Author: Peter Suciu

Bicycle Furniture

Furniture maker Seth Deysach has created something that combined his two passions, working in wood and cycling. The result is the Lagomorph bike, a single-speed that Deysach designed as part of the Object Society Design Show that was held last year.

While he had made a single bike in a single size (and again it was a single speed), the designer is now taking special orders for his wooden-framed bike, and even offering custom options. His Lagomorph bike features a traditional triangle frame, which is bridal jointed and glued together and fastened together, much as how a chair is assembled. Makes sense given his furniture background. Continue reading Bicycle Furniture

SIA Preview: Helmet Covers for Those Looking to get Active

For those who think the current weather is frightful, and prefer snow instead of heat waves, last week saw the Snowsports Industries America winter preview in New York City, known as the Summer Showdown. It was a chance to cool down with some very cool products.

While this reporter is personally enjoying the heat, it was interesting to get information on new helmet covers from Active Helmets. The truth is that many helmets are designed to help airflow, but it got us thinking, what if you’d like to cover it up?

Active Helmets has the answer with a new line of helmet covers, which were introduced at the big SIA show in January. These are made to be interchangeable from helmet to helmet, sport to sport. So when the weather cools down you can cover up your cycling helmet, and then later use the cover to show your style with a ski or snowboard helmet. Active Helmets currently offers custom logos for ski schools, resorts and even group events. So as the company says, “play it safe, wear a helmet,” now you can cover it with some style.

Active Helmets Official Website

New Kind of Hybrid Bicycle

The original “hybrid” bicycle was one that was also called a “city bike” as it was part road bike and part mountain bike. Often described as a bicycle that wasn’t as fast as a road bike, or as reliable in terms of handling than a mountain bike, the hybrid has lost momentum. But the “hybrid” may be making a comeback – but this time it is a pedal/electric hybrid.

Bicycledesign first spotted Roy Prince’s latest concept design, the eCortina v2 e-Bike. Oxnard, California based Prince is an old hand to electric bikes and other vehicles, and this latest product is reportedly “designed so that one can pedal only (human power), motor only (electric power), or in hybrid mode both motor and pedal at the same time. Under hybrid running the distance one can ride under one charge is extended.” Prince explained the concept more on his RPEV.org website. Continue reading New Kind of Hybrid Bicycle

BioLogic Offers GPS BikeBrain

Riding with a smartphone might not let you get away from it all, but given the power that the handsets such as the iPhone now offer it would be a smart move to take them on the ride. And rather than just tucking the phone in your jersey pocket put it to work.

BioLogic’s BikeBrain app, which is currently rated 4.5 as a free app on the Apple App Store, will show what a smartphone can do your ride. This GPS-powered app offers cyclo-computer functionality. The BikeBrain Plus version, which is available for $1.99, takes it a step further with customizable programming features including intervals, zones and calories burned. It can even let users share data via Google Maps, Facebook and Twitter – plus it is compatible with MapMyRide.

“When sales of our bike-mounted iPhone cases took off, we knew a lot of people were using their iPhones on their bikes,” said Joakim Uimonen, BikeBrain Product Manager. “With the increased capabilities of BikeBrain Plus you really don’t need to buy a separate dedicated cycling computer to keep track of your rides.”

The free version, originally known as BikeBrain Lite, the BikeBrain app was launched at the beginning of April and had more than 20,000 downloads within the first 30 days. But given the functionality of the paid version, we think it is certainly worth the $1.99, making BikeBrain Plus a smart move indeed.

(Video after the jump) Continue reading BioLogic Offers GPS BikeBrain

Smart Phone Bike Sharing System

SoBi isn’t some up and coming New York City neighborhood (at least not yet). SoBi is actually a new program from New York City urban planner Ryan Rzepecki called Social Bicycles – or SoBi for short. It is a bike-sharing system that uses “smart” bikes rather than “smart” stations, so that each bike has an onboard GPS, cellular transmitter and electronic lock that allows people to find and unlock the bikes using their smartphones.

The idea here is that special docking stations and central places to herd bikes are not needed. There would thus be no home base for the fleets, and instead just “hub” areas where the bikes could be ridden. Take the bike out of the hub and pay a fee, return the bike later in the day to the hub area and you receive a credit. While still a concept, the idea is one that has promise. Riders would use smartphones to locate and reserve a bike, and would have 15 minutes to walk to that location, where they could unlock the bike from a built-in keypad. Bikes could be ridden, and even locked up for 15 minutes periods.

So in other words, it could be good for short errands, but wouldn’t be a commuting device – at least it wouldn’t be one riders could count on for commuting, at least not until a large fleet was developed. But it is an interesting first step towards bike sharing.

SoBi Official Website

Surfboards Catch a Wave of Innovation

Surfboards might seem like simple pieces of wood – basically they are boards right? Well, there has been much innovation, and today surfboards are made of composite materials and can be highly crafted machines – yes, machines even as some new boards now include motors. Continue reading Surfboards Catch a Wave of Innovation

Look Buff in the Summer Sun

Everyone likes to get a little “buff” in the summertime, but too much time in the sun can leave you burnt and blistered instead. One solution is a large hat, or you could put on sun screen with a trowel. The other solution is to look a little Buff, as in put on a headwrap.

The Buff High UV Protection headwrap can be used as a bandana, scarf, headband, mask, neckerchief or even ponytail holder. Made of a cloth material that blocks up to 95 percent of the UV rays it will also wick sweat and features an active-odor control that actually resists odor-causing bacteria. It can keep you cool, dry and a bit fresh.

The wrap is made of a single piece of cloth, and yet is elastic. Since one size, 21×9.5 inches may fit all, but colors certainly won’t it comes in a variety of patterns and colors. And of course it is machine washable and needs no ironing. Time to Buff up.

