Category: Equipment

Interbike 2010: GoPro Introduces 960p Camera, Goes to Third Dimension

You might remember the old Wide World of Sports opening that offered the line “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” In the last decade or so there have been a few different helmet-mounted video cameras that would allow you to film your own victories and defeats – let’s just hope the latter weren’t the final moments to boot.

Earlier this year we noted that GoPro camera had arrived and that with this mounted to the side of your helmet could make you feel like a hero. That’s because the guys at GoPro think light athletes, perform like athletes and know the demands that are required to capture those moments. You might get to watch a replay but you only have one chance to record it. Continue reading Interbike 2010: GoPro Introduces 960p Camera, Goes to Third Dimension

Interbike: Purist About Water

The Purist bottle is the next best thing to glass.

Ever since Interbike we’re hooked on water. That’s because we found a bottle that you can sip clean, pure tasting water (at least as pure as our local water department supplies). Specialized introduced its Purist water bottle. It’s made from silicon dioxide, a material that allows it to mimic the natural behavior of the lotus flower. It doesn’t absorb the liquid contained inside. That means it leaves all the taste, flavor, smell and other properties of your drink for you to enjoy when you’re drinking it, not the next time you have another drink. Continue reading Interbike: Purist About Water

Interbike 2010: Lighted Brain Bucket

There was no shortage of helmets at Interbike this year, but one was hard to miss – mainly because it lighted up the booth and more. Leave it the Taiwanese to put an electronic fiber optic light into a cycling helmet, and actually make one worth even considering. Aegis could have just slapped a normal bike light on the back of a simple helmet and called it a day, but at the company developed a nice brain bucket that is ideal for commuting and other causal riding.

It features 19 large vents to help keep the head cool, while stainless steel mesh over the holes work to keep out insects and other objects. The shell is constructed of high impact PC, and the YKK clip and chinstrap ensure a nice tight fit. The LED light is powered by 2 AAA batteries and can flash for up to 120 hours, while the LED offers a lifetime up to 50,000 hours. It is EMS certified, so no worries about harmful electromagnetic waves frying the brain it was meant to protect.

Aegis Bicycle Helmets Official Website

High Tech Glove That Makes Sense to Us

Golf isn’t exactly the most high-tech of sports. While there is much innovation in training, and of course in the development of the gear, some of the accessory products are essentially very low-tech. Shoes, attire and other apparel breath better, are made of our better materials and fabrics, but how do you innovate gloves?

Try adding a LED digital monitor. That’s the concept behind the Sensosulutions digital glove for golf. The SensoGlove is the world’s first golf glove with a built-in digital sensor that continuously reads a user’s grip pressure. This ensures a consistently accurate, smooth and powerful golf swing. The SensoGlove made of basic cabretta leather but goes high-tech as it is equipped with highly responsive sensors and it features a small, sweat-proof 1.2-inch LED monitor that analyzes the pressure of the swing. Continue reading High Tech Glove That Makes Sense to Us

Interbike 2010: Timex Ironman Lives Up to Its Name

Timex is a company that has a really solid reputation for making quality products, and with the new Ironman Global Trainer Bodylink System they’re raised the bar and then some. The core of the system is an all-in-one wristwatch, which at first glance is really large. We’re talking, “is that meant for a grandmother with poor vision” big, but this device is so loaded with features that it wouldn’t fit on a standard sized watch face.

The watch is powered by SiRFstarIII GPS technology so it requires no calibration for use with a bike or for running. With this it can calculate precise speed, pace and distance in real time, and measure location and altitude with ascent/descent distances and rates. For those who like to micromanage their workouts there is even the option to record 100 location waypoints for track back and create new routes – while up to 50 custom routes for pace tracking can be recalled.

We’re also impressed that this device, which runs on a rechargeable battery for up to 15 hours in GPS mode, offers four-window data displays, so you can check your pace, record multisport progress, see calories burned and summaries for up to 1,000 laps. Since this is a triathlon friendly device it is water-resistant to 50 meters, but it can’t track you under the water however.

Post workout is where this one keeps on ticking too. It offers the ability to wirelessly sync with online software powered by TrainingPeaks, and is compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems. It can be used with ANT+ heart rate and bike sensors as well.

During Interbike we were given a demo of what you can view on the computer, and you should plan to spend an extra half hour a day not working out, but going over your workout results, because there is just that much to see. The Timex Global Trainer Bodylink System will be available this month, priced from $249.99 to $299.95.

TimexIronman Official Website

Silly Rabbit, You Can’t Jog While At Your Desk. Actually, You Can With TrekDesk

TrekDesk Treadmill DeskCall us skeptics, but we couldn’t help but think this was some sort of joke when we got an e-mail from the folks at TrekDesk Treadmill Desk. Essentially it’s an elevated table you place over your treadmill, and you can place your laptop and other boring work stuff on top of it. The idea is that you’re exercising and staying active while you work. (And no, you can’t sit down while you’re on this, you lazy bum.) According to TrekDesk they found that athletes who spend their days chained to an office desk often complain of stiff hip flexors, knees, ankles and backs, and that the TrekDesk is one way to prevent that. Despite the treadmill in its name, you’ll have to supply your own treadmill, though, and it’s not cheap at $479 at the company’s Amazon.com store.

