Made in America: Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel

Fashion vs. function…the discussion that my wife and I have each time we are shopping for a new piece of furniture, apparel or sporting equipment together. Sometimes the two concepts work cohesively, but often one must be sacrificed over the other. Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel has been able to successfully merge the two concepts together and has a line of cycling clothing that is both functional and fashionable all while being made in America.

Based in Emeryville, California, the entire line of apparel is manufactured across the bay in San Francisco. Mostly geared towards women, the Sheila Moon line of apparel is whimsical and colorful without being ‘fruity’. From active wear clothing and accessories to casual apparel, the Sheila Moon collections are just plain ‘fun’.

The cycling clothing can be worn on a century ride just as easily as it can be worn on a cruiser ride down to the coffee shop for the afternoon – it just looks fashionable. The construction is on par if not better than that of the bigger names in the cycling apparel world. Most of the jerseys have at least one pocket for carrying nourishment or as my wife puts it…a place for her lip gloss. Sheila Moon offers all different styles of tops ranging from tanks to long sleeve jerseys all with the same pattern as the other cycling tops so that a rider can be coordinated if they so desire.

Along with tops, a wide variety of bottoms are also available. The cut of the traditional, padded cycling shorts is a little unique compared to other manufacturers. My wife described the waist as having a ‘yoga’ pants cut – instead of the waistband being straight across, it forms a ‘V’ below the navel area. Along with traditional shorts, Sheila Moon also offers skirts, knickers and padded liners all geared towards on the bike use.

Not only does Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel manufacture cycling tops and bottoms, but they also offer a line of accessories and street wear for those times that you are off of the bike. When the weather turns chilly or a normal summer day in San Francisco, a line of coordinated arm warmers, caps and headbands can help keep you warm while still looking good.

For the men out there, you may have to look elsewhere for your apparel needs. Even though there is a men’s section on the Sheila Moon website, it appears to be only listed under the ’outlet’ link with no new offerings apparent for 2011.

Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel is available at numerous cycling and outdoor retailers around the country. If you do not find one near you, the full line can also be ordered directly from their website. And if you were wondering if there is a real Sheila Moon, do a little search on Facebook…someone appears to be a huge Thor Hoshovd fan!

Sheila Moon Official Website

Sony Ericsson Xperia Active for Android-Loving Fitness and Outdoors Buffs

Sony Ericsson Xperia Active

It’s a given that cell phones tend not to play well with the Earth’s elements, but whether it’s summer at the beach or a bike ride down a muddy trail, Sony Ericsson’s good-looking Xperia Active smartphone is designed to take a beating.

Rugged cell phones aren’t new, and the Xperia Active also isn’t the first rugged Android-based smartphone, either (Motorola and Casio have them). But the Xperia Active targets those with a fitness-focused lifestyle. Besides being water- and dust-resistant, the Xperia Active is ANT+ compliant for use with other compatible products such as exercise equipment and pulse monitors. Other sporty features include a Gear Kit that comes with an arm case, wrist strap, and headphones with ear straps; fitness-related apps; GPS, barometer, and compass functionality; and a screen that’s usable even when your fingers are wet.

Beneath its ruggedness is a full-featured Android smartphone that runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It’s powered by a 1-gigahertz processor and features a 3-inch, 320×480 display with what Sony Ericsson calls the Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine. You can shoot videos in high definition, and you can download apps as you would with any Android phone. It’s slightly on the thick side, but what you sacrifice in size you get in protection (it is lighter than an iPhone 4, however, which is good news for those who don’t like being bogged down by stuff).

No pricing or market announcements have been made, yet, and there’s a chance it could never make it onto our shores. If it does, look for it in the third quarter of this year.

SONY ERICSSON XPERIA ACTIVE

Recall: Yakima FlipSide Bicycle Carriers

Yakima Products, Inc. of Beaverton, OR, in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act has recently announced the recall of their FlipSide rear bicycle racks that mount to the receiver hitch of vehicles. Apparently a small number of units shipped from April 2008 through June 2011 have malfunctioned while transporting bikes.

