Evolving Consumer: Happiness through shopping - electronics & fitness

Carry a Reservoir on Your Back

Dehydration on the trail is not an option. One, maybe two bottles tucked into cages on your bike only supply so much fluid. A backpack hydration system such as the Osprey Packs Hydraulics line Raptor Series gives you 2- and 3-liters of H20. The Raptor Series is focused on mountain biking and trail running, giving you a few pockets to stash gear in a streamlined design. Osprey puts a great deal of design into its pack.

Start with the water reservoir. Three of the four Raptor styles come with 3-liter reservoirs; the streamlined Raptor 6 has a 2-liter capacity. The reservoir is built with a plate that aligns with the contours of your back so the water doesn’t barrel. You won’t feel the shape of water as it all buckles at the bottom of the tank while you ride. The framework of the straps are constructed by perforated molded foam to create a lightweight and flexible support. The same foam is ridge molded to create a ventilated back panel. Lightweight webbing adds reinforcement surrounds both the straps and back panel. The A LidLock helmet clip straps through the vent holes on your helmet — when you’re off the bike — so the two stay together and ready to pick up and go. The bite valve rotates to an open and closed (no leak) position, and has a magnet so the sip portion stays in a handy location on your sternum strap instead of flying around with every bump on the trail.

Features are too many to go into. Research, trials, and serious evaluation went into the development of the Raptor Series hydration packs. Every pocket, strap, and tab is built for a specific need while the unnecessary bits of a backpack were left out to keep the pack lightweight and streamlined for a more enjoyable ride.

Osprey Raptor Series ($79 to $119)

Got 10 Minutes? Power Up the Wii

Commitment to working out is time consuming in itself. Just suiting up can take 10 or more minutes. That’s where 10 Minute Solution, a workout game for the Wii, really shines. A pair of five-minute, routines lets you squeeze in cardio time, and even a little ab workout to boot. The Wii version takes the popular 10 Minute Solution DVDs with fitness personality Jessica Smith to an interactive level. The start menu lets you select activities such as cardio boxing, step routines, and mixed games to get you into condition. Each program lasts five minutes, and the benefit of the Wii over the DVD version is the routines are anything but. The instructor selects moves dynamically rather than a practiced routine so it doesn’t get old.

Step things up with the Wii Balance Board to get you more active. The peripheral is not required, but gives you a platform to step on. Without the board the 10 Minute Solution doesn’t score on certain woukouts, but you’re in it for the cardio benefits, not a bunch of numbers. The Wii version also contains an ab workout, which is video taken from the DVD series and is talked about as a bonus. 10 Minute Solution for Wii has enough activity to get you in shape. The 10-minute workouts let you squeeze time in around your busy schedule, or between your kid’s game of Mario. Available at the end of May for a budget price of $19.99, a special bundle with one-pound weighted gloves will be available only at Costco in June.

10 Minute Solution for Wii

Mouth Guards: Now With More Absorption Power

When you sign up for a contact sport such as football, boxing, ice hockey, and wrestling you know you need a mouth guard, but do you realize how important it is? Not just to protect your pearly whites. “Ninety percent of concussions resulting in unconsciousness are caused by impact to the lower jaw,” says Joe Manzo, president of Brain-Pad, a company that offers a new mouth guard with more absorption power.

Brain-Pad’s new piece, the 3XS professional model (available at Wal-Mart and other retailers for $34.95) uses a patented technology and dual-protection system that offers 40 percent more absorption power than comparable models. The 3XS is a dual arch, bi-molar mouth guard that stabilizes the jaw in a neutral position, creating a safety space at the base of the skull that reduces the risk of jaw impact concussions and TMJ injuries. Traditionally mouth guards just protected the upper or lower teeth, but not both. The 3XS also opens the airway in the throat 100 percent, which allows you to breathe better, which is crucial to any sport.

Brain-Pad

The Pocket Knife Redesigned

This is not your father’s Swiss Army Knife. The Switch is a customizable tool created by crowd source product design company Quirky. The Switch is the framework of a multi-blade pocket knife and 18 tools you can insert into the frame. The tool comes with three interior axles. The small blade holds two-to-six attachments; medium holds four-to-10; and the large axle holds seven-to-13 tools. You can configure those you need from the attachments including a standard knife, pliers, scissors, nail file, tweezers, thin flathead screwdriver, Phillips-head screwdriver, eyeglass Phillips-head screwdriver, eyeglass flathead screwdriver, wood saw, serrated blade, corkscrew, combination bottle opener and flathead screwdriver, combination can opener and wire stripper, pen, magnifying glass, LED flashlight, and 1GB USB memory stick. Phew, that’s a tool for MacGyver. Set up the Switch for IT duty, or take a few tools such as the knife, wood saw, serrated blade, LED flashlight and a few other tools for your outdoor activities like your next camping trip or Kayak excursion.

