Equipment | Evolving Consumer

Adding a Chip to Line Calls

How many calls came into question during the recent World Cup competition in South Africa? In just about every competitive sport, referees must call who crossed the line first, or if the ball was inside or outside of a line. Many sports have addressed the issue. Tennis uses a Hawk-Eye technology that films and replays the ball play in question. Cycling uses cameras on the finish line and transponders on each bike. Football draws a digital line in the replay to measure the ball and distance it’s traveled. More technology is on the way.

Continue reading Adding a Chip to Line Calls

Vibration Replaces Effort in Exercise with Power Plate

With a list of benefits including improved blood circulation, increased muscle strength and flexibility, better range of motion, better core conditioning and stability, faster recovery enhanced metabolism, increased bone mineral density, reduction of the stress hormone cortisol, elevation of Human Growth Hormone and improved lymphatic flow, who isn’t in line to order a Power Plate exercise machine? You stand on it in a few poses while it vibrates and you’ll achieve all of the above. We’ve never seen an exercise machine that has all the answers before… Oh wait, we have seen this on early Saturday morning infomercials.

We’re not saying this or any Saturday morning infomercial exercise machine has no benefits, but they make big claims. This machine is reminiscent of those old vibration fitness machines from the 1940s. There is some diversity to this machine, it’s a little more than stand and vibrate. You practice poses, and later models come with resistance bands and floor mats. The Power Plate Pro5 AlRdaptive has multiple user settings so a whole household can use the machine calibrated to each user. It is something to look more deeply into before you spend money and take up space in your home. These are the type of machines that ultimately influence people to give up when they don’t work.

Sidewalk Surfing With the Flowboard

When singers Jan and Dean sang about sidewalk they probably never could have envisioned the Sport Technology Flowboard, but unlike the traditional four-wheeled skateboard that we’ve come to know and love (and at times loath after ending up in the ER during finals week), this one uses 14 wheels! The idea behind this unique design is that the it provides riders with vastly greater flexibility in leaning and turning, thus making it far more like an actual surfboard or snowboard than the average skate deck.

According to the company the Flowboard can allow riders to lean up to 45 degrees, which is quite a drastic set up from the typical 25 degrees that you can get from a regular skateboard. The wheels and layout also allow for more curving, which can be a very good when going down hill at speed. Now the board probably can’t handle the half-pipe quite the same way, but it would be fun to watch someone try!

Sport Technology Flowboard Official Site

Shoot Straight With Polara Golf Balls

The new Polara golf balls probably wouldn’t have kept Tiger Woods from straying, but they probably could help you shoot straighter. These specially designed golf balls utilize “self-correcting technology” to reduce dreaded hooks and slices by up to 75 percent according to the company. The result should, at least in theory, keep you on fairway and out of the rough or woods, even if it won’t keep a certain pro out of the dog house.

The Polara golf balls are now available in two different models, including the Polara Ultimate Straight with a two-piece construction with 386 dimples, and the Polara Super Straight with a three-piece construction and 386 dimples. Each of these dimples – and there are more of them then in all the Shirley Temple movies combined it seems – is designed with a very specific purpose, and just enough difference in over all shape to help keep the balls flying straight and level. Continue reading Shoot Straight With Polara Golf Balls

Eye-Hand Coordination Gets Serious Attention From Dynavision

Today pre-season football training isn’t just limited to weight lifting, running sprints and hitting the tackling dummies. Elite athletes are looking for that special edge to become faster, smarter and stronger, because this edge can truly mean the difference between winning and losing. Now it looks like many NCAA athletic programs and other performance institutions around the country are casting an eye on sports vision training equipment. Who knew that eye-hand coordination could be something you could actually use as part of your training, but that’s exactly what Dynavision D2 can bring to the field or court. Continue reading Eye-Hand Coordination Gets Serious Attention From Dynavision

Xenith X1: Building a Better Brain Bucket

Helmets should be top of the list for new gear, as football season gets ready to kick off. Concussions are an ongoing problem, and many teams use reconditioned helmets rather than new ones, which exacerbates the problem. There’s no complete safeguard for preventing head injuries for players who choose to go out on the field, but every little bit helps. Xenith, a company founded by a Harvard grad who played as quarterback on the varsity team, has a new design to help cushion and protect the head. Continue reading Xenith X1: Building a Better Brain Bucket

Tweet from the Mountain Tops with DeLorme GPS

There’s nothing like a “Climbed a category 4, now on the summit” post to Twitter or Facebook. “Just got back to base camp after a category 4 climb to the summit” is a pale substitute. But when you’re out of cell range, those location posts are difficult if not impossible. Many serious hikes and climbs take you out of range. Not only are you unable to text your family, post messages to social networks for your friends, you can’t easily call for help if your hike should come to that.

The DeLorme PN-60w with SPOT Sattelite Communicator is a rugged GPS handheld with the ability to send outgoing messages to email, cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, Fire Eagle, SpotAdventures.com and Geocaching.com. Posts are geotagged and tracked by Google Maps. You might not be able to post a photo with your message, but you can give your precise location. The PN-60w, which runs about $549.95, also has GPX file support to better manage and save waypoint, geocache, and other files. The unit has an elevation profile tool that pinpoints user location; new poer management and display options extend battery life. The PN-60w has 3.5 GB of onboard memory to store maps and aerial imagery. Continue reading Tweet from the Mountain Tops with DeLorme GPS

Expresso is no Spin Training

img_uprightYouth1 — The Expresso Bike mounts a video screen on the handlebars, like dangling a carrot.