It seems that the pin that holds the rack upright might be slightly too short in the affected units and can not hold the loaded rack upright.

Only those racks with a red knob in the photo are being recalled. Yakima will send the owners of those racks a new, longer pin along with instructions on how to replace the current red pin. The fix is reported to only take 15 minutes.

Yakima recommends the removal of this product from your vehicle and the owner fill out the online registration form, or call 1-888-925-4621 to speak with customer service.

Along with the FlipSide being recalled, Yakima also recalled the FrontLoader roof rack bicycle mount earlier this year due to the mount becoming loose or actually ejecting the bike while driving.

Yakima Flipside Recall Official Website

Fitness Journal: Old Timer Looks to New Technology

Naturally, as I am cycling more, I see these fantastic new two wheeled machines on the roads and in the bike shops. Naturally, I try to justify buying one of these sleek new bikes. My angular racing frame probably seems a bit outdated compared to these new carbon frames and surely it is not as stiff as it was 24 years ago when I first raced it. I’ve wondered how much extra effort I have to put into my ride to overcome those 64 steel spokes whipping through the headwind like egg beaters. My SLX steel tubing flexing at the bottom bracket every time I lunge into a sprint across an intersection is costing me precious speed. But this isn’t an excuse, this is an opportunity; an opportunity to buy a new bike.

Being a fast rider is a numbers game. For just $12,000 I could sport the most sophisticated road machine out there. It is just enough to make me look as serious as I know I really am. If I calculate my wind resistance, rolling resistance, wheel drag and rotational Inertia I can determine how efficient I can be with just the right equipment. Of course, I still have conquer the other 95 percent of the equation — me. I still have to put in 150 miles a week of “worthwhile” riding.

What does that mean? In a word, sprints. And lots of sprints. That way, I can take advantage of the 0.4 percent overall efficiency gain realized by trading up to that new equipment. Of course, my old DeRosa is a beauty. Maybe I should keep it and just say I’ve gone “retro.”

A New Cassette Standard? Hopefully…

For almost twenty-five years, cycling has been a major part of my life. From building bikes to breaking bones; being that kid hanging out at the bike shop to managing one in college; and racing to the top of a mountain or riding to work, bikes are a part of who I am. As long as I can remember, there has always been issues when assembling bikes from parts… especially when it comes to mixing drive train parts.

Usually, Campy shifters would not be mixed with Shimano derailleurs or vice versa, but it was fairly common to try to use Shimano compatible wheels with Campy shifting as there is just a much wider and usually better selection of wheels. Companies such as Wheels Manufacturing of Colorado do an excellent job reworking Shimano cassettes to work with Campy shifting, but the system of combined parts is still a little finicky. Enter the picture, Kirk Pacenti and his proposal for a universal, ’open source’ cassette body. We are starting to see more standards in the cycling world when it comes to parts, so this is not an unachievable goal. Continue reading A New Cassette Standard? Hopefully…

Ride the Tour de France With Google Powered Training Bicycle

The Tour de France is well under way, and chances if you’re like us, you are watching it from your couch. Wouldn’t you like to get in a ride while watching it? Sure there are rollers and trainers, and then there is the Pro-Form Le Tour de France Indoor Cycle, which is the next best thing to a trip to France. And you won’t have to stop on the side of the road should nature call.

The Pro-Form Le Tour de France Indoor Cycle lets users choose and even create real-world routes using Google Maps. If that was all it did we’d still think this was pretty darn cool, but oh it does so much more. This is no ordinary spin bike, and it utilizes Pro-Form’s iFit Live technology to simulate the grade and position of climbing stages. As the grade of the route increases, the bike titles forward or backward up to 20 percent! This is of course based on satellite image of a chosen area. Continue reading Ride the Tour de France With Google Powered Training Bicycle

Ambitious Floating Pool Concept Will Allow New Yorkers to Swim in River, Fuhgeddaboudit!

+Pool floating pool concept. (+Pool)

New Yorkers know that swimming in the local waters is a quick way to catch some nasties. But if a project called the +Pool (pronounced “plus pool”) gets built according to plan, the city’s inhabitants could soon find themselves swimming in one of the rivers as soon as 2012.

