As warmer temperatures replace cooler ones, you have different reasons to cover up. In between seasons like spring and fall call for transitional layers. Arm warmers and leg warmers are good options since you can peel off the layers when you warm up.
In the summer heat, there’s no option to add or remove layers to beat the heat. That is unless you pull on one of Craft Apparel’s Body Control Coolers. While they have other garments, the arm coolers and leg coolers are a good choice. The Body Control Coolers feature a compression fit, super-cooling fabrics, silver ion technology and sun protection. Continue reading Cool It Down in Hotter Weather
It’s often difficult to find a bike rack. And when you do, your bike still takes up valuable space on the sidewalk. A German hobby supply company has the answer for you. A stand that raises the bicycle up a lamp post or other pole. So far, this is strictly a DIY project, but this company, Conrad, has the supplies and instructions for you to make your own. Check out how the mechanism works, and how it’s put together (in German).
This week bicycle component Sram announced its continued support for the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking & Walking. This is part of a new, three-year campaign to double federal funding for bicycling and walking by 2013. SRAM is backing this Advocacy Advance initiative by awarding up to $1.2 million to the League and Alliance over the next three years to unite active transportation advocates across the nation, and to give them tools and resources to secure even greater increased funding from existing federal transportation programs for crucial bike and pedestrian projects. Continue reading SRAM Joins With the Advocacy Advance Partnership
The makers of those little electric cars, Smart Cars, that fit in even the smallest parking space and go for miles on an electric charge are ready to introduce an even smaller mode of smart transportation. The Smart ebike has a four-level electric boost that charges as you brake. The ebike’s design is a solid frame with clean lines. The aluminum frame and all the bike’s components weigh in around 22 kilograms, making it a lightweight contender among electric bikes. Smart’s parent company Daimler went so far as to construct the frame so it suspends the rear wheel by large, sturdy aluminum profiles to eliminate struts that are typical for a similar bike. It also conceals the Bowden wires and cables so they don’t impede on the streamlined design.
Design elements lend way to technology on this ebike. The two-wheeler uses a belt drive instead of a chain, which minimizes maintenance and makes for a quieter ride. The belt drive demands a particular shape of the rear triangle. On this bike the geometry allows for a rear extension of one side of the triangle, which allows for the belt, a continuous loop, to be installed. Traditional frames require a cut somewhere in the rear triangle to outfit the bike.
Every time you shift into granny gear, don’t you wish you had a motor on your bike to kick in and help you up that hill? The Copenhagen wheel claims to do just that. Developed by a team of students at the SENSEable City Lab at MIT, the motor encases the rear hub of the wheel on your existing bike to give it power. The MIT team recently won the U.S. national round of the James Dyson award for the Copenhagen wheel. Continue reading Cycling Brakes for Energy Boost
Biking to work or cycling into town to meet a friend for lunch or run a few errands means compromise. You have to bring an extra pair of shoes or walk around in your cycling shoes and worry about your cleats getting scuffed and scuffing a few floors. KEEN now offers its popular Presidio women’s shoe (Austin in men’s) in its Pedal line. The lace-up passes for a casual office setting or even a light hike.
The SPD-compatible shoe has tread that extends further than the cleat. Therefore when walking you don’t need to worry about the metal scratching wood floors or getting ground up by the pavement. Even for more serious rides, it’s nice to step off the bike and be able to walk normally.
Video games such as Rock Band allow players to go on a virtual world tour, even if they’re not jamming in the same city, and first person shooters let players squad up from around the globe. These are just of the advances that gaming has brought to the social experience of virtual reality. Soon you might be able to take part in the Tour de France, or go on a bike tour in distant lands, and instead of faking it ala a game, you can get your sweat on while actually spinning.
At this year’s CeBIT in Germany, Paul Zernicke, a research at the Technical University in Berlin, demonstrated technology that combine an exercise bike with a wall-sized 3D Google Earth map that offered riders to take spins through Beijing’s Forbidden City as well as past the Great Pyramids of Egypt and even to the first stage of last year’s Tour de France.
The bike part offers the usual stuff such as tracking heart rate, calories burned and distance traveled while the VR part offers better scenery than just a TV show or the living room wall. Better still Zernicke promises that this can be more than just a visual travelogue from a bike seat, and offers that a competitive element could be added. So far he’s tested the system with up to six riders at a time.
The CompuTrainer Pro 3D
There are still questions to answer, such as whether you’d actually see your competition – or at least a generic version – added to your screen. And how much flexibility will it offer in where you ride? Otherwise, you’re just racing a clock and a fixed video. Still, this sounds like a great way to see the sights while getting a workout.
In the meantime, there are solutions available today such as the CompuTrainer Pro 3D by Wired Bike.com. It might not be quite as impressive as the technology shown at CeBIT, but it beats just ready a magazine or watching cartoons while you put in the in-door miles.
