Pottery, sewing, knitting and jewelry making are just a few of the weekend workshops that are available to people wanting to learn a new art or hone a skill. Now bicycle frame building can be added to this list. Bamboo Bike Studio is offering a multi-day, hands-on class in the art of building a bicycle frame and best of all you’ll bring home your very own frame or bike!
We’ve seen wrist bands that show support for various causes, notably the famous yellow wrist band for Livestrong. But now Jawbone, an innovator of products and services for the mobile lifestyle, has unveiled a very different kind of wrist band. This is the Jawbone UP, a new system that works with an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that can track daily activities including sleep patterns and eating habits. All this is geared to help the wearer reach a healthier life. Continue reading Jawbone UP Start to Better Health
httpv://youtu.be/PHcx-d8mOJU
Microsoft and Ubisoft have provided a few more details for its Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012, which will officially launch tomorrow, via the new YouTube video (above). The fitness/sports game looks to build on the past success of the Your Shape Fitness franchise and once again promises to help gamers get off the couch and get a little more fit via the Kinect for the Microsoft Xbox 360. Never a bad thing.
Most of us are fully aware of the need to stay hydrated in our daily lives, even while not engaging in a physical activity. We have to drink water to stay alive. There seems to be a countless number of companies making water bottles. Participate in any sort of organized sporting event and you are bound to find a bottle or two in your goodie bag. So why are we mentioning another water bottle? Because this one has a twist, or should we say ‘bend’, to the design – and you probably guessed, it is made in America.
The Tazi Ultimate Hydration Bottle has unique design. The base and the cap resemble a typical water bottle, but the body has a bend towards the top. This design allows the user to not have to turn their head while taking a drink and keep their eyes focused in the direction they are traveling. It is a simple as that – a bottle with an angled top, but it was not originally designed for that purpose as explained on their website.
The angle was originally designed to facilitate an accessory that would allow the bottle to be hung from different health club equipment and still maintain a perfectly vertical disposition. More recently, the angle has proved itself to be an ergonomic feature that allows runners, skater, cyclist, and those who carry bottles to hydrate without cocking ones head. Continue reading Made in America: Tazi Ultimate Hydration Bottle
It is hard to believe but the holidays are right around the corner. If that special someone is in need of a new training watch, Timex has just announced a $50 mail-in rebate program on its brand new Timex Ironman Run Trainer GPS watch.
Beginning this week, Timex is putting its newly released and highly touted GPS watch for runners, the Timex Ironman Run Trainer, on sale through a $50 mail-in rebate. This GPS watch tracks speed, distance, heart rate and can even map completed runs in Map My Run or Google Earth. The watch also works with the highly regarded Training Peaks software program for post-run analysis. And now it is $50 cheaper too. Video and rebate information after the jump
If you bring a camera, mobile phone, MP3 player or other electronic device on a long ride chances are it could end up out of juice before you do. But now Silverback is offering a way to use pedal power to power up your digital devices. The German bicycle company has added a USB port, powered by a dynamo hub, to its Starke 1 and 2 models.
The USB port is located in the head tube of the nickel alloy frame bicycles, which also feature Shimano components including front and rear hydraulic disc brakes. The dynamo hub also provides power to the bikes’ lights, while the Starke 1 even features an integrated electric motor that provides pedal assist.
The only drawback so far seems that devices can only be powered when the dynamo isn’t being used. So if you were hoping to do some riding to power up the mobile phone, or to listen to some tunes while resting your legs you might be out of luck. But it is still a good way to juice up your devices. The Silverback cycles will be ready to roll as part of the company’s 2012 line up.
Silverback Official Website
[Via Gizmag: USB port-packing Starke bikes deliver pedal-powered mobile charging]
If your day outdoors involves a solo activity like running the trails than an iPod is a good companion, but if you have an actual human companion and are hiking, camping, or just taking in the great outdoors you either have to listen to the sounds of nature or figure out a way to share the tunes. Now Yamaha has a solution that lets you share the music with its rugged PDX-11 portable player dock.
The iPod/iPhone dock features an octagonal horn-shaped design with a perforated steel grill that is tough enough for an on-the-go lifestyle, and it includes a “grab it and go” roll bar chrome handle. The PDX-11 is available in four colors including white, dark blue, green and black, and can run on battery or AC power. With six AA batteries you’ll get about eight hours of a soundtrack for the outdoor life. Continue reading Yamaha Delivers Audio Anywhere You Go
There is one big reason that the iPhone isn’t the most ideal cycling computer – the longevity of the battery. While there are seemingly limitless apps for the iPhone related to fitness, the handset probably won’t go the distance. Typically the phone will give out before a lot of riders, especially those who are serious enough to take advantage of the advanced features the smartphone offers as a training monitor, especially the handset’s GPS mode.
