aboutGolf Monitors Your Swing

For those who take their golf game seriously, and we mean seriously there is no substitute for hitting the driving range to improve your game. Well, there is the aboutGolf aG Studio, a new monitor and club tracking device that might make you want to hit the simulator rather than the range. This new, integrated device is powered by 3Trak, aboutGolf’s proprietary 3D, high-speed photography tracking technology.

It is designed for indoor use, and from the comfort of your own home (or other indoor virtual course) can provide data on ball speed, trajectory angle, distance, spin, club speed, angle of attack and horizontal path. The system is further equipped with 3Trak, so that the aG Studio “sees” like no other launch monitor. Continue reading aboutGolf Monitors Your Swing

Nike5 Collection Caters to Three Styles of ‘Futbol’

There’s a group that plays soccer in the North end of Central Park in New York City. They play until the grass wears bare, and there’s nothing left of the field except hard-packed dirt. We’ve wondered why they wear the field down to dirt, but it turns out they’re probably playing a variation of their favorite football, Sala. There’s three variations on football popular in Europe, Central America and North America. Those are cage, caneta and sala. Nike just introduced a collection of Nike5 shoes addressing each sport. Continue reading Nike5 Collection Caters to Three Styles of ‘Futbol’

Interbike 2010: GoPro Introduces 960p Camera, Goes to Third Dimension

You might remember the old Wide World of Sports opening that offered the line “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” In the last decade or so there have been a few different helmet-mounted video cameras that would allow you to film your own victories and defeats – let’s just hope the latter weren’t the final moments to boot.

Earlier this year we noted that GoPro camera had arrived and that with this mounted to the side of your helmet could make you feel like a hero. That’s because the guys at GoPro think light athletes, perform like athletes and know the demands that are required to capture those moments. You might get to watch a replay but you only have one chance to record it. Continue reading Interbike 2010: GoPro Introduces 960p Camera, Goes to Third Dimension

Interbike 2010: Fold and Change

Change is coming, and we hope this time it is actually means something. We’re not talking about anything political either, but rather the Change Folding Bike. We’ve seen a few folding bikes we like a lot, and we’ve seen a lot of folding bikes we don’t like at all. The Change is one that might actually “change” everything. It features the traditional diamond frame – with a few sexy curves thrown in for good measure – and more importantly this is one of those bikes that doesn’t offer tiny wheels and a messed up center of gravity. It offers full sized 26-inch tires, disc brakes, is compatible with standard bike parts and weights just around 11.5 Kg. Continue reading Interbike 2010: Fold and Change

Interbike: Purist About Water

The Purist bottle is the next best thing to glass.

Ever since Interbike we’re hooked on water. That’s because we found a bottle that you can sip clean, pure tasting water (at least as pure as our local water department supplies). Specialized introduced its Purist water bottle. It’s made from silicon dioxide, a material that allows it to mimic the natural behavior of the lotus flower. It doesn’t absorb the liquid contained inside. That means it leaves all the taste, flavor, smell and other properties of your drink for you to enjoy when you’re drinking it, not the next time you have another drink. Continue reading Interbike: Purist About Water

Interbike: For Women Doesn’t Mean Pink

Just because it’s pink, doesn’t mean it’s made with women in mind. That’s the feeling among bikers and the emphasis of a handful of “made for women” bike clothing companies. That doesn’t mean they don’t have a pink jersey or pair of socks in there. Here’s a few companies tailoring their gear just for the fairer sex.

Shorts are among the most important garments for cyclists. They must have padding, and they should have coverage enough so people don’t see whether you wear underwear or go bare underneath. We’ve had a pair or two that were too revealing. Tough Chik Woman’s Cycling Shorts are a six-panel style with a rear privacy liner to keep things to the imagination. They feature an E.S.P. Chamois, silicon gripper and tagless labeling so you don’t have the discomfort of a tag poking at you while you ride. This short is recommended for mid-distance rides. Continue reading Interbike: For Women Doesn’t Mean Pink

Interbike 2010: Lighted Brain Bucket

There was no shortage of helmets at Interbike this year, but one was hard to miss – mainly because it lighted up the booth and more. Leave it the Taiwanese to put an electronic fiber optic light into a cycling helmet, and actually make one worth even considering. Aegis could have just slapped a normal bike light on the back of a simple helmet and called it a day, but at the company developed a nice brain bucket that is ideal for commuting and other causal riding.

It features 19 large vents to help keep the head cool, while stainless steel mesh over the holes work to keep out insects and other objects. The shell is constructed of high impact PC, and the YKK clip and chinstrap ensure a nice tight fit. The LED light is powered by 2 AAA batteries and can flash for up to 120 hours, while the LED offers a lifetime up to 50,000 hours. It is EMS certified, so no worries about harmful electromagnetic waves frying the brain it was meant to protect.

Aegis Bicycle Helmets Official Website

Interbike: Kryptonite, Bike Revolution Create Groundswell Around Stolen Bikes

This QR code stuck to your bike will help locate it in the event of theft.

A bike shop owner we know in Harlem once saw one of his bikes ride by him. The bike had been stolen a year or two before the sighting. He grabbed the cyclist and learned the beat up yet high-end bike was just purchased for a suspiciously low sum of money and reclaimed his old friend. We know a few other people who have reclaimed their bikes from thieves, but it’s an action that needs to be undertaken with caution.

