protection that makes use of the same noise reduction technology found in quality headphones. The SoundGear by LaPierre provides electronic hearing protection in a instant fit device. It features digital processing to allow wearers to experience lower noise levels, with less feedback and yet have the ability to tune into the surroundings while protecting their hearing. It provides both sound enhancement and hearing protection in a single device. Continue reading Sound Protection

Smart Egg or Just Cracked Idea?

To prepare for the recently concluded USA Pro Cycling Challenge many European riders arrived days, even weeks prior to the big event to acclimate to the altitude. But what do you do if you are already at sea level, and can’t spend days in the mountains but still want the benefits of altitude training? You could climb into a really expensive egg.

According to reports from The Wall Street Journal, and now making rounds throughout the blogosphere, tennis star Novak Djokovic uses a special CVAC Pod every single day. He climbs into the egg-shaped pod, which sorts of evokes memories of Lady Gaga’s arrival at the Grammy Awards earlier this year, but whereas her egg was just for show, Djokovic’s $75,000 device – which is just one of only 20 in the entire world – is meant to compress the body’s muscles by using computer-controlled valve and vacuum pump to simulate being at high altitudes. Basically it is akin to a trip to the mountains without the need to be stuck in a tight and extremely uncomfortable airplane seat breathing recycled bad air.

On second thought, it seems the device is actually just like being on a coach airline seat, something Djokovic probably hasn’t had to endure in years. But the difference is he only has to spend 20 minutes at a time, and just three times a week – although reports suggest the tennis star is in the egg daily. All things considered it does seem to be more of a compression rather than decompression device, but if it helps his game he might prove to be one smart egg.

[Via Wall Street Journal: Novak Djokovic’s Secret: Sitting in a Pressurized Egg]

Nike Golf Goes for the Dunk

We normally think of Nike’s basketball shows when we think of “dunk,” but Nike Golf is unveiling its latest Nike Dunk (NG) Golf shoe, which will make the rounds on the PGA Tour this fall, and will be available to golfers starting in the New Year.

The shoes do have a link to the court, not the greens. The original Nike Dunk was created as a basketball shoe in 1985. After it was introduced to the world, the Nike Dunk started a commotion when basketball teams began wearing them to match their uniforms. The shoes caught on, and have and Dunks have become the prized shoes for sneakerheads as well as fashion statements for anyone looking to add vintage style to their shoe collection. Nike even kept original Nike Dunk shoes that were created 25 years ago, to ensure that the Nike Dunk NG feels just the same as the Dunks that people have grown to love. And as the shoes move from the courts to the fairways, Nike ensures that these will do so without compromising performance for golf. Continue reading Nike Golf Goes for the Dunk