If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen they say. But if you can’t stand the cold and wind as you ride or you need to better way to warm up before a competition, it my be time to for your to get some rollers. Bicycle rollers have been around for over 110 years and have stood the test of time simply due to the fact that they work. These offer a very effective way to train or warm up your muscles along with helping you improve your bike handling skills off the road. Rollers are available in all different drum diameters and drum widths, plus any number of different features including a folding frame for easier transportation; parabolic drum ends to aid in keeping you from riding off of the sides; flywheels to simulate the ‘feel’ of the road; and resistance units to make your training that much harder. The Italian manufacturer, Elite, has released a set of rollers that packages parabolic drum ends, a folding frame and a magnetic unit in a very compact and easy to transport or store unit – the V-Arion rollers.
Category: Equipment
Heads-Up Add-On For Your Ski Goggles
While we’ve seen various ski goggles that have featured a built-in heads up display, Recon Instruments is providing a new add-on that will allow users to add its MOD Live Package to a range of goggles. The Vancouver-based company is offering “real-time information direct to eye” for skiers and snow boarders. The MOD Live will work with “Recon Ready” goggles from Uvex, Briko, Alpina and Zeal Optics. Continue reading Heads-Up Add-On For Your Ski Goggles
CES Innovations Award Winners: Oregon Scientific and Gaiam
While the Consumer Electronics Show is still a month and a half away, it is already awards season. Oregon Scientific, designer and worldwide marketer of person electronics, and Gaiam Inc., have announced that their button-free, touch-screen heart rate monitor the Gaiam Touch is a recipient of of the prestigious International CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Award in the Health & Wellness category.
The Gaiam Touch features fashion-forward colors and a comfortable, slim design which is two millimeters thinner than any other heart rate monitor on the market. It is available with a chest strap, allowing for continuous heart rate monitoring, or as a strap-free model for on-demand heart rate monitoring, while the strap-free Gaiam Touch utilizes ECG technology, requiring only a touch of a finger on the monitor’s sensor for an accurate heart rate reading. The strap model operates in digital and analog modes and tracks fat burned. Both strap and strap-free models easily track calories burned and heart rate data. Other features include stopwatch, zone alarm, clock and calendar functions. Continue reading CES Innovations Award Winners: Oregon Scientific and Gaiam
Selle Italia Lightens Up for 2012
Most cycling enthusiasts do not set out to build a heavier bike or increase the weight of their bike when upgrading a component. Weight is always a consideration since you have to haul it all uphill at some point. The Italian company, Selle Italia, is making it easier to build a light weight bike with their two new SLR Tekno saddles.
Life Fitness Track and Go for the Home
You won’t need to trek down to the gym to Track and Go. Life Fitness has announced a new line of consumer cardio equipment featuring two new console options, Track and Go. This new product line-up is designed to answer consumer demand for greater fitness tracking and entertainment features. These energy-efficient consoles are now available on 10 Life Fitness consumer equipment models and include a variety of advanced technology features including iPod/iPhone docking stations, family fitness customization features and Virtual Trainer connectivity.
“As consumers look for ways to enhance their workouts, Life Fitness will continue to develop new and innovative fitness product offerings,” said Dan Wille, Life Fitness vice president, global marketing, product, and business development. “The Track and Go Consoles not only provide a great workout experience, but also one that can be customized to the individual, allowing them to get exactly what they need from the machine and ultimately their workout.” Continue reading Life Fitness Track and Go for the Home
One Swift Way to Move Around
It is hard to believe that the scooter craze hasn’t died down, and harder still to believe that there is still yet more innovation in scooters. But our friends at BikeRadar.com noted that there is a new game in town – or at least from the town of Manchester in the U.K. Swifty Scooters is rolling out the SwiftyOne scooter, which is designed for fast travel on flat ground.
Made by the husband and wife team of Jason and Camila Iftakhar, this isn’t the basic scooter either, as it features 16-inch wheels and more response steering, which according to the makers can travel as fast as a bike on flat ground. The scooter can fold up and roll on the front wheel. Continue reading One Swift Way to Move Around
Nike Golf Put Performance First With Golf Bags
While we still think a good game of golf means walking 18 holds, there are those who still prefer a golf cart, and Nike Golf now has a new Performance Cart bag, designed for the golfer who chooses to venture out onto the course on wheels.