Buff Official Website

iPING Helps You Putt

Driving is just part of golf. The other part is putting. If you have trouble getting the ball in the hole, maybe your iPhone can help. iPING has introduced an app that transforms your iPhone 4 or iPod Touch into a putting analyzer. The good news is that this means a less bulky device than traditional analyzers and the better news is that this app is free!

The app promises to be easy to work with, and just requires a cradle that can be purchased from iPING to mount your phone to the club. The PING cradle costs about $30, but can you really put a price on a device and app that will help you save strokes on the green?

(Video after the jump) Continue reading iPING Helps You Putt

Ride the Tour de France With Google Powered Training Bicycle

The Tour de France is well under way, and chances if you’re like us, you are watching it from your couch. Wouldn’t you like to get in a ride while watching it? Sure there are rollers and trainers, and then there is the Pro-Form Le Tour de France Indoor Cycle, which is the next best thing to a trip to France. And you won’t have to stop on the side of the road should nature call.

The Pro-Form Le Tour de France Indoor Cycle lets users choose and even create real-world routes using Google Maps. If that was all it did we’d still think this was pretty darn cool, but oh it does so much more. This is no ordinary spin bike, and it utilizes Pro-Form’s iFit Live technology to simulate the grade and position of climbing stages. As the grade of the route increases, the bike titles forward or backward up to 20 percent! This is of course based on satellite image of a chosen area. Continue reading Ride the Tour de France With Google Powered Training Bicycle

Cycling That Could Make You Think

No doubt everyone who has gone out on a long ride has probably thought I need to shift, but something happens and you just don’t move the fingers in time. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could think about shifting and actually shift gears?

Parlee Cycles have reportedly developed a carbon fiber concept bicycle that actually uses brainwaves to do the shifting. The PXP bicycle also requires a special helmet equipped with neurotransmitters that read a rider’s brainwaves, while a wireless receiver on the seat post can receive the signals. It could open up a whole new concept – we think therefore we shift.

[Via Dvice.com: Change your bike’s gear shift with your brainwaves]

Solar Panels to Aid Pedal Power

There are numerous bicycle assist aids that can help a rider when the going gets to be a bit too much. But the problem is that most of those require a battery charge or use some of fuel to propel that motor. Now Terry Hope, a Canadian inventor who created the Kinetic Photovoltaic Vehicle (KPV), might have a solution.

Hope’s KPV was a one-of-a-kind solar-electric suitcase, and could reportedly fit in a suitcase. Now Hope has taken this innovative technology and used it to craft the Solar Cross ebike, which would be great for riding on a sunny day – not just because it is nice to ride a bike on a sunny day, but also because the rays from the sun will help power the bicycle.

His creation is powered by panels made of eight-inch polycarbonate sheeting, aluminum and 18 x 6 x 6 mono crystalline cells. Holes were further drilled in the aluminum to cut down on the weight. Each cell puts out 3.8 to 4 watts, providing a combined 8.7 volts of electricity.

All told it is enough to help make a long ride in the hot sun seem not so long.

(Video after the Jump) Continue reading Solar Panels to Aid Pedal Power

Ride 2 Recovery Heads to the Beach

A trip to the beach usually sounds like… well, a day at the beach. For 139 injured U.S. veterans and their supporters it will likely mean much more. These American heroes are heading to France, where they’ll get to bicycle in historic World War II sites as part of the first ever Ride 2 Recovery Normandy Challenge, presented by UnitedHealthcare.

“Our goal at Ride 2 Recovery is to provide our injured veterans with the opportunity to spend a week on a cycle, challenging themselves both physically and mentally,” said John Wordin, president of Ride 2 Recovery. “Having Air Compassion for Veterans and American Airlines provide transportation for them removes one more barrier as we are introduced to the famous battle and landing sites of our World War II heroes with local historians.”

The riders arrive at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport this week and are traveling to Caen, where their tour will begin. During the six-day, 240-mile ride, participants will cycle Normandy for a first-hand history lesson that will highlight the landing sites, battlefields and museums of D-Day. The group will be joined by five injured veterans from the French armed forces. The Ride 2 Recovery Normandy Challenge cyclists, including veterans using hand cycles, recumbents, tandems and traditional road bikes, will have overnight stops in Carentan, Cherbourg, St. Lo, Lisieux and Paris. In Lisieux, the Ride 2 Recovery cyclists will be at the finish line of the Tour de France Stage 6.

With this marking the beginning of our Fourth of July Holiday weekend we salute all our men and women in uniform and wish them a fantastic ride.

Follow the Ride 2 Recovery Normandy Challenge and look for daily updates at the Ride 2 Recovery Facebook page.

Ice (Hockey) Fusion

There has been a long debate whether cold fusion could ever actually be a renewable source of energy. We’ll let that debate sit for now and instead look at a different kind of cool fusion technology. This isn’t exactly cold fusion but instead is ice hockey Fusion technology, as in Easton’s new Fusion EQ50 hockey sticks, which come from the Synergy line offering power, balance and energy control. We knew there was energy somewhere in this.

The new technology hockey sticks give players greater puck authority with an innovative feature called Visible Focus Weight Technology, which is there to redistribute weight to the impact area to help offer better control and keep the puck on the blade.

This is a step forward from the SE16 stick, and the Easton EQ50 features a customizable weighted end cap for improved balance (customizable from 6.5 to 26.5 grams), and features an adjustable swing weight via four 5-gram end weights inside. The stick also features a Kevlar wrapped shaft to protect it from impacts and to help dampen vibrations. The Easton EQ50 is available now for $210, a small price to pay for this cool Fusion!

Video after the jump Continue reading Ice (Hockey) Fusion