As much as we would like to dismiss this as hokey, we personally suffer from body aches and problems from sitting at a desk for too long. Sitting uncomfortably in a chair that’s not ergonomic to our desk, we know that the pain in our wrists is not natural. And from the positive reviews and TV news spots about the TrekDesk, we are willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. But we have enough trouble as its multitasking Facebook with our Excel spreadsheets, so having to concentrate not falling off is one more thing we don’t need.

Meanwhile, the creative side of our brains is wondering, what if we can just get a high desk from IKEA that we can place over our treadmill? Wouldn’t that allow us to create our own TrekDesk without having to pay for the high price?

Check out videos of the TrekDesk.

TrekDesk Treadmill Desk

Interbike 2010: Look Out, Kéo Power is Coming

There is an old saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely. That probably isn’t a concern however with Kéo Power, a new pedal from LOOK and Polar. This new technologically advanced cycling pedal is much more than the place where you foot goes.

The pedal actually measures an athlete’s power output, as well as left/right balance. You do the pumping, and sensors integrated with the pedal and crank accurately measure the results, sending the data directly to a Polar cycling computer on the bike’s handlebars.

The Kéo pedal is also the lightest clipless pedal in its class, made of injected carbon with a stainless steel 17-4PH axel. While we don’t think it will corrupt anyone, it will make training as absolutely effective as possible.

LOOK Official Website

Polar Official Website

Interbike 2010: Rotor Cranks It Up

Rotor hopes to help riders get pumping with its new line of 3D Cranks, Q-Rings and other products this fall. At Interbike The company is also introducing several bottom brackets that can be used with standard cranks in any BB30 frame, as well as their own 3D cranks of course.

Among the interesting new products are the 3D Aero & Track cranks, specifically designed for time trial and track bikes. These feature a “closed spider” design, and are made with an ultra-light, yet aerodynamic reinforced structure. The idea is to provide increased overall stiffness compared to an open spider crank, so as to help riders keep it turning on the track or during a time trial. Continue reading Interbike 2010: Rotor Cranks It Up

Interbike 2010: Ridekick – More Than a Bike Trailer

While cycling no doubt is a great way to get to the store, it isn’t always the best way to get the stuff you buy back home again. There are plenty of options for trailers, which are great for hauling stuff, but when filled with stuff it can make the ride home seem like quite the haul!

At Interbike this week Ridekick introduced its new trailer system, which not only provides extra space to store stuff, but it also includes a power assist of up to 19mph (the legal limit is 20mph for bike trails). This batter powered device can help for short commutes and jaunts to the grocery store, running up to 15 miles on one charge. The hard shell casing provides weatherproof and lockable storage, and the trailer system is designed to make for stable turns. The Ridekick is designed to hitch and unhitch to a bike in seconds, and first-time installation can be accomplished in just about 10 minutes.

The Ridekick will be available at retail next spring.

Ridekick Official Website

Philips Gets Activa at IFA

At this month’s IFA conference in Berlin Dutch consumer electronics maker Philips once again reaffirmed that it was going to remain dedicated to fitness, as it showcased its Activa portable music player. The device was unveiled earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but this month Philips offered a bit more information on this “much more than an MP3 player” device.

While the Philips Activia is going to go head to head with the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch, it has some features that the iPod simply can’t touch. The Activa will keep track of fitness progress and while there is some musical shuffling of sorts, it actually picks songs to provide vocal feedback and plays music to match the tempo of your workout. Continue reading Philips Gets Activa at IFA

Polar Introduces Active Monitor for Students

Monitoring progress is certainly a good way to stick with a fitness routine, and to that end Polar has introduced the Polar Active. This is designed for students of all ages, who want to improve their health and fitness. It measures the impact of daily activities, and can track just about every moment. With it users can monitor steps taken, calories burned and even time spent in various activity zones.

Students can use the Polar Active to measure and record their physical activity along, and the device can be used with PolarGoFit.com, an online service for teachers and students to monitor and track activity. The portal allows for easy documentation of activity data including daily and long-term progress as well as the ability to share reports with students, parents and school administrators. This can help encourage activity and motivate students to remain active for longer periods of time and maintain a healthy weight. Continue reading Polar Introduces Active Monitor for Students

PlayStation Move(d) to Retail

It is time to get moving, as Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC announced that the PlayStation Move is now available in stores.

“The launch of PlayStation Move is the latest in a long line of innovations over the past 15 years that demonstrate how the PlayStation® brand continues to push the videogame industry forward,” said Jack Tretton, Chief Executive Officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. “We’ve spent a lot of time perfecting the motion control technology of PlayStation Move, and we are confident this is a benchmark in entertainment innovation that will change the way consumers interact with games.”

We’ll be sure to report on the latest games for the new motion control system and let you know whether or not we’re actually moved.

Sony Computer Entertainment America

Fitness Journal: Pedal Talk – To Clip or Not to Clip

There comes a point in a cyclist’s life when they decide to make the move from platform pedals to a system that connects them more with the bicycle. This is sort of a “Zen-like” experience of being one with the bike. This attachment is however more mechanical than metaphysical. Continue reading Fitness Journal: Pedal Talk – To Clip or Not to Clip