However, Wahoo Fitness and Heart Rate Watch Company have come up with a solution, namely an auxiliary battery pack. It is a simple solution, but one that is key to turning the iPhone into a true bike computer. This extra juice can provide up to triple the run time for the smartphone. The drawback is that it does add up in the weight category when you factor in the phone, case and auxiliary battery. This comes in at about 1.25 pounds, which is quite hefty compared to the two ounces of standalone devices.
You can dance… for inspiration. While the Material Girl sang that lyric back in the 1980s, today you can dance for fitness. And you don’t have to head to a club either. The soon to be released Zumba Fitness 2 from Majesco Entertainment will let you strut your stuff with 24 dance styles.
Zumba Fitness 2 promises to get you moving with Zumba creator Beto and international celebrity instructors Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant as they guide you through exhilarating choreography that spans 32 sizzling new tracks and 24 different international dance styles. Whether you’re playing in Single Song, Full Class or Zumba Party mode that supports up to four dancers, you’ll have a blast with this unique dance fitness experience that shapes, tones and transforms you body and almost forget you’re not working out.
Welcome to a weekly digest of web links I think are worth checking out. These items include articles, images, and video. Please comment on what you find interesting. If you have something to share, please submit links of interest to mike@kineticshift.com.
The Stages of Change
From Experience Life Magazine
Break a habit. Achieve a goal. Transform your life.
At one time or another, most of us have embarked on an effort to change some part of ourselves or our lives. We’ve decided to stop smoking, to start saving, to drop a few pounds, or to get a new job. As a rule, these sorts of changes don’t occur overnight. They take time and effort.And they tend to evolve through a multistage process — one that many behavior-change experts know as the Transtheoretical Model of Change.
Experience Life: Stages of Change Continue reading Thursday Reading List (11/03/2011)
Ubisoft just released MotionSports Adrenaline for the Xbox 360 Kinect and PlayStation Move for the PlayStation 3. The game takes advantage of the motion-sensing controls to encourage movement. MotionSports Adrenaline has a number of extreme activities such as wingsuit, mountain bike, rock climbing, kayak, kitesurf, extreme skiing.
Continue reading MotionSports Adrenaline Gets Momentum on Xbox, PS3
Eccentric bottom brackets (EBB) have been used for years on single speed bikes to make the job of tensioning the chain easier than using horizontal rear dropouts. This solution allows the use of vertical dropouts in the frame and a quick release skewer to secure the rear wheel – a feature that anyone who has been miles away from home with a flat, but no wrench to remove the wheel would appreciate. With the advent of the oversized PressFit-30 (PF30) bottom bracket shell used in all types of bikes to provide a stiffer, more efficient power transfer from the pedal to the rear wheel has lead to an unexpected aftermarket part for those wanting a single speed bike – the Eccentric 46 Bottom Bracket from Problem Solvers of Bloomington, Minnesota.
It shouldn’t have to come to this, rewarding people for biking and walking – since better fitness should be the reward itself, but Recyclebank, a company that already rewards people for taking everyday green actions with discounts and deals from local and national businesses, announced last week a partnership with Transport for London to develop a program to reward people for cycling and walking in London.
This program incentivizes people to cycle or walk in the British Capital to help reduce pollution, ease congestion and boost fitness among Londoners. Members will collect points for every journey they make by bike or on foot; these points will be redeemable for a growing range of offers and discounts from Recyclebank reward partners.
This rewards program is another example of many initiatives that the Mayor of London and TfL have taken to build and improve public paths and parks, and the many other initiatives that make up the city’s bicycle rental program, launched in 2010.
“Walking and cycling are the healthiest and greenest ways to travel and we are truly inspired by the excellent work TfL has done to encourage people to make greener transportation choices in London. We are excited to partner with TfL and look forward to motivating Londoners to take greener actions,” said Jonathan Hsu, CEO of Recyclebank. “Our hope is that this program becomes something that other cities can emulate to reduce their environmental footprint, realizing the collective impact of individual green actions.”
The program is being delivered at no cost to TfL and will be free to join for anyone who cycles or walks in London. We think it is a good way to get people to make that first step – and hopefully many to follow.