Life on the mean streets of Brooklyn means business – OK, they aren’t really that mean these days but SSCY has created a business that creates bags for those who might ride their bikes to work. These heavy duty looking bags are the real deal, constructed from heavyweight water-repellant cotton and feature metal hardware and buckles. The pack offers six 9-inch pockets that are each large enough for a U-Lock, while the top offers a zippered closure to protect a computer or tablet. This isn’t another bike messenger bag, but a pack for serious urban commuters.
Category: Outdoors
Holiday Gift Idea: Overshoes for Cycling
It is easy to get “cold feet” when riding a bicycle in the winter. Not cold feet of the “I don’t want to do this” variety but literal COLD FEET! Cycling shoes are designed to breathe and that isn’t good when the temperature dips down. However, the Rapha Neoprene Cycling Overshoes, which as the name implies feature 100 percent neoprene sleeves and a reserve coil zip and Velcro ankle closure to provide a secure fit. These will keep the feet toasty – so the rest of the body can get cold first!
Fast Track The Trampoline Road
If Elton John were just a bit more like Michael Jackson perhaps he’d install a Fast Track on the grounds of his country estate (we assume Sir Elton has a country estate). The first such Fast Track – or trampoline road – was constructed recently in Nikola-Levivets, Russia. This particular pathway runs for about 51 meters (167feet). Why we don’t know, but it certainly allows people to bounce along.
Holiday Gift Idea: Have a Bocce Ball
Bocce ball isn’t exactly a popular game, which is kind of odd given that all it requires is a set of balls and some lawn to play on. While a nice manicured lawn and perfectly flat lawn is best, any space of grass will do. The Terrain Bocce Ball Set has everything you need, and the rules – which aren’t that hard – are printed on the set’s cloth bag.
This could make a festive holiday gift as they almost look like Christmas Tree ornaments, but just don’t try to play indoors. That wouldn’t be recommended.
Weekend Reading List (12.15.2012): Bike Gang, Eye Protection, Mudder’ing Through, Scenic Runs
Bike Gang
httpv://youtu.be/PpqW1yDX6EU
From BikeRadar: Can bike racers dance? SRAM goes Gangnam Style
When professional cyclocross racers practice something, they’re typically practicing skills on their bike — training. But when SRAM asked some of its top riders to dance in a video spoof of the globally popular Gangnam Style, many racers found themselves in their living rooms, practicing dance moves. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (12.15.2012): Bike Gang, Eye Protection, Mudder’ing Through, Scenic Runs
The North Face Dome Tent
Some of the most amazing architecture in the world is based on the concept of the “dome,” which is a rather unnatural structure. However, until flat roof designs domes make better more efficient use of heat, as the Eskimos long ago discovered, and hence The North Face 2-Meter Dome takes advantage of this fact. The inside of this tent offers up 125 square feet, which can hold up to eight people. It features dual doors, two exterior windows and even a chimney vent. The Eskimos might just skip making igloos and head The North Face instead.
Rugged Sound That Booms
There are plenty of speaker systems for bicycles but the BoomBot Rex is one that looks like it could survive a ride through Jurassic Park, if there were really such a place. This ruggedized, hexagonal speaker features two 36mm drivers in the front of the oblong subwoofer. This makes for a compact speaker that is also waterproof and offers wireless operation just about anywhere.
It can be mounted on a bike, or just taken for a hike in the woods.
This speaker, which is in development via a Kickstarter campaign, has the promise to connect to a smartphone, tablet or computer or any other Bluetooth-compatible device. In addition to being a speaker for music it can take calls from a phone, Facetime or Skype. Just in case you need to have a conference call while out on the trails. Video after the jump
Holiday Gift Idea: Taking Notes
Taking notes while on the go doesn’t require a smartphone or other gadget, but it does benefit from a notebook that can stand up to the rigors of the great outdoors. The Field Notes Expedition edition features an all-new design that includes a hi-visibility “Antarctic Survey Orange” front cover and “Polar Night Black” back cover and a subtle varnish effect featuring a topographic map of Antarctica.
This notebook could probably survive a trip to the South Pole as it is printed on Yupo Synthetic paper, which is made from extruded polypropylene pellets that make it water- and tear-proof. Those are just two of 12 tests the new notebook’s testing – and while we won’t list them all, let’s say this is flame resistant and can endure electromagnetic waves. Try that iPad!
Blow up Snow Shoes
Earlier this week we reported on the Bike Pants from Bulgarian based Any Exit. Apparently the former Communist Bloc country has taken its 20+ years of freedom very seriously as it has developed some impressively innovative ideas. In addition to pants with removable pockets designed for cyclists, the company has created the inflatable Small Foot snowshoes, which are designed for use in emergencies.
These have the appearance of life rafts on the foot when inflated, but can packed down quite small, so could be good for anyone who goes hiking and worries about snowing coming in. The creator reportedly came up with the designs while lost in the mountains in knee-deep snow. Let’s just hope he wasn’t wearing the Small Foot Bike Pants and had something more appropriate for the wilds. Video after the jump
Holiday Gift Idea: Modern Rucksack
The New Era is here, or rather at the link below. But wherever it might be the site is offering up this new Rucksack, as in the New Era Rucksack. Designed for the urban adventurer it features a top load pocket, laptop compartment, contoured shoulder straps and reinforced base. It is ready for journeys near and far and the water-resistant lining will ensure what you pack in it will stay dry. Maybe that’s what they mean by the new era.
Holiday Gift Idea: Branching Off
Plenty of companies make canoe and kayak paddles, but this holiday season consider the paddles from Bending Branches of Osceola, Wis. Their products have been made in the USA since the company was founded nearly 30 years ago. Bending Branches worked to revolutionize the paddle industry by introducing composite tips to canoe paddles and the company has been designing and creating some of the most innovative paddles ever sense.
The Rockgard proprietary technology, which is derived from the same material as inline skate wheels, will ensure that the integrity of paddle is maintained even after extensive use. This helps seal the paddle against moisture and protects the most vulnerable areas including the tips and edges, and the company claims this will help the paddles last six times longer.
Don’t find yourself up the creek without a paddle, find yourself up the creek with a Bending Branches paddle!
XC Ski Area Opens to “Fat Bike”
There has been a serious shift from several bike makers in what they consider “off season.” The days of hanging up the bike when the snow comes isn’t what some companies have in mind, or if they do think you should hang up one bike then you should hit the trails with another. This is the age of the “fat tire” snow bikes. Of course there is the issue where to ride such bikes.
More and more ski resorts and trails are opening to fat tires and this includes Methow Valley in Winthrop, Wash., which just happens to be the largest cross-country ski area. This season the resort is making a few of the trails open to bikes, and only when the conditions are right. And the trails will only be open to “purpose-built snow bikes” such as the Surly Pugsley or Moonlander or other bikes that have tires wider than 3.7 inches and must roll with tire pressure less than 10psi. These factors will ensure that riders don’t blow through the trails at high speeds, and if the rut is deeper than an inch it is too soft to be riding on the Nordic trails.
This might seem like a lot of rules, but it is about sharing the trails with skiers, so it seems reasonable to us.
Weekend Reading List (12.08.2012): Smart Workouts, Ethiopian Track Center, Fitness Instead of Sports, Millions for London Cycling
Smart Workouts
From Men’s Health: How the Gym Makes You Smarter
Put in the time at your university’s gym and it might provide more than physical benefits. A new study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research shows that the more often you go to your rec center, the more likely you’ll be passing calculus. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (12.08.2012): Smart Workouts, Ethiopian Track Center, Fitness Instead of Sports, Millions for London Cycling