Cast a Giant Shadow in Your Next Triathlon

Spring means that triathlon season is just around the corner, and if you’re looking to shave a few seconds on your time the Trinity Advanced SL from Giant could actually make a colossal difference. Of course this bike doesn’t come cheap, and dare we say that the starting price of $5,100 is large and with the addition of Shimano’s Electronic Shifting Di2 could go to a titanic $12,000.

The new shifters are just part of the cutting edge technology that makes the Trinity Advanced SL the triathlon bike of choice for serious competitors. While this system won’t actually do the shifting automatically, the electronic controls are extremely precise, which can make a huge difference when you’re racing against the clock. In fact, considering the sleek profile, and comfortable ride this bike has to offer you might not want to dismount and do the running part of that triathlon!

The Giant Trinity Advanced SL

Cage Fitness Next Big Thing

Time to take down the stripper pole – if you actually jumped on that strange bandwagon – because the fad is over. The next big thing in faddy fitness could be “Cage Fitness,” as in the type of training down for Mixed Martial Arts. And even if you’re not about to climb into the ring and/or cage to pummel your opponent, this type of workout probably has more benefits than the pole dancing craze that swept the nation.

For one thing, would you rather be toned and fit like an “ultimate fighter” or able to swing on a pole? But in all seriousness the Cage Fitness workout, such as the one being endorsed and tested by nine-time welterweight champion Matt Hughes, replicates the actual routines that the MMA competitors regularly go through. This includes a full body, muscle toning and cardio workout, and according to those promoting this workout, can be done in about 30 minutes.

While we’ve heard that hype before, this one does work endurance, strength, power and core, and is done through five rounds that are broken into warm-up, upper body, lower body, combo round and core/cool down. The catch is that you can’t really do this at home, so look for Cage Fitness facilities to pop up, and for MMA classes to be taught at the gym soon.

But if you want to give it a test on your own, Men’s Fitness offers a routine that you can test out.

New Bluetooth Spec Announced

While Wi-Fi and WiMAX get all the big hype, there is another popular wireless protocol that is still going strong. That of course is Bluetooth, the PLAN (or personal local area network) protocol. And now the technology is getting a Dick Tracy worthy makeover ala watches. These have been around for a while, but soon could be replacing other wireless technologies for broadcasting short distances.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced that the forthcoming Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0 will feature powerful low energy mode that could have new applications for health, sports and fitness as well as for security and home entertainment. This could mean that Bluetooth technology could be used for heart rate monitors, cycle computers, running computers and other devices that currently work on RF protocols. The benefit of Bluetooth is that it could send the information up to 200 feet, rather than just a few dozen inches. It could also work to transfer information from a monitor to a computer after a workout.

It could also be more reliable than RF, and for anyone that’s tried to get a heart rate monitor or cycle computer to sync right without interference knows how that can help make a work out all the more enjoyable.

Wii Fit for A Lawsuit

While we have long felt that video games really can’t be a substitute for “real” fitness, we do agree that the Wii Fit isn’t a bad place to start. Note the key word is “start.” And it seems that the fitness game is now the center of some interesting lawsuits. IA Labs of Potomac, Maryland is suing Nintendo over the Wii-Fit, claiming it has been “irreparably harmed” by Nintendo’s infringement of IA patents.

Harmed? Note that the company isn’t saying it got fat from a game masked as a fitness tool, but then we suppose it is claiming that it didn’t get fat in the wallet either. Even more curious is the fact that IA claims it actually had talks with Nintendo about licensing the technology to the Japanese console maker. Now the company is “fit” to be tied.

Via IGN

Building Women’s Rugby Teams

Women are flocking to join rugby teams now that it is an Olympic sport. The United States will play this August in the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England. A recent New York Times article talks about college and youth teams, and how women are migrating from sports such as basketball, volleyball, and softball to the contact sport of Rugby.

