Category: Cycling

No More Yelling “On Your Left” – Verbal Bike Bell Does It For You

If you ride on bike paths, in a large urban park or even on bike lanes, chances are you yell “On your left” at least once a ride. The alternative is a bell, but who wants to put a bell on their road bike or time trial bike? Shouting is good, but on a long ride can leave you more winded than the pedaling.

How about a Verbal Bicycle Bell? This can offer up to a 20-second recording, and features a 44mm speaker that plays messages at about 80 decibels – so it is audible over most ambient noise.

Of course this does need three LR44 batteries and is actually bigger than a bell, and will add about 2 1/3 ounces to your bike. Finally, this is the sort of thing that you’ll get at Hammacher Schlemmer rather than a bike shop, and at $24.95 you could probably use the money for something else – might we recommend the Bicycle Speakerphone that the shop also offers.

Seriously, it is a gimmicky device, but it is so silly that it might just be worth the $25 to impress your friends and seriously annoy all those you want to pass.

The Verbal Bicycle Bell at Hammacher Schlemmer
[Via Besportier: Verbal Bicycle Bell Very Effective Car Horn]

Tri(ing) to Reduce the Hassle of Racing

Traveling or shipping a bicycle to an event can be a major hassle and expense. There is the time that it takes to find a box; disassembly/reassembly (twice); shipping through a carrier like FedEx or bringing it on the plane; insuring your bike; and praying that will see your bike in one piece or for that matter…ever again! Triathletes rejoice – now there is another option. Three seasoned triathletes, Erol Sarikaya, Jeffrey Goldberger and Jeff Mark, have launched a new company to rent high-end triathlon bikes that are race-day ready and onsite at certain events.

Their company, Tri-Cycle Rentals, offers a race-day ready fleet of Orbea bikes for rent that athletes pick up at the race venue. Riders reserve the bike online, show up at the event to check out the bike, get fitted on it, then return the bike afterward at the race expo or transition area. Continue reading Tri(ing) to Reduce the Hassle of Racing

3T Enters the Next 50 Years on New Wheels

The name 3T, formerly known as TTT, has been making high-end cycling components since 1961. On the year of its 50th birthday, this Italian icon has decided to launch an all new product line – complete wheelsets. Two new clincher wheels, the Mercurio and the Accelero both benefit from clean-sheet whole-system design: key performance measures of aerodynamics, weight, inertia, strength, stiffness, and braking equal or exceed the best available; patented hub provides easy maintenance and cassette interchangeability.

TTT (now 3T) was founded by Mario Dedioniggi in 1961 in Torino. 3T handlebars and stems quickly became popular with Italian racing cyclists, and by 1970 they were in widespread use in the professional peloton. 3T was among the first cycle component manufacturers to switch production from steel to aluminum alloys. The firm worked closely with pro racers to refine handlebar design. 3T ‘bends’ took their name from the champions of the era – Merckx, Saronni, Moser, and Gimondi. Continue reading 3T Enters the Next 50 Years on New Wheels

Keep Riding in Focus

For years there has been corrective lenses available for those who are active in sports that could be purchased from most optometrists at a premium price. If you do not require corrective lens to see the road ahead of you, but are finding that when you look down at your cycling computer you can no long read the small numbers, there is a new option out there for you. Dual Power Eyewear is a company started by industry veteran Louis Viggio out of Boulder, Colorado that just launched a new line of eyewear, similar to bifocals, to address this issue.

Viggio founded Dual Power Eyewear after discovering that he could no longer read the small numbers on his bike computer and cell phone when out for a ride. After checking local bike shops and sports stores he found plenty of sunglasses, but nothing that addressed this issue.

Dual Power Eyewear launches with three styles, the Dual V6, S4, and SL2. Each model is available in two lens colors (smoke or brown) and feature impact resistant TR90 frames, shatterproof and scratch-resistant polycarbonate lenses, and a discrete +1.5, +2.0, or +2.5 Optimized Magnification Zone.

Dual Power Eyewear is intended to be sold at retailers in a similar manner to how reading glasses are sold at most pharmacies. The consumer picks the style and magnification that meets the level of correction, and simple purchases them at the register – no prescription needed. Continue reading Keep Riding in Focus

Saving (Race) Face

The Canadian manufacturer, Race Face Performance Products, emerged from receivership less than two months after the future of the iconic brand was thrown into uncertainty.It was announced on March 12, 2011, that after 18 years of business, Race Face would be entering receivership with many accusations circling of mismanagement by the then CEO, Craig Pollack.

The Race Face website remained unchanged, but their products started cropping up all over the internet retailers in the clearance and ‘specials’ pages. It seemed from the outside that it was the end for Race Face or worse – it would be sold to a company who then produce all of the products overseas… see Control Tech, American Classic, Cannondale, Schwinn, GT, etc. Continue reading Saving (Race) Face

Polar Tour’s France

This week Polar USA announced that it is taking a “Yellow is Everything” attitude, and has announced the release of the CS500 Tour de France, the official Tour de France training computer. The granddaddy of cycling events kicks off in just a month and a half, and now you can give it your best and try to ride like the very best in cycling.

