Specialized Jumps on the Eco-Wagon

A few weeks back, we mentioned that Trek was going to be recycling carbon fiber bicycle frames as carbon fiber is not as “green” as all metal bike frames. Now it appears that Specialized, the manufacturer that created the frame that Alberto Contador just rode to victory in the Giro d’Italia, is creating their own environmental initiative. Some carbon fiber breaks can be repaired, but when is comes to the end of the line, carbon fiber is not a material that can easily be recycled.

This week Bicycle Retailer reported that Specialized has launched a comprehensive sustainability initiative by incorporating Outdoor Industry Association Eco-Index evaluation of their products during product creation, and leading a carbon fiber recycling coalition. Specialized has become the first major industry member to join the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) Eco-Index—a comprehensive system for evaluating and improving the environmental footprint of products during the design stage. Continue reading Specialized Jumps on the Eco-Wagon

First Look: adidas So Cool

There is no denying that adidas has some cool shoes, but now the company proves it really knows cool with the ClimaCool Ride, ideal shoes for spring and summer running. This shoes provide 360 degrees of ventilation. The shoes feature suede overlays for lockdown performance, non-woven fabric for comfort and breathability and injected EVA tooling with maximum flexibility and breathability, plus perforated sockliner for even increased breathability. In other words these shoes look cool and will keep your feet cool.

Out of the box we’re impressed by the lightweight design. In our hands on testing these shoes felt like walking (and light jogging) on a cloud. Check back next week for a full hands on of the adidas ClimaCool Ride, and in the mean time enjoy a video with David Beckham.

(Video after the jump) Continue reading First Look: adidas So Cool

Finish Line Crosses the Line Into Recyclable Bottles

When you’re done with that bottle of bike lube, do you wonder if you can recycle? Finish Line Technologies just made the switch to polyetheline terephthalate plastic, or PET, for its bottles. That includes Finish Line’s Ceramic WET Lube; Ceramic WAX Lube; Dry Lube made with Teflon Flouropolymer; WET Lubricant; 1-Step Cleaner and Lubricant and Ceramic Grease products.

The company used PET for its stability. The material provides improved barrier permeability, preventing paneling and the loss of product due to evaporation through the bottle walls. The barrier protection protects the stability of the formulations inside, and increases shelf life. Continue reading Finish Line Crosses the Line Into Recyclable Bottles

Small Bike Frame Builder Offers Some Big Options

Bespoke (adj – \bi-‘spok, be-\), from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, meaning ‘dealing in or producing custom-made articles’. There is a bicycle frame builder in Boulder, Colorado doing just that – handcrafting some of the finest custom bicycle frames around.

Mosaic Cycles, based in Boulder, Colorado is producing custom bicycle frames with a list of options typically are not available from the larger manufacturers. Working in steel and titanium, owner and frame builder, Aaron Barcheck has been producing custom bike frames since 2009. As a former fabricator with Dean Titanium Bicycles for seven years, Aaron is building frames at or above some manufacturers that have been fabricating for decades.

As I was making my way through the booths at the Boulder Bike Swap this past weekend at the Boulder Indoor Cycling facility, I was able to see Aaron’s work firsthand and meet the builder. Having been to plenty of trade shows and swaps, it is easy to just stroll right by a booth if nothing of interest jumps out. What caught my attention was all of the different bikes with the Mosaic name that were constructed using different techniques. Continue reading Small Bike Frame Builder Offers Some Big Options

Sun Powered Golf Carts

Golf courses are designed to actually offer little in the way of shade, which is what you’d expect with the fairway and the green. But it is also means that solar power should be a no brainer.

Apparently Coconut Creek-based SolarCarts has seen that solar power is a bright idea for the transportation used on the golf courses. The company is the designer and manufacturer of solar energy retrofits for golf cars, and this week announced the launch of The Sun Eagle, a solar roof that transforms electric golf carts into solar-powered hybrid carts. Continue reading Sun Powered Golf Carts

Are You a Big Kid?

A Big Wheel for adults…it seems so childish. What adult would ride one and who would make such a thing? It seems like such a ridiculous idea until you ride a High Roller Big Wheel. The High Roller is the brain child of Matt Armbruster, aka Captain Obvious, who back in 1991 after a really bad day at the University of Colorado decided to get a group of people together to ride big wheels to the mall in Boulder, Colorado. Since then, Captain Obvious has been organizing “The Almost Annual Matt Armbruster Memorial Big Wheel Rally” in Boulder every spring and fall. Continue reading Are You a Big Kid?

No More Yelling “On Your Left” – Verbal Bike Bell Does It For You

If you ride on bike paths, in a large urban park or even on bike lanes, chances are you yell “On your left” at least once a ride. The alternative is a bell, but who wants to put a bell on their road bike or time trial bike? Shouting is good, but on a long ride can leave you more winded than the pedaling.

How about a Verbal Bicycle Bell? This can offer up to a 20-second recording, and features a 44mm speaker that plays messages at about 80 decibels – so it is audible over most ambient noise.

Of course this does need three LR44 batteries and is actually bigger than a bell, and will add about 2 1/3 ounces to your bike. Finally, this is the sort of thing that you’ll get at Hammacher Schlemmer rather than a bike shop, and at $24.95 you could probably use the money for something else – might we recommend the Bicycle Speakerphone that the shop also offers.

Seriously, it is a gimmicky device, but it is so silly that it might just be worth the $25 to impress your friends and seriously annoy all those you want to pass.