Of course, you won’t actually dive straight into the river itself. The idea for +Pool is to create a public pool that floats on the river, while the pool’s water will be water from the river that has been filtered through the walls. (A similar floating pool exists in Berlin on the Spree River, but doesn’t have an ambitious filtration concept.) The tri-layer filtration walls removes things such as wildlife, debris, algae, bacteria, and viruses. Four sections comprise a cross-mark design that allows the 9,000-square-foot pool to be divided for, say, a kid’s pool and a lap pool; two modules can also be used as an Olympic-length pool.

Architect Dong-Ping Wong and designers Jeffrey Franklin and Archie Lee Coates IV came up with the idea in June 2010 during a hot summer, who lamented that New Yorkers can’t enjoy a swim despite being surrounded by water. The +Pool concept has already generated lots of interest from various parties, including engineering firm Arup. The designers have spent the past months on research and, working with Arup, studied the feasibility of the filtration system, which Arup has deemed possible.

The idea now needs to enter actual testing of the filtration system by building a filtration wall. The designers are using Kickstarter to help fund the testing phase. If they can raise $500,000, they can build a full-scale mock-up of the wall, but are currently hoping to raise $25,000 to begin the testing process (creating the primary-but-crucial filtration layer). As of this writing, the project has raised more than $35,000 through Kickstarter with eight more days to go, so there’s still time to invest. Eventually the team hopes to pass their tests, win approval from the city, and build it by 2012.

+POOL

+POOL KICKSTARTER PAGE

 

Catch a Cab to Workout

If you find yourself in China, you can catch a cab and get a workout at the same time. Touchmedia, China’s largest in-taxi interactive media company, launched a Mr. and Miss WOW Campaign last month to boost public health. The campaign has four parts, including an “In-taxi Workouts on Wheels,” which offers guided exercises for taxi passengers; along with ongoing health tips, a health survey and a WOW 45 Day Challenge.

So far more than 21,000 taxi passengers have applied for the 45 Day Challenge, while the survey has been completed more than 214,000 times. Continue reading Catch a Cab to Workout

Cycling That Could Make You Think

No doubt everyone who has gone out on a long ride has probably thought I need to shift, but something happens and you just don’t move the fingers in time. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could think about shifting and actually shift gears?

Parlee Cycles have reportedly developed a carbon fiber concept bicycle that actually uses brainwaves to do the shifting. The PXP bicycle also requires a special helmet equipped with neurotransmitters that read a rider’s brainwaves, while a wireless receiver on the seat post can receive the signals. It could open up a whole new concept – we think therefore we shift.

[Via Dvice.com: Change your bike’s gear shift with your brainwaves]

Pearl Izumi Brings Baggy Shorts for Biking

We understand that not everyone wants to wear Lycra shorts when cycling. There are times when riders don’t want the skintight shorts, but still would like the padding of cycling shorts. There are also times when longer shorts can be good too.

There have been no shortage of knicker length cycling tights, but now Peral Izumi has introduced the Launch line of baggy knicker shots. There promise to offer a little style, just enough padding and yet won’t sag while riding.

The Pearl Izumi Launch Knicker feature 4-way stretch, with plenty of pockets, as well as a datable liner with MTB 3D chamois, and adjustable interior waistband. There are snap and Velcro front closure with zip fly. Best of all these feature a longer cut that is good for those cool days around down, or just for looking cool on the trail.

Pearl Izumi Launch Knicker Official Website

Best Buy Has New Buds

Consumer electronics retail giant Best Buy has a new bud of sorts. The retailer’s venture capital arm, Best Buy Capital, led a $5.5 million series of B round of venture financing in Raleigh-based Valancell, the developer of mobile health and fitness earbud technology.

Valencell has created new technology to track physiological metrics such as heart rate, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled and speed. The data can be tracked in real time while the user listens to music or talks on the phone. Data can be streamed to smart phones or mp3 players through wired or wireless links, which would allow the user to use that personal information with training, coaching or fitness applications on mobile devices and online.