The device features an aerodynamic diamond shape and yellow accents, as the the CS500 Tour de France is designed for event riders who want to improve their fitness at the competitive level through highly effective training guidance. The CS500 Tour de France features twice as much memory than the original, and offers compatibility with the forthcoming Polar LOOK Keo Power pedals, the world’s first pedal-based system for measuring power output and cadence. Continue reading Polar Tour’s France

BDSM for Your Bike

More than likely, if you are a cyclist, there is not one bit of natural fiber on your bike or in your cycling wardrobe. Cotton and leather has been replaced by Lycra, Coolmax, Nylon, leatherette or any number of other manmade products on the market. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but there is still a great appreciation for leather goods within the cycling community – just look at Brooks England, they have been making leather saddles since 1882 and they are still going strong! Continue reading BDSM for Your Bike

BMX Skateboard Scooter

What do you get if a BMX bike were to somehow mate with a skateboard? Technically this is impossible, not just because the BMX bike and skateboard aren’t actually living creatures, because even if they were they’d have different chromosomes and thus not be able to produce an offspring. But getting past those issues, we return to the question at hand, and since this sounds like the makings of a mad science experiment gone bad – let us also say that a third ingredient is added to the mix, namely a scooter.

So now we’re really crazy. But the result would the sbyke, the invention of Bart and Steve Wilson, who apparently broke their BMX bike, ruined a perfectly good skateboard and created a scooter-like contraption.

The sbyke – which is confusingly pronounced “spike”- has  a fixed-position front wheel that isn’t turned using the handlebars but rather by the shifting weight of the rider. There is a break attached to the handlebars to stop this thing at least.

(Video after the jump)

Continue reading BMX Skateboard Scooter

Hands On: The StemCAPtain Keeps You On Time

Back in March we mentioned the StemCAPtain in an entry titled “TIME to Ride with StemCAPtain” and happily a few weeks later we had our very own to test. We were sent the thermometer version and the clock version of the StemCAPtain with both red and black bases. The thermometer version is still being tested, but here is our reaction to the clock version.

The clock version of the StemCAPtain is one of those products whose success is based on either working or not working – there is really no middle ground. It is a simple accessory that replaces your threadless headset stem cap with an aluminum base cap that acts as a holder for the clock, thermometer, compass or picture frame version that you choose. The faces of the clock and thermometer are available in both black and white so we received a black faced clock and a white faced thermometer. It is true that the functions that the StemCAPtain perform are redundant if you have a cycling computer with these features, but the Stem CAPtain performs them in a more stylish way and frankly simple way when compared to most computers. Also, as a bonus with the clock version, you can leave your wrist watch at home an have one less tan line! Continue reading Hands On: The StemCAPtain Keeps You On Time

Louis Garneau Introduces Europcar Pro Cycling Styled Brain Bucket

Louis Garneau has always taken helmet design very seriously, and while function remains key, the line of helmets has a excellent form as well. This is certainly the case with the Quartz line of helmets, which were introduced last year.

The Quartz helmet allows the rider to keep cool even when things heat up, thank to the enormous ventilation channels made possible by the MSB technology – a monocoque structural base at the base of the helmet that reinforces the perimeter for enhanced protection. This is further enhanced by the Composite Reinforcements that spread the shock of impacts, provide support, and are lightweight. Finally, the Patented Spiderlock Elite Retention has been hailed as one of the best in the cycling industry, and this allows the user to adjust the helmet with only one hand to ensure safety while on the bike. Continue reading Louis Garneau Introduces Europcar Pro Cycling Styled Brain Bucket

Indian Goes Cruising

For 2011, Felt Bicycles is releasing a cruiser that is a little bit different from the norm – instead of being inspired by balloon tired bicycles from the past, it is inspired by motorcycles from the past. The Felt Chief cruiser takes design cues from the early Indian motorcycles up through approximately the late 1920s. The deep red paint, tank frame, gold decals, the typeface, Thick Brick 3” white tires, springer seat and spoked wheels are all details that can be seen in the early Indian Motorcycles. Continue reading Indian Goes Cruising

iBike Cruises into the Apple Store

Velocomp LLP, the makers of the iBike Dash and iBike Phone Booth line of iPhone/iPod Touch cases and cases that convert your iPhone into a cycling computer, is pleased to announce that Apple Computer views their products worthy of selling in the Apple Retail and Apple Store online. On May 9th, they announced that Apple has decided to offer the iBike Dash Cycling Computer, iBike Dash Cycling Computer Deluxe and iBike Phone Booth online and at all of the retail locations. As you might expect, this is big news for a company breaking into the iPhone and iPod accessory market – especially with the recent news that Apple is now considered the most expensive brand in the world. Personally, this is no surprise as the representatives at the iBike Dash booth eluded to being in ‘talks’ with Apple during the 2010 Interbike tradeshow in Las Vegas last September. The surprising part is that it took eight months to get this existing product into the Apple Stores.

You maybe unfamiliar with the iBike Dash and iBike Phone Booth – they are rugged cases designed to work with all generations of the iPod Touch, the iPhone 3/3GS and the iPhone 4. The iBike Phone Booth is strictly a hard sided plastic case that iPod Touch or iPhone device slips into then the user is able to securely attach it onto their bicycle. It offers some of the best weather protection on the market while still allowing the user to operate the device while riding their bike. Continue reading iBike Cruises into the Apple Store

SRAM Powers Up

Back in the beginning of 2006, James Meyer wanted to purchase a power meter for his bike, but Mieke Meyer would not let him make the purchase due to student loans. By mid-2006, Jim convinced Mieke that he could build a power meter and he set out soldiering – 10 hours later he had a prototype. After two years of testing and refinement, production units of the CinQo were finally shipping out to customers. Continue reading SRAM Powers Up