Sometimes weather dictates an indoor workout, even when you’re longing for the outdoors. A video screen mounted to the handlebars with scenery doesn’t replace the outdoor feel. Expresso Upright Bike makes claims to “fuse exertainment with Web-based personalization features in a commercial-quality system! Eye-catching and fully-integrated design.” The bike has over 30 Basic-to-Extreme rated interactive tours such as rides along the California coast and the Peruvian mountains.

If you look at this bike, about the only thing that’s advanced beyond other stationary bikes and spin bikes is that the handlebars move to simulate turns and steering around a course or those curvy coastline roads. It also changes the resistance with the terrain on the road or course you’re riding. The video screen provides the scenery, but we’re not certain if it speeds up or slows down to match your speed as you ride. The screen is too small to offer any kind of immersive experience the company claims to provide. Continue reading Expresso is no Spin Training

Specialized Pumps You Up With SwitchHitter Head Technology

Specialized Airtool Pro Floor Pump — The Airtool Pro Floor Pump utilizes SwitchHitter Head Technology to automatically switch between Shrader and Presta valves

Unless you’re a hardcore bike geek, and even then, you might have to stop and think when it comes to Schrader and Presta valves on your bicycle tubes. Walk into a shop and ask for a tube and you’ll likely be asked, “Schrader or Presta,” as if you should automatically know what they’re talking about! If, like many the new rider, you respond, “I’m not sure,” you might hear, “well, European or American.” Of course that doesn’t help matters for most riders.

As a sidebar, the Schrader valve (also called the American valve) was invented by August Schrader in 1891, and it is used on virtually all automobiles – as well as many low-end bicycles – to this day. To confuse matters the French adopted the Presta valve (also called the French valve, or just as commonly “European” valve), which is now found on most high-end bicycles. Confused? Well, consider that Schrader is sometimes spelled “Shrader” by many manufacturers including some tire makers and it is enough to make your head spin. Continue reading Specialized Pumps You Up With SwitchHitter Head Technology

Tour de France: Specialized Did Dominate

While the last few days of this year’s Tour de France were pretty exciting to watch, one fact was missing from a lot of the commentary. Both over all winner Alberto Contador and second place finisher Andy Schleck rolled into Paris on Specialized bikes. This was the first-ever Maillot Jaune for California-based Specialized.

For a company with the name “Specialized,” it makes a range of products that aren’t limited just to the road bikes either. The company’s gear was used throughout the peleton, not only with both the Astana and Saxo Bank teams sponsored teams, but notably with many other riders using shoes, saddles and other Specialized accessories. Alessandro Petacchi also sported the new Prevail cycling helmet as he sprinted his way to winning this year’s Green Jersey.

“Winning the Tour is a dream for us that has taken 36 years to come true,” said Mike Sinyard, founder and owner of Specialized. “It’s a clear example of successfully following our founding principle to focus on the rider’s need for technologically advanced products that provide true performance benefits.”

With a one-two finish for the bikes we can’t but agree!

Specialized Official Site

Synthetic Ice, Ice Baby

Given the recent heat waves that have gripped much of the country it is hard to think about ice – except for the kind used in a cool drink. But hockey season is just around the corner, and the ice that the skaters will do their thing on is evolving. On the surface – no pun intended – ice is pretty simple. Run some water; add some cold and you have a skating surface. Mother nature usually does a good job every winter, but for the artificial ice rinks it is another story. Continue reading Synthetic Ice, Ice Baby

Tour de France: The Clean Bottle

you’ve been watching the Tour de France, especially on the high mountain climbs, you’ve noticed a few colorful characters. There are guys in gorilla costumes, dudes with Viking helmets and of course plenty of yellow to celebrate the race leader. And then there is the giant water bottle, which if you followed the whole cycling season you might have seen previously. But in the latter case the guy (or just as likely girl) in the bottle suit isn’t just a super dedicated fan. This is rather a promotional stunt for The Clean Bottle, a company founded and run by David Mayer, a road and mountain biker.

As you might also have noticed in professional cycling, the serious riders don’t keep their water bottles and often toss them to the side of the road. Since most of us don’t have water bottles handed to us from our “team” car during our long rides, we tend to save a reuse the water bottles. The result is pretty much what Mayer discovered – the bottles get really nasty over time, and they’re darn hard to clean, especially if you enjoy sticky sweet sports drinks rather than just your average H20. Continue reading Tour de France: The Clean Bottle

Big in Japan: The Robo Skateboard

The Segway is really just a grown-up version of those annoying kiddie scooters – a fad that we keep hoping will finally run out of steam. So we’re skeptical about the still very much in development robotic skateboard that is currently being tested in Japan. Why do the Japanese need a robotic skateboard would be the first question to ask, as the island nation is rather crowded to say the least!

But that doesn’t seem to stop the designers at the Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo from working on a very high-tech board. The Robo-Skateboard prototype according to online reports weights about 15kg, is about 30cm wide and 60cm long and about 25cm thick. It works much like a regular skateboard, where you stand on it and lean to make turns. Your shifting body weight will thus let you steer, but lean forward and you’ll get to pick up some speed. Put your weight directly on your feet and you’ll be flying like Tony Hawk – almost anyway, as this board can hit speeds of 10kph.

Continue reading Big in Japan: The Robo Skateboard