httpv://youtu.be/vzsOf5oRD1o
What might be better reserved for a segment on the Science Channel’s show How It’s Made, MACPI spa is an Italian industrial machinery company that produces the equipment used by appeal companies to make your favorite athletic clothing. You may never even see any of their equipment in person, but you probably have a garment that has been assembled using one of their machines. Continue reading Interbike 2011: MACPI spa
Participating in an exercise class barefoot is not always appealing. The floors are grimy. Your feet might not give you the traction you need, particularly if the room is cold. You may just feel more comfortable with your feet covered. That said, socks and other footwear are not compatible with disciplines such as yoga, palates, dance and some forms of martial arts. In these disciplines traction and balance are essential.
In steps Puretoes. These are foot coverings – Puretoes doesn’t identify itself as socks – with a grippy material on the sole and stops at the toes. The combination of the free toes and the grippy coating on the ball of the foot and the heel make it possible to do many poses and combinations called for in several disciplines. There are separate holes for the big toe and the rest of the toes, which helps keep the foot covering firmly on your foot. You still have the ability to spread your toes to balance for poses such as the tree pose. You can do a karate kick without worrying your stocking-feet will slide out from under you.
There are similar products on the market, including toeless socks from Stick-e, which also have grippy coating painted to the bottom. While those socks are knit and similar to regular socks, Puretoes are made from a material that appears to be a light neoprene with a brushed material on the inside to provide comfort.
Puretoes Official Website
[Via GearJunkie: Puretoes ‘Not-a-Sock’ Foot Coverings]
Biking to work sounds like such a brilliant idea. That is until you actually do it and show up to work with a damp, wrinkled shirt. The ShirtShuttle from Commuter Technologies, which is currently available exclusively at The Conran Shop in the U.K., is a weather-tight case fits a clean shirt and stores it in your backpack or messenger bag so it will arrive dry and crease-free. Continue reading ShirtShuttle Helps Commuters Tote a Clean Shirt
Proving again that performance doesn’t mean sacrificing quality, Louis Garneau is rolling out its new Mondo Evo Jersey and Bibshort, both are designed for performance as the jersey offers an aerodynamic fit, and the ibs have been clinically tested to increase blood flow and blood oxygen levels in the body.
The Mondo Evo Jersey features Aero Lazer Band sleeves that are laser-cut and hemless for a smooth transition from fabric to the skin, while also being superlight and thin to provide a second-second feel. The Mondo Evo Bib is made from a Cell-Ion fabric, and in addition to providing better flow, it has been clinically proven to relieve pain, increase comfort and actually aid in healing. The bib reportedly balances body temperature to help athletes achieve maximum performance. The 4Motion chamois combines 3D pre-shaped wings and a deep split at the back to provide multi-direction motion, while the central channel is shaped to help relieve pressure, plus the chamois has a high-tech baceriostatic carbon top sheet.
Both the bib and jersey feature reflective accents to add a level added visibility while riding or training in traffic. So you can feel good and feel a better safer still. The Mondo Evo Jersey will be available for $159.99, while the Mondo Evo Bib will be available for $189.99, and both will arrive in stores in October.
Louis Gareau Official Website
Keeping a cool head while riding is a good idea to play it safe, and Headsweats is introducing a line of headwear that is ideal for those hot summer days when the temperatures climb higher than most riders. This new headwear is designed to help manage excessive sweating on hot days.
The new line of Super Duty under helmet headware (MSRP $22), which will be available in black and white in February of next year, will feature moisture management and “Perspiration Technology,” along with a COOLMAX fabric terry sweatband. The COOLMAX fabric shell will keep you dry as well, while the Eventure elastic will make for a perfect fit. It should allow you to truly keep a cool head.
The idea of measuring a person’s heart rate using an optical pulse sensor is certainly not a new concept. Shine a light source through a fingertip or an ear lobe and the light either bounces back to the light sensor or it is absorbed by the blood. The number of times that the light is bounced back is the sensor is the number of time that your heart is beating or your pulse rate. It is pretty simple, so why are we still using heart rate monitors with straps that wrap around our torsos? Why can’t the average athlete clip on an optical sensor to an ear lobe, have their heart rate taken using an optical sensor and have that information transmitted (maybe via BlueTooth) to a recording devise with a digital display? That may all change with a new open-source optical heart-rate pulse sensor from two Physical Computing professors at the Parsons the New School for Design.
Yury Gitman and Joel Murphy have recently achieved, and far exceeded, their fund raising goal of $3000 using KickStarter.com to mass produce their new optical heart-rate pulse sensor, the Pulse Sensor. The new Pulse Sensor, along with the processing software, plugs right into another open-source item – the Arduino platform. Their new sensor is currently being marketed to students, artists, athletes, developers or anyone else looking to develop a device to record a heart rate.
Video after the jump Continue reading An “Open” Solution to Measuring Your Heart Rate?
Being able to measure the power output of a cyclist at the pedals is certainly not new. The Vector system, now owned by Garmin, has had this solution available for the past couple of years. The Garmin system is often used with the LOOK Kéo pedals, but now LOOK is selling an off the shelf option with a slight twist – the new LOOK Kéo Power.
