StreetFlyer: Almost Like Flying But Not Really

It was really tempting to file this one under Kinetic(Mis)Shift. What we have here is a device that suspends the user over the ground to provide the sensation of flying but without the worry of getting airsick – or crashing. This three-wheeled human-powered vehicle, called a StreetFlyer, is the brain child of Dr. Carsten Mehring and it works by letting the “rider” feel like he or she is flying after they gain enough momentum to life the legs off the ground.

Since the user is just a few feet above the ground there is no worry about a crash. But as the user is just a few feet above the ground does it really feel like flying? You be the judge.

[Via Gizmag: StreetFlyer: hang-gliding on three-wheels]

 

LED on Board

Take a simple device and add some LED lights and suddenly it is better. That’s sort of the idea behind the new Flexdex skateboards. The California-based skateboard company is attempted to shed some illumination on the skating scene with its new light board.

Their flagship model is the Clear29 LT longboard, which features a “clear as glass” polycarbonate frame that is lighted up – while not exactly lightened up – with a strip of LED lights that are powered by a 9-volt battery. The effect is further enhanced by the deck’s translucent wheels, while riders have a choice of blue, green, white, orange and of course red boards. So even if you can grind like the best of them, you can light it up for the rest to follow.

Flexdex Official Website

Hands On: DZNuts Bald Super Smooth Shaving Cream

Cyclists are known for their smooth legs. But sometimes the same old tools don’t quite cut it. Or should I say the same old tools such as men’s razor and standard shaving cream actually do cut. I won’t share a razor with my husband, but I do make sure he has a women’s razor at the start (and throughout) the season. The women’s razor glides around the muscles, tendons and knees on the legs that can be a danger zone for cuts.

Another tool that needs special selection is shaving cream. You can get away with a can of something foamy, but dznuts bald super smooth shaving cream gives you a much closer, smoother shave. I’ve been using it for a while now and I find that my legs are smooth and I shave a little less often these days. Of course, it’s winter. As the weather gets nicer and I go out for rides I’ll up the frequency of my shaves. Continue reading Hands On: DZNuts Bald Super Smooth Shaving Cream

With the Sun Shining, Don’t Forget the Shades

The TV series South Park remains famous – or is it infamous – for the line “don’t forget to bring a towel,” but actually what’s more important than something to dry off with is something to protect the eyes. As winter heads into its last month, it is time for spring break and now comes the time to remember that if you’re heading outside you should be sure to bring sun glasses. In other words, if the sun is out you need shades for the eyes.

Excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation over a short period of time can cause photokeratitis, which is like sunburn of the eyes.  Symptoms include painful, red eyes, extreme sensitivity to light, excessive tearing and a foreign body sensation. Photokeratitis rarely causes permanent damage, but long-term exposure to the sun can be more harmful. Continue reading With the Sun Shining, Don’t Forget the Shades

Hands On: Udderly Smooth Chamois Cream

If you’ve spent any time on the saddle you know that the chamois padding in your shorts, no matter how good, leave a little protection to be desired. While I’m waiting for the cycling season to begin, I had use for chamois cream over the winter.

I spent some time on my spinning bike in the off season, and even a few minutes on the stationary bike can add up to what feels like hours on the trail. I made spinning a little more comfortable with Udderly Smooth Chamois Cream. The cream is made with shea butter, and says it’s a greaseless formula. Continue reading Hands On: Udderly Smooth Chamois Cream

New Brain Bucket Developed for Little League, Introduced at “The Dome”

 

For years batters have walked up to the plate whilst wearing protective headgear. Now soon pitchers may be required to take the mount with helmets on as well. This wee Easton-Bell Sports announced the development of new headgear at the Helmet Technology Center, internally known as “The Dome.”

Easton-Bell Sports CEO Paul Harrington, along with Little League International President Stephen Keener, California Interscholastic Federation Executive Director Marie Ishida and Marin County high school baseball player Gunnar Sandberg in Scotts Valley, introduced a new helmet prototype. The Easton-Bell Sports pitching helmet prototype uses lightweight energy managing materials to provide protection to the most vulnerable areas of the head, without compromising comfort or performance. The helmet is made of expanded polystyrene polycarbonate, which is attached to a comfortable liner and elastic strap. Continue reading New Brain Bucket Developed for Little League, Introduced at “The Dome”

Melting Plastic Concerns

For the past several years we’ve been warned about plastics. Studies and other sources say plastics made with a BPA material can produce chemicals having estrogenic activity (EA) that can leach into foods. A whole industry of BPA-free plastics was created and now thrives, while justified, on our fears.