The Verbal Bicycle Bell at Hammacher Schlemmer
[Via Besportier: Verbal Bicycle Bell Very Effective Car Horn]

SensoGlove Partners With Golf Schools and PGA Instructors

A year ago we had just heard about SensoGlove, and this week Sensolutions, the maker of innovative IT systems for sports analysis, motion and performance measurement has announced that it has partnered with 20 golf schools and PGA professional instructors across the world to glove up.

The SensoGlove, the world’s first digital golf glove, will be used as a training tool to help correct the dreaded golf club “death grip” and help get golfers attuned to making more accurate and powerful golf swings.

“Many of the students we teach at our golf school struggle with grip pressure. More than 90 percent of our students grip the club too tight,” said Mark Durland, Director of Instructions at Naples Grande Golf Club, Naples, FL. “Until now, it has been a challenge to communicate proper grip pressure to a student. SensoGlove gives the student immediate feedback and creates a feeling of the proper grip pressure. I recommend SensoGlove to any student.” Continue reading SensoGlove Partners With Golf Schools and PGA Instructors

Tri(ing) to Reduce the Hassle of Racing

Traveling or shipping a bicycle to an event can be a major hassle and expense. There is the time that it takes to find a box; disassembly/reassembly (twice); shipping through a carrier like FedEx or bringing it on the plane; insuring your bike; and praying that will see your bike in one piece or for that matter…ever again! Triathletes rejoice – now there is another option. Three seasoned triathletes, Erol Sarikaya, Jeffrey Goldberger and Jeff Mark, have launched a new company to rent high-end triathlon bikes that are race-day ready and onsite at certain events.

Their company, Tri-Cycle Rentals, offers a race-day ready fleet of Orbea bikes for rent that athletes pick up at the race venue. Riders reserve the bike online, show up at the event to check out the bike, get fitted on it, then return the bike afterward at the race expo or transition area. Continue reading Tri(ing) to Reduce the Hassle of Racing

Próis Offers Feminine Cut Vest

Female shooters don’t have to wear ill-fitting or bulky shooting attire any longer. Próis Hunting and Field Apparel recognizes that most shooting clothing is designed for more masculine shooters, and has addressed with it with its new Próis Competitor Shooters Vest.

The sleek-looking Próis Competitor Shooters Vest is constructed with a feminine cut, so it falls and fits perfectly. Also adding to the comfort and function of this vest are adjustable cam straps and a buckle at the waistline. It also doesn’t cut back on the features with this new cut. It boasts unique bilateral shoulder padding tailored to protect both sides whether you’re a left or right dominant shooter.

Additionally, interior pockets behind the padding allow shooters to insert recoil pads. Front expandable cargo pockets with magnetic closures makes holding and accessing shells a snap. Plus, the rear mesh pouch is great for housing spent hulls, while an embedded zipper releases them with a quick and simple ‘pull’.

The vest will be available in both black and khaki this summer for athletic female shooter!

Próis Hunting and Field Apparel Official Website

3T Enters the Next 50 Years on New Wheels

The name 3T, formerly known as TTT, has been making high-end cycling components since 1961. On the year of its 50th birthday, this Italian icon has decided to launch an all new product line – complete wheelsets. Two new clincher wheels, the Mercurio and the Accelero both benefit from clean-sheet whole-system design: key performance measures of aerodynamics, weight, inertia, strength, stiffness, and braking equal or exceed the best available; patented hub provides easy maintenance and cassette interchangeability.

TTT (now 3T) was founded by Mario Dedioniggi in 1961 in Torino. 3T handlebars and stems quickly became popular with Italian racing cyclists, and by 1970 they were in widespread use in the professional peloton. 3T was among the first cycle component manufacturers to switch production from steel to aluminum alloys. The firm worked closely with pro racers to refine handlebar design. 3T ‘bends’ took their name from the champions of the era – Merckx, Saronni, Moser, and Gimondi. Continue reading 3T Enters the Next 50 Years on New Wheels

Keep Riding in Focus

For years there has been corrective lenses available for those who are active in sports that could be purchased from most optometrists at a premium price. If you do not require corrective lens to see the road ahead of you, but are finding that when you look down at your cycling computer you can no long read the small numbers, there is a new option out there for you. Dual Power Eyewear is a company started by industry veteran Louis Viggio out of Boulder, Colorado that just launched a new line of eyewear, similar to bifocals, to address this issue.

Viggio founded Dual Power Eyewear after discovering that he could no longer read the small numbers on his bike computer and cell phone when out for a ride. After checking local bike shops and sports stores he found plenty of sunglasses, but nothing that addressed this issue.

Dual Power Eyewear launches with three styles, the Dual V6, S4, and SL2. Each model is available in two lens colors (smoke or brown) and feature impact resistant TR90 frames, shatterproof and scratch-resistant polycarbonate lenses, and a discrete +1.5, +2.0, or +2.5 Optimized Magnification Zone.

Dual Power Eyewear is intended to be sold at retailers in a similar manner to how reading glasses are sold at most pharmacies. The consumer picks the style and magnification that meets the level of correction, and simple purchases them at the register – no prescription needed. Continue reading Keep Riding in Focus

Kinetic(Mis)Shift: Sit Down Water Skis

OK, who wouldn’t like to hit the lake on a hot day? Water skiing is a sport that takes a certain skill, but apparently the makers of the Ski Seat think otherwise. No skill needed, just sit down and let the boat tow you along. While we could see benefits for those individuals who wouldn’t otherwise be able to water ski, for the basic “just not fit crowd,” we have to ask, why not just sit in the kiddie pool instead, and leave the water skis to those who don’t mind working for it?

Kinetic(Mis)Shift are products that we think deserve to be called out for their utter lack of fitness benefits