Each year helmets get lighter, but they also get stronger. Technology lends itself to a higher degree of protection using lighter-weight materials. However, even when you’re going to get down and dirty off road you’ll still want to look good doing so. For 2012 Louis Garneau will release the Carve helmet, which will offer that higher degree of protection without sacrificing style. This new helmet promises to be lightweight, highly ventilated and totally geared toward mountain bikers.
One of the drawbacks of adding a heart rate monitor, cycling computer and other devices to your workout is that you have to take your focus from the road ahead. With a heart rate monitor, you have to look at the watch for heart rate, calories and time. A separate cycling computer requires you to look at the screen by your handlebars to find out your speed, cadence and other measures.
(Video after the jump)
Continue reading Sportiiiis Gives Visual Feedback to Workout Stats
The idea of “life proofing” portable electronics is a good one, especially with mobile smartphones. These things get dropped, get spilled on and get put through conditions that frankly they weren’t designed for. After dropping an iPhone many users probably have a moment of fear and do a quick “proof of life” test to see if it still works. Instead of worrying whether that fall or spill “killed” the handset, LifeProof it instead.
(Video after the jump) Continue reading CTIA Honors Rugged Case With Hot for the Holidays Award
Showers Pass Elite Pro Cycling Jacket Review
The weather in Colorado can be unpredictable. Sunshine, hail, high winds, and snow can all happen within a few hours even on a summer day. With this kind of variability you learn to carry a jacket at all times while on the bike.
The Elite Pro jacket is made with a three layer proprietary fabric and is highly waterproof. The wind-blocking is exceptional. Beyond the basics, the jacket is loaded with features designed specifically for cycling. The Elite Pro is light, form fitting and doesn’t flap in the wind. At the waist, it is short in front and ultra-long in the back. This feels a bit awkward when you try on the jacket, but once on the bike, it is spot on. The sleeves have the same style. They feel freakishly long when standing and perfect when on the bike. I’ve learned to cinch the wrist up when off the bike, positioning the sleeves at the wrist to keep them from falling over my hands.
The jacket has tremendous ventilation. There are two core zipper vents that replace armpit zippers on previous models.
Continue reading Hands on: Elite Pro Cycling Jacket by Showers Pass
“There’s nothing cool about being cold.” I’m probably not alone in saying that I’m not the only one that couldn’t agree more with that tag line. As with many riders I like to get out throughout the winter, but no matter how much I bundle up, I often feel a chill in the fingers. This is because when your gloves become saturated with sweat or water, it can be very difficult to keep your hands warm. British-based BreezeBlockers has a novel solution for this all too common problem – block your hands from being in the wind.
The entire line of BreezeBlockers products are designed to keep your hands out of the wind while cycling, and use your natural body heat to create a warm air pocket inside the BreezeBlockers. Keeping this warm air pocket outside of the glove should reduce the amount of sweat that could potentially build up inside your gloves. Along with keeping the sweat from building within your gloves, they are also designed to keep water out. The BreezeBlockers are constructed of ABS or polypropylene plastic (depending on the model) which will help shield your hands from outside water from coming in contact with your gloves.
Mouth guards just got smarter. Those bite guards that protect teeth and impact for football players on the field may soon have some electronics built in. A team at Stanford University is testing a prototype mouth guard with sensors built inside to offer protection, but also to determine any brain injury during practice and games.
Sensors inside the mouth guard will detect movement and impact to provide insight into how different types of blows affect the brain. Even now, science is still learning about how the brain reacts to such trauma. Researchers hope to use this data to not only detect and diagnose injury, but to further research on brain trauma, and the threshold where impact becomes harmful.
Football players have used sensors imbedded in equipment such as helmets for several seasons. The Stanford University researchers and the Seattle-based X2 Impact, which made the bite guards, aim for this to be a less expensive (and possibly more effective) replacement to helmets wired with sensors. Helmets are said to be faulty because they can shift during a game.
The football team at Stanford University is currently testing the mouth guards. The researchers plan to deploy the new protective gear to the Stanford women’s field hockey and lacrosse teams.
X2Impact Official Website
[Via Stanford University School of Medicine: For study of concussions, Stanford athletes use high-tech mouthpiece to record head impact]
While it had already been announced that Health and Fitness will be a tech zone at January’s 2012 CES trade show in Las Vegas, the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) announced that it will be getting on tech track to better health at the upcoming 2011 CEA Industry Forum. At the event, which is scheduled for October 23-26 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California, will include the Health and Fitness Tech Track.