We advise you use caution when recovering your stolen bike, but some precaution and active social measures make finding your bike a real possibility. Kryptonite and Bike Revolution both teamed up to apply social networking to crowdsource the recovery of stolen bikes. Register your bike on U.K.-based bikerevolution.org with its make and serial number, it’s free. To take precautions a step further, purchase a Kryptonite Bike Revolution Bicycle ID Kit that includes anti-theft Pulse ID tags.

The kit includes a Pulse ID tag, a unique, tamper-resistant, weatherproof ID tag with its own QR code so anyone with a mobile phone and a downloaded program can scan and identify the tagged bicycle. The scanned tag links to the bike in Bike Revolution’s secure database, which tracks the status of the bike. If a bike is listed as stolen, Bike Revolution publishes information on the bike on its site and uses social networking tools to mobilize the community to search for the bike. Localized Stolen Bike alerts are sent to Bike Revolution’s followers on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Alerts are also sent to local authorities, bike shops, cycling clubs and other groups to be aware of the stolen bike.

That same Harlem shop owner has a bulletin board for community announcements but only posts his employee’s bikes for sale, and occasionally a trusted seller. He’s leery of helping sell a stolen bike. The Kryptonite Bike Revolution Bicycle ID Kit is somewhat like a community watch group to help find your stolen bike, but prevention is your first line of security. We still advocate locking a bike when leaving it unattended. May we suggest one of Kryptonite’s bike locks?

Bike Revolution official website and Twitter.

Kryptonite Locks official website and Twitter.

Interbike 2010: Steel Wheels for Rush Hour

Single speeds and fixies remain popular on the track and on the mean streets, yet few one gear cycles fit all need. Hipsters and urban dwellers want their stylish bikes, racers want a quick and responsive ride and messengers and commuters want a simple bike where little can go wrong.

Raleigh’s Rush Hour  is the bike you’ll be rushing to ride no matter which need you look to fill. It goes old school with a Reynold 520 butted chromoley steel frame left bare, fitting for a bike that has the bare minimum of parts too. Rather than trying to hide the beauty of the materials, it instead shows off the unfinished metal, offering a special clear coat protection finish to stop rust. The Rush Hour can be ridden on a track as a sleek racer, or used on the street as a truly one-of-a-kind bike where no two will be exactly alike.

Raleigh Rush Hour
$770
Raleigh USA

High Tech Glove That Makes Sense to Us

Golf isn’t exactly the most high-tech of sports. While there is much innovation in training, and of course in the development of the gear, some of the accessory products are essentially very low-tech. Shoes, attire and other apparel breath better, are made of our better materials and fabrics, but how do you innovate gloves?

Try adding a LED digital monitor. That’s the concept behind the Sensosulutions digital glove for golf. The SensoGlove is the world’s first golf glove with a built-in digital sensor that continuously reads a user’s grip pressure. This ensures a consistently accurate, smooth and powerful golf swing. The SensoGlove made of basic cabretta leather but goes high-tech as it is equipped with highly responsive sensors and it features a small, sweat-proof 1.2-inch LED monitor that analyzes the pressure of the swing. Continue reading High Tech Glove That Makes Sense to Us

Interbike 2010: Timex Ironman Lives Up to Its Name

Timex is a company that has a really solid reputation for making quality products, and with the new Ironman Global Trainer Bodylink System they’re raised the bar and then some. The core of the system is an all-in-one wristwatch, which at first glance is really large. We’re talking, “is that meant for a grandmother with poor vision” big, but this device is so loaded with features that it wouldn’t fit on a standard sized watch face.

The watch is powered by SiRFstarIII GPS technology so it requires no calibration for use with a bike or for running. With this it can calculate precise speed, pace and distance in real time, and measure location and altitude with ascent/descent distances and rates. For those who like to micromanage their workouts there is even the option to record 100 location waypoints for track back and create new routes – while up to 50 custom routes for pace tracking can be recalled.

We’re also impressed that this device, which runs on a rechargeable battery for up to 15 hours in GPS mode, offers four-window data displays, so you can check your pace, record multisport progress, see calories burned and summaries for up to 1,000 laps. Since this is a triathlon friendly device it is water-resistant to 50 meters, but it can’t track you under the water however.

Post workout is where this one keeps on ticking too. It offers the ability to wirelessly sync with online software powered by TrainingPeaks, and is compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems. It can be used with ANT+ heart rate and bike sensors as well.

During Interbike we were given a demo of what you can view on the computer, and you should plan to spend an extra half hour a day not working out, but going over your workout results, because there is just that much to see. The Timex Global Trainer Bodylink System will be available this month, priced from $249.99 to $299.95.

TimexIronman Official Website

Interbike 2010: You’ve Got the Whole World on Your Back

There is looking like a team player when riding, and then there is really showing your support. Or if you’re like us you just like flags a lot. That’s why we were seriously impressed by the cycling attire from World Jerseys. The company has a handsome line jerseys with international flags, so whether you’re a fond of a particular nation, or just happen to like the idea of being decked out in a flag, you can show your true colors – and many colors at that.

Each jersey is made of 100 percent polyester Euro-Mesh fabric to provide moisture wicking, whilst the lightweight material features an antimicrobial finish that resists odors and reduces germs. Now is your chance to fly the flag – such as the Spanish one pictured (in honor of Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of course).

World Jerseys