A new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the U.S. National Instutute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health and Department of Health and Human Services. The study’s objective: “To determine whether commercially available plastic resins and products, including baby bottles and other products advertised as BPA-free, release chemicals having EA.”

The study finds that “Almost all commercially available plastic products we sampled, independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source, leached chemicals having reliably-detectable EA, including those advertised as BPA-free. In some cases, BPA-free products released chemicals having more EA than BPA-containing products.”

Before you go buy a stainless-steel canteen and figure out how to incorporate it into your workout, there are a few facts to make clear. The study, as published, is credited to CZ Yang, SI Yaniger, VC Jordan, and GD Bittner. NPR published an article on the study, which offers a history that George Bittner is a professor of biology at the University of Texas, Austin. Bittner also founded the company, CertiChem, that did the testing for the study. That starts to raise a red flag, but it’s not uncommon for professors to be involved in outside companies that are ancillary to their academic work. So we should be concerned about all plastics again, regardless of whether they contain BPA or are free of the substance.

Wait. The graphic in the NPR story is a photo of two bottles from a company called PlastiPure. The caption says “PlastiPure manufactures water bottles that it says have no estrogenic chemicals.” No other mention of PlastiPure occurs in the story. Two days later a follow-up story on NPR titled “Plastic’s New Frontier: No Scary Chemicals” touts PlastiPure for its efforts in manufacturing plastics that have no EA properties, unlike ALL other plastics. The article mentions “This week, scientists from Plastipure and its sister company, CertiChem, published a study of more than 450 plastic products, including many labeled BPA-free. It found that more than 90 percent released chemicals that mimic estrogen.”

Wait! The company that conducted the study is so closely tied to the company claiming to be the savior of plastics. Both were founded by George Bittner, Ph.D. and share several other executives, as does the contributor list on the study.

While the research is important, its validity is in question here. Independent research should be done before we worry about all those BPA-free plastics. It’s easy to pull 450 plastic products for testing and still purposely avoid some candidates because you know they’ll be free of EA, so that your study can pave the path for your PlastiPure company. It’s also astounding that PlastiPure’s web site makes claims such as “PlastiPure is the first and only company developing plastic materials, processes, and products that are safer both for humans and the environment.”

While the study has to be observed, and now we don’t know which plastics are safe and which are not, there are safer bets than others. Companies do test their products rigorously, which the study tries to negate. Check out our water bottle round-up, and read about the research and development behind Specialized’s Purist bottle made from silicon dioxide.

Map to Center of Nutrition

The path to better nutrition is clear. This week MapMyFITNESS, the innovators of web and mobile health and fitness-related software applications, announced the launched its new Nutrition Center. This is a comprehensive resource aimed at helping MapMyFITNESS members get better educated about their food choices and more committed to their nutrition and weight loss goals.

The Nutrition Center features a personalized nutrition dashboard that provides members with a snapshot of their daily caloric budget, consumption and the amount of calories they’ve burned in their workouts, as well as daily water consumption calculator. The center further allows members to track what they eat in the way of meals and snacks to a food log for daily food intake tracking. The site provides searchable database of thousands of foods based on USDA data, and even a “My Favorites” component that gives members the ability to save frequently consumed foods for easy addition to their Food Logs.

“Our Nutrition Center is another innovative and powerful MapMyFITNESS tool aimed at helping our members live healthier and more active lives,” said Robin J. Thurston, chief executive officer of MapMyFITNESS. “Historically, we’ve provided users with the practical tools and content they needed to achieve better fitness; the Nutrition Center ups the ante and delivers a great complement to our existing web and mobile technologies as it provides members with the information and tools they need to make smarter food choices and eat healthier.”

Additionally, new functionality will be rolled out in the coming months to allow members to create new foods to be added to the Nutrition Center’s food database and the option to dial in a more personalized calorie budget. Since the release, MapMyFITNESS members have logged over 100,000 different foods in the Food Log; the entries logged to date suggest members already strive toward healthy eating habits as bananas and apples have been the most entered foods.