Highlights of the program after the jump: Continue reading CEA Get on Health and Fitness Track
For many urban dwellers there is only one bike lock they trust, which is none, as in they never leave their bike and never lock it up. However, there are times when there is no choice and the bike has to be left unguarded. Few would dare leave a nice bike unlocked for even a few minutes, and in those occasions it means brining a lock and chain along for the ride. The problem is how to carry the lock and chain.
It is generally agreed that riders shouldn’t wear the chain as a sash or even as a belt. Messengers and commuters may do it, but this can be a problem should there be an accident as it can limit access, or even cause a rider to be pinned under a vehicle. On the flip side, many riders simple wouldn’t dream of putting a chain around the bike frame. In other words there has to be a better way, and thanks to the Küat Racks Bottle Lock there is one! Continue reading Bottle Lock It
httpv://youtu.be/lWzdWMapJ-c
I can honestly say, never thought I’d see the day that you could move something with just your mind. You can, and this isn’t just something out of Star Wars. Toyota and bicycle manufacturer Parlee have teamed up to create a concept bicycle that is as cutting edge and trend setting as the Prius. The video above shows how this could be a game changer for cyclists. And in a related story the BBC takes its own look at mind control. Mind over matter indeed!
A handful of Nike’s most popular shoes are about to come out of retirement. The classic Air Force 1, Dunk and Air Max 90 models will be in stores for the holidays. But they won’t entirely be like the original sneakers.
Nike will use a thermo-molding technique called Vac Tech to press the materials of the shoes into form rather than the traditional stitching. The thermo-molding technique is a vacuum compression method that forms all the layers of the shoe together without seams or stitching on the upper portions.
Advantages to the Vac Tech method are weight and durability. The pressed layers make the shoe stand up against wear. The lack of stitched layers means threads won’t fray and layers of material won’t start to pull apart. The compressed fabric also lends itself to a lighter shoe.
A single piece of material, or several layers molded seamlessly together, can also make a more comfortable shoe. No seams means no bumps in the construction to rub against spots on your foot to cause irritation and possibly blisters.
Nike Official Website
[Via: Fast Company Nike’s New Thermo-Molded Sneakers Are Like Sculptures for Your Feet]
There seems to be two kinds of people when the words “roughing it” come up. There are those who find everything great about the great outdoors, and there are those who consider anything but a suite in a boutique hotel to be downright Bohemian. And yet a growing industry is “eco-tourism,” where travelers want to experience the outdoors with all the hassles that come with it.
For those who like the idea of camping but don’t want to sleep on the ground in sleeping bags, and who prefer some level of comfort yet don’t want to check into a hotel, there is a middle ground. Welcome to the world of Glamping, which is basically “glamour” meets “camping.” This new trend makes use of eco-friendly domes that can be up to 24 feet in diameter, are fully wind and water resistant and feature a fan system that circulates the warm air at night so no one has to sleep on the cold ground. Continue reading Glamping Takes the Roughing It Out of Camping
We’ve been following the story of GM’s unfortunate ad campaign (above), which is aimed at college students. As the ad suggests bicycles, and biking to class (or apparently anywhere) is uncool – and students should instead put themselves in debt to buy a GM car. The Los Angeles Times reported that GM didn’t consider the ad to be “anti-bike,” and quoted Tom Henderson, a GM spokesman: “The content of the ad was developed with college students and was meant to be a bit cheeky and humorous and not meant to offend anybody.”
The ad caught the attention of numerous bike blogs, and GM has since apologized via Twitter. And that could have been the end of the story. Giant Bicycles offered its own take on the ad (image after the jump). Continue reading GM Mis-Shifts With “Reality Sucks” Ad – Giant Bicycles Responds
Working out with a standard pair of headphones is a recipe for disaster. Not only is it impossible to keep them in place when you’re in motion, but the slightest exposure to sweat and your headphones are instant paperweights. With that in mind, iHome and New Balance have teamed up to create the NB639 Fitness Evolved Headphones.
These headphones are designed for the serious, note-taking athlete as they also come with a dongle that doubles as a pedometer, one-touch heart rate monitor, and stopwatch. Simply place your finger on the dongle’s grooved surface during your workout and after a few seconds it’ll verbally read out your heart rate, calories burned, and distance traveled all without the need for an irritating chest strap. Best of all, it’ll read our your stats without interrupting your playlist.
When you’re done with your workout, plug in the dongle to your computer’s USB port and using the built-in software you can track your performance and set new goals. The dongle is also capable of recharging via USB, eliminating the need for batteries.
Video after the jump. Continue reading iHome Earphones Track Your Heart Rate and Calories Burned