Coaches have to get their teams in competitive form to play in these competitions. One men’s team in the U.K., Mike Ford, uses his laptop to view video clips and select the highlights to go over with the team rather than have players sit through playback of full games or even full plays from numerous videos. This maximizes training time giving players a chance to see the moves that work, and the ones that don’t. It also gives them more time on the field to get into condition.

Aluminum vs. Wood: Are Non-Wood Bats Too Dangerous?

aluminum vs. wood bats — Do aluminum bats give an unfair advantage, and more importantly are these bats potentially dangerous?

If you’re a fan of Major League Baseball you know that “crack” sound all too well. It is the sound of the bat making contact with the ball. But it is a sound that is often lacking in high school baseball, where aluminum and other metal – as well as other space age materials – are also allowed. Some are claiming that these lighter bats mean that there is an increase in the exit speed that could be considered dangerous. In fact, in recent years there have been incidents of injuries of players.

As a result the National Federation of State High School Associations has adopted new guidelines that will come into affect in 2012 on the performance of non-wooden bats. While still not allowed in the majors, aluminum bats were introduced in 1971 as a cheap alternative to wood – although the earliest metal bat was patented in 1924. The majors have never allowed anything but wooden bats, citing competitive and safety reasons, but since the 1970s aluminum bats have been popular with little league and amateur baseball, including at the high school and college level.

The irony is that while aluminum was often a cheaper alternative to a quality wooden bat, advances including titanium bats, lightest grade but still strong aluminum Louisville Sluggers and even double walled bats, and finally composite bats have given players the edge – but at a cost. Today a good wooden bat might cost $50 to $70, while the most advanced bats can cost $400 or more! The argument for aluminum is that it is nearly impossible to break and thus worth the extra money; that and the fact that it can give a performance edge.

Of course safety is what matters most. An advantage in performance not only endangers the other players, but it can spoil the nature of the game.

Space Age Water Ski

Every speedboat owner has a pair of water skis. When friends come to visit the speedboat tour of the lake includes a spin on the skis. But those who take their water skiing more seriously may want to look into Goode water skis made from aerospace carbon fiber composite. The skis are lighter at less than 3 lbs.

Goode’s 99 SL Wide-Ride offers a wide forebody design to give added support at the buoy. The skiis feature an asymmetric design to eliminate having an “off-side” turn. Pair this or any model with Goode’s PowerShell boots, which look more like snow ski boots than the standard rubber boot of water skis, and you’re on your way to competition. The PowerShell boots aren’t a safety binding, but they offer more ability to hold your foot stead on the skis while still providing control.

Goode water skis

On Your Bike

That’s the name of a bike store chain in the U.K. But now Cannondale has released OnBikemade using the case closed technology used in the ON Concept bike shown at Eurobike 2007. What’s ON? It uses the System Integrated Chain Case Technology where the chain case is a single sided, fully enclosed structural part of the frame. Benefits are many. Fewer moving parts means fewer parts to go wrong. The enclosed chain structure protects the parts that move from collecting dirt and grime, which can cause failure. Fewer parts and enclosed parts means fewer parts to steal if you lock your bike up on the street.

Cannondale OnBike Limited Edition

CannonDale OnBike

Cycle Computing Gets a New Design

In the bright sun, in a competitive road race, it can be difficult to read your cycle computer. And even harder to change the display. The Polar CS500 remedies that with a large diamond-shaped display and rocker switch operation. The computer mounts to any bike with a reinforced composite metal dual lock bike mount. In the mount the computer can be adjusted with the tap of your thumb with the two-way rocker switch. Toggle the display to track speed, distance, cadence, heart rate, calories burned, incline, altitude, ascent and descent and temperature. What the CS500 lacks is a GPS reading, which competitive cycle computers from Garmin and other manufacturers provide.

The CS500 is compatible with Polar’s W.I.N.D. technology, which eliminates the issue of data drop-outs or cross-talk between cycling computers and also includes 2.4 GHz transmission. The computer can be customized and used on up to three different bikes, and has a drink reminder that alerts you to hydrate on those long rides.

A bit pricey, the CS500 is for serious riders, mainly those who race. The base set includes the handlebar unit, WearLink W.I.N.D. fabric chest strap, CS speed sensor W.I.N.D., and Dual Lock Bike Mount for $319.95. The CS500 cadence set is $359.95, the Power Output Sensor W.I.N.D. is available as a separate accessory for $359.95, and DataLink, which connects wirelessly to your computer can be added on for $54.95.

Polar