The new bag features an innovative design, with a 14-way full-length divider system that provides separation and protection for every iron, wedge and metal wood in the bag, along with a new integrated external putter well to ensure easy access to the most used club during a round. The Nike Performance Cart bag features the new Flip & Grip system, while the bag offers a 9.5-inch oval top that allows for the new Nike cart bag to sit properly in a powered golf cart or trolley. To prevent slippage while the Nike Performance Cart bag is in the cart, a new dual-injected TPR bottom provides greater traction. Continue reading Nike Golf Put Performance First With Golf Bags
Wiley X – Veteran Owned Company Calls on All Americans to Honor the Service and Sacrifice of our Veterans
Today is Veterans Day, which was established after the end of the First World War. It is a day for our nation to recognize the service and sacrifice of the millions of American veterans who have served their country at home and aboard. Wiley X, a veteran-owned company with a quarter century of tradition providing ballistic eye protection to U.S. soldiers throughout the world, wants to remind all Americans not to forget the true meaning behind this important day. And we want to help them spread the word. Continue reading Wiley X – Veteran Owned Company Calls on All Americans to Honor the Service and Sacrifice of our Veterans
A Pack Fit for a King or Queen
A backpack that is can carry everything usually weighs a bit itself, but ironically Granite Gear’s upcoming Crown 60 doesn’t feel like a ton of granite on the back. In fact the soon-to-be-released pack weighs just 2.2 pounds and yet can hold up to 60 liters of gear instead.
The Crown 60 is made of water-resistant sil-nylon Cordura, while straps and buckles are scaled down to further save on the weight, but still features a contoured back panel for added comfort. This panel also can do double duty as a camp pad, thus making for one less thing to bring along. The Bard may have written “heavy hangs the head that wears the crown,” but in this case the Crown 60 doesn’t hang heavy on the back.
Granite Gear Official Website
[Via Gear Junkie: Large and Light: Granite Gear ‘Crown’ Pack]
Ladies, Reform Your Core!
Ladies, if you are the type of person who has the discipline to get into a workout routine at home, then there might be a new piece of equipment for you. Nautilus has announced the launch of the CoreBody Reformer, a new piece of fitness equipment specifically designed to help women build their core strength by combing the moves of yoga for flexibility; dance for calorie-burn; and Pilates for muscle strength and tone. All in one package that is light and easy to carry over one shoulder.
Tent Shells – Poles = Unhappy Campers
Upon purchasing a new bike or gear, you often have to make room in your stable (garage, basement, attic, closet, etc.) to accommodate the new acquisition. This can either mean taking it to a used gear store to have them sell it, you doing the work to sell it yourself through an online outlet, giving it away or throwing it in the trash. We have mentioned the donation option of your cycling gear in the post Re-Cycling Your Old Bike Gear, but what do you do with your other outdoor gear? There are non-profit organizations that will redirect your old outdoor gear to new owners in need. One such organization is Gear to Grow and they need your help. It appears that some companies have already helped Gear to Grow substantially with donations of tents during the 2011 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Show, but there seems to be some missing poles. In what seems as an almost comical problem, Gears to Grow has a new gear drive, “Calling All Poles”, with the sole mission of getting poles for these tents.
QuickFix to Keep You Clean
We’ll admit it, we like our bikes to have a clean look but we also like to stay clean. The two are sometimes mutually exclusive if it requires riding in the rain or on wet roads. The solution to the latter is mudguards, but those sort of detract from the clean lines of our bikes.
If only there was a quick fix solution to this problem. But wait, there is from Full Windsor with its QuickFix, a new line of plastic mudguards that slide in and out of place within seconds and yet still remain snugly in place and ready to keep the dirt from flying and the water from spraying. Continue reading QuickFix to Keep You Clean
Campagnolo Gets Electric
Bicycle shifting in the 21st century has gone electric. Japan’s Shimano entered the juiced up gear controls a few years ago with its high-end Dura-Ace Di2, which is favored today by many pro riders. This year at Interbike Shimano also officially introduced itsDi2 electronic system in its step down – but still high-end – Ultegra groupo. In fact, it has had many deciding whether to go with the mechanic Dura-Ace or the electric Ultegra Di2. Not an easy choice, and now one that is even harder to make as Campagnolo is getting in on the action.
Our friends at BikeRadar reported yesterday that Campagnolo has finally announced its own electric shifting system, with not one but two groups. This includes the Record EPS (Electronic Power Shift) as well as the Super Record EPS. These will reportedly have identical functionality but differences in weight. Continue reading Campagnolo Gets Electric