“People everywhere are listening to music while running and exercising,” CEO and co-founder Steven LeBoeuf said in a prepared statement. “Integrating heart rate sensors directly and seamlessly into music earbuds fits right into the behavior of consumers today.”

It was just late last year that Best Buy entered the fitness arena, and this could be further proof that the company is serious about sport and workout equipment being part of the offerings at its big box stores.

Valancell Official Website

Solar Panels to Aid Pedal Power

There are numerous bicycle assist aids that can help a rider when the going gets to be a bit too much. But the problem is that most of those require a battery charge or use some of fuel to propel that motor. Now Terry Hope, a Canadian inventor who created the Kinetic Photovoltaic Vehicle (KPV), might have a solution.

Hope’s KPV was a one-of-a-kind solar-electric suitcase, and could reportedly fit in a suitcase. Now Hope has taken this innovative technology and used it to craft the Solar Cross ebike, which would be great for riding on a sunny day – not just because it is nice to ride a bike on a sunny day, but also because the rays from the sun will help power the bicycle.

His creation is powered by panels made of eight-inch polycarbonate sheeting, aluminum and 18 x 6 x 6 mono crystalline cells. Holes were further drilled in the aluminum to cut down on the weight. Each cell puts out 3.8 to 4 watts, providing a combined 8.7 volts of electricity.

All told it is enough to help make a long ride in the hot sun seem not so long.

(Video after the Jump) Continue reading Solar Panels to Aid Pedal Power

Made in America: Annin Flags

It is July 4th, the day that we celebrate our independence and reflect upon what it means to be an American. Overall, most of us are proud of who we are as a nation and though we are going through some tough times we still take pride in our country. This is often seen in a subtle ways through the display of our flag on our porches, businesses, sporting complexes and government buildings; but our patriotism takes a more predominant presentation through people running up a mountain in France next to a pack of cyclists, a rowdy crowd at a FIFA World Cup game or wrapped around the back of an Olympic champion. But who makes these flags? Though it is dishearting to find a flag labeled ‘Made in China’, most U.S. flags are actually made in America.

One such company still producing flags in the U.S. is Annin Flagmakers. Based in New Jersey, Annin is the oldest and largest flag maker in the United States. The American flag was scarcely 70 years old in 1847 when brothers Benjamin and Edward Annin founded Annin Flagmakers flag–makers on Fulton Street in New York City. The business had begun with their father, Alexander Annin who had been sewing flags and supplying them to merchant ships from his sail-making shop on the New York City waterfront as far back as 1820. Annin grew throughout the years and had their greatest surges in production during times of elevated American patriotism. The Civil War, World War I, World War II, the addition of Alaska and Hawaii, and 9/11 all saw times of increased pride in our country and ultimately increased sales. Unfortunately there were slower times for the flag company too, particularly during the Vietnam War, but that was drought in sales was ended by our nation’s bi-centennial celebration.

In 2005, Annin Flagmakers joined with other domestic flag manufacturing companies and became a founding member of the Flag Manufacturers Association of America (FMAA). This industry organization is dedicated to promoting the manufacture of U.S. flags in America by Americans with domestically made fabric.

In Annin’s two largest domestic factories, US flags are manufactured with advanced cellular production techniques; state, international and custom flags are digitally and screen -dyed to exact color specifications; the in-house research and the development testing laboratories, together with the art department are constantly monitoring dye formulas. Our Distribution systems are in real-time synchronization compliance with customer requirements.

Presently, Annin Flagmakers is still family owned and operated by the Beard and Dennis families. On January 1, 2011 Carter Beard became the President and CEO of Annin Flagmakers. Carter and his cousin Sandy Dennis Van Lieu, Sr. Vice President, are supported by a strong team of managers, many of whom have over twenty to thirty years of experience with the company. Annin Flagmakers employs over 500 Americans and prides itself on the quality of its products and the experience of its people.

Next time you are looking for a flag to purchase for a sporting event that you are attending, check out where it is made. Along with supporting your favorite American athlete, you will also be supporting your fellow American.

Annin Flagmakers Official Website