The new LOOK Kéo Power pedal combines the expertise of LOOK with POLAR, one of the heart rate monitor market innovators. This new pedal allows very accurate cadence and power measurements by placing the electronics inside each pedal axle. Each axle is equipped with 8 strain gauges which measure the axle deflection, which along with the reed relay measured cadence information, is transmitted to the Polar head unit. The Polar combines this information to accurately determine the power output of each pedal – independently. Continue reading Interbike 2011: LOOK Kéo Power Pedals
Corn is a summer favorite. Recommended servings include grilled, steamed and cooked in the microwave as long as there’s a dollop of butter to melt over the kernels. But would you think about wearing corn? The Omni-Freeze Ice Baselayer from Columbia Sportswear coming out next year is made from a corn or maize-based fiber.
The shirt does well to keep the wearer cool in hot weather. Tiny crystals in the fiber undergo a change from solid to gel when they become wet. Sweat causes this reaction. The result is that the gel cools the skin, or “sucks heat from the surrounding environment,” Columbia claims.
This is called a baselayer, however even with the cooling functions it’s going to be the only layer.
Columbia Sportswear Official Website
[Via GearJunkie: ‘Maize-Based’ Compound Adds Cooling Effect to Columbia T-Shirt]
When one thinks of table computing, Apple’s iPad or one of the many Android-based varieties come to mind. Heck, maybe even a BlackBerry PlayBook or a now-defunct HP TouchPad. But try to think of a rugged tablet, and you may be hard-pressed to come up with any. In truth, rugged portable computers have been around for a long time, but they aren’t exactly the chic portables that you currently see billboard ads for. Take Glacier Computer’s new T507K, for example.Travel is not fun, and as we make our way to the Interbike and Health + Fitness Expo we can you that getting there isn’t half the fun. But there is a great big world to see, and unfortunately most of us will never be able to visit all of it. But the Passport media player is the next best thing to working out in a distant land – and without the crowded seats or security lines along the way.
Available only to Johnson Health Tech Passport, featuring Virtual Active technology, offers the a rich high-definition experience with real destination footage and matching ambient sounds. This exclusive technology, which to date has only been available at gyms around the world on Matrix line of equipment, is now being brought to the consumer market on the AFG 7.1 AT treadmill.
Since its founding in 2005, the 10-person, San Francisco-based company has been busy sending camera crews around the world to capture the most realistic, breathtaking footage available on an exercise machine.Users can connect to their own home entertainment system and get taken away during their workout. Sure beats watching the news during a workout – with all that’s going on that might not be good for your heart!
Portable hard drives are generally tougher than their stationary counterparts, but ioSafe’s new Rugged Portable line of drives is taking things to a whole new level. In addition to withstanding up to 5,000 lbs. of pressure, these new drives (in SSD and HDD varieties) can also be submerged, dropped, and even dunked inside vats of diesel fuel. (Try doing that to your current hard drive.) Inside the seemingly bombproof enclosure lies another layer of protection – Genie Timeline Pro backup software, which lets you easily restore your data even when your OS doesn’t load.
The military spec drive also features USB 3.0 connectivity and is Mac and PC compatible. The HDD models start at 250GB ($150) whereas the SSD model starts at 120GB ($499).
ioSafe Rugged Portable
[via Gear Junkie: Hard Drive can be Dropped from 20ft., Submerged in Diesel Fuel]
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtQjyZSiM1g&feature=player_embedded
Whether you’re a pro cyclist or just out for a ride, you can crash. At decent speeds and a stretch of concrete to skid on, a crash can quickly lead to road rash. That’s some nasty business. If you watch pro-cycling, you’ll see that any crash can quickly result in ripped shorts and jerseys with some bloody red skin peeking through the tears.
A new device, the Road Rash Guard, aims to prevent road rash and the resulting ripped clothing, by taking all the scrapes for you. It’s a bubble of durable material that clips onto your clothing in areas you’d typically experience abrasion in the event of a crash. The Road Rash Guard acts like a caster you’d place under furniture to protect the floor. Place a few of these on strategic locations such as your shoulder, hip, thigh and knee, and your slide across the pavement will be buffered by this device.
Here’s some vitals on the Road Rash Guard:
Snap on the device by separating the front and back, then sandwiching the two pieces on your clothes (one inside your jersey, one outside) and securing with a snap. Then go cycling. You need a handful of Road Rash Guards to keep you covered, probably about three on each side of your body. Each one retails for $28.95, however the company offers discounts for bulk orders of 24, 36 and 48 units so if you go in with a group of friends you can get a better price.
It’s no guarantee that you will be scrape-free in a crash, but in many cases it’s the difference between some nasty abrasions and torn jersey and shorts and walking away from a crash with just a bruise. In most cases you’ll get a bruise where the Road Rash Guard sits on your skin, but that’s a more favorable option.
Road Rash Guard official site
Being avid cyclists, we shunned the idea of electric motor assisted bikes when their current incarnation hit the market. After realizing that these bikes are not for the existing cyclists, but the person who has made every excuse not to get on a bike, we warmed up to the idea. Next time you hear from someone that they do not ride a bike because of all of the hills in the area or that they worry that they will ride too far from home and not be able to make the return journey, let them know about the new electric bikes available.
One new electric bike at this year’s Interbike that caught our eye was the Interceptor from Pedego Electric Bikes of Irvine, California. The new Interceptor has the look of a beach cruiser through its swooping tubes and balloon tires. The Interceptor has the styling of a normal bike and even pedals like a normal bike; but when the need arises or you run out of gears and more power is needed, a built-in gearless hub motor can be used. Continue reading Interbike 2011: The Interceptor from Pedego Electric Bikes