MapMyFitness Official Website

League of American Bicyclists Calls for Solutions During National Bike Summit

This week is the League of American Bicyclists’ National Bike Summit taking place March 8-10 in Washington, D.C. as an effort to help the advancement of bicycling in our nation’s transportation and health agenda.

“Summit attendees will be reminding their representatives about the direct value of enhancements, safe routes, recreational trails and other Federally-funded projects,” said League President Andy Clarke. “More than 700 cycling advocates, supporters and industry executives are coming to D.C. to emphasize the importance of bicycling to new and current members of Congress. Bicycling offers an excellent return on Federal investment, in terms of jobs, economic growth, and a healthier America.”

Among those speaking this week will be Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who has been instrumental in the Bike Summit’s 11 year history, as well as Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Robin Schepper, Executive Director of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

League of American Bicyclists Official Website

Wind Tunnel Testing Not Just Full of Hot Air

Wind tunnels have long been a key research tool used in aerodynamic research, and is a way to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.  Among the most common uses has been for airplanes, although the first wind tunnels actually date back to the 18th century – long before man believed it possible to achieve flight. But without a wind tunnel the Wright brothers probably couldn’t have developed their first aeroplane.

Today computer models have begun to replicate much of what a wind tunnel can do, but despite this fact wind tunnels remain relevant tools for testing. This is notable in the fitness world with bicycles. In fact, according to some developers wind tunnel testing is actually becoming more and more important. Canadian bicycle manufacturer Cervélo has released its latest findings from tunnel testing of its latest line of bikes.

The company reportedly has 14 years of wind tunnel experience, and called in JT Lyons of Slowtwitch.com to watch, document and input all of the testing procedures, which the company has since published online. According to these findings the Cervélo P4 is the fastest bike available – with or without its proprietary areo bottle. The study is interesting, and despite being somewhat detailed, certainly isn’t long winded in the least.

Slowtwich.com: P4 in the Tunnel

Clever Protection for Gadget Users on the Go

We’ve seen some protective packs for handheld devices recently, and now comes another one that is downright “clever.” Four years ago, stay-at-home mom Karen McElaney, along with Colleen Gallagher, convinced the idea of using a protective and disposable poly plastic sleeve to protect devices from water, sand and other corrosive materials. Better still, the RingerWraps from CleverWraps allow the devices to remain completely functional.

Users can still type away on the keyboard, make calls, and even snap away photos. The RingerWraps feature a zip closure for protection and a re-sealable tape for a custom fit. They even come in three sizes: small for the iPhone, BlackBerry and HTC Incredible handsets; medium for Motorola Razr and various flip phones; and large for handsets and devices such as the Motorola Droid and LG enV.

We also like the fact that the wraps are disposable, because while we admit that it means another plastic bag in a landfill, it is a lot better than seeing a phone ruined if it should get wet or full of sand. A little sleeve of plastic is a small price to pay to protect a handset or other small device safe from grease, grim, sand and snow.

CleverWraps Official Website

Urban Bikes Could See New Riders as Gas Prices Rise

2011 unfortunately looks like a replay of 2008 when gasoline prices hit an all time high in the United States. The cost to fill up the tank in the car resulted in many people looking to alternative options to get to work, to the store and just about everywhere else.

The bicycle manufacturers also listened and took note, and ironically are ready this time with a whole new segment of urban bicycles that are ready to get riders from point A to point B and just about anywhere else. Fortunately, too many cities are working to become more bicycle friendly. Continue reading Urban Bikes Could See New Riders as Gas Prices Rise

Bike Trailer for Urban Riders

Whether you’re a regular commuter or just need to use the bike to haul something every once in a while, there is the issue of how to do it. Whilst bike messengers have mastered the art of carrying large bulky items in a shoulder bag, the truth is that for most riders this is a recipe for disaster. A trip to the grocery store with bags slung over the handlebars can result in a trip to the emergency room or worse!

The best solution is a trailer. Our friends at BikeRadar.com have just written up a quick review of the Burley Travoy Urban Trailer System, which is the latest Travoy trailer system. It has a load capacity of 27.2kg (60 pounds), and is stable even when fully loaded, and well balanced off the bike.

The review does note that there isn’t a safety lease, which is a problem if it should become detached from the bike, and the hitch mounting only connects to the seatpost. These issues are minor for most riders, and we like the fact that it provides a good alternative to those who need more than a pocketful of items when they go for a ride.

[Via BikeRadar.com: Burley Travoy Urban Trailer System Review]