I'm going to post this for an old friend who I think of often, but never get a chance to really catch up with... Yes that's you Ted...
If you are a bike fan, or you want to try the new experience for the Unicycle? Give the Coker Cycles's V2 Unicycle a try; it features a patented design described as a 'QuadCrown' construction. Coker Cycles uses 48 spokes, the fully dressed V2 weighs less than 20 pounds. Coker has also added enhancements for the unicycles including a touring handlebar. Unicyclists can ride in a variety of ways including freestyle and off-road, with some riders reportedly capable of going approximately 22 miles per hour.
Price: $570 BUY
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Coker Cycles Unicycle
Geek Caffeine Themed Design - Something to add to your wish list...
Created by Taiwan’s MOD Design, Reset Cups are larger-than-life versions of the “Ctrl-Alt-Del” keys, typically used to reboot or login to your Windows PC. Each set of three key cups ship with a matching circuit-board embossed tray (which sort of reminds me of TRON for some reason). MOD will be making them in both a white-on-black and black-on-white version, so you can match them with the color of your keyboard.
Other than the fact that MOD showed off the Reset Cups at the recent Maison + Objet design show in Paris, there’s no further information on when or where you’ll be able to buy these yet. I guess for now, you’ll have to settle for pressing the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys on your PC over and over again.
[via Electric Pig via The Daily Dairy]
Monday, October 27, 2008
DIY SpokePOV System Lights Up Your Bike in Support for Obama
Past generations decked out their bike spokes with playing cards, this generation is doing it with LEDs. One of the best examples so far comes from a Flickr user that utilized six SpokePOV kits to turn his bicycle wheel into a stunning, illuminated Obama logo.
If you would like to do a little campaigning of your own, all of the .dat files necessary to reproduce the effect are available on Aneel's Flickr site.
Naturally, you can customize it to endorse whichever candidate you choose. Either way, it definitely makes a statement.
[Aneel's Flickr Page via Make via Likecool]
Sunday, October 26, 2008
President-o-lanterns? Are you kidding?
Campaign-o-lanterns: Presidential election pumpkin patterns
Now you can print these presidential candidates .PDF patterns(includes their parties and spouses), and cut the President lanterns to show your political choices...
Somehow the kids just didn't understand these choices, come to think of it, I'm not sure if I understand them...
7-Eleven Election 2008
7-Election Coffee drinkers weigh in on the '08 US Presidential race with every coffee purchase by choosing between a Obama cup of coffee and a McCain cup of coffee at U.S. 7 Eleven stores. Which coffee you will buy? Current Tally: Obrama Vs McCain is 59.68% : 40.32%.
Are you to busy/lazy to leave your desk for another cup of coffee?
If so then this is a new product just for you...
If you want to have the coffee and without leaving your chair?
This Desktop Coffee Maker(GBP 20; about $35) is a smart little device will make two cups of coffee in one time and without leaving your desk. It aslo comes with two small mugs.
It is fabulously compact, fuss-free Desktop Coffee Maker, it is designed to let you enjoy your own coffee, without having to brew up for the whole office.
Taga - Urban Family Biking
I just saw the Zigo Leader Carrier Bicycle, now you can consider this Urban Family Biking. The Taga($TBA) is a new style of bike, combines the the benefits of a premium stroller and a carrier bicycle to create a new transportation modality. It just scored a Eurobike 2008 Award and the Kind and Jugend Innovation Award.
Down Low Glow Turns Bikes into Low Riders
The Down Low Glow is a bright tube light for your bike. You strap it on to the bottom of the frame and it puts your ride right in the center of a pool of neon light. Apart from making your bike look like a lowrider, the $110 kit actually makes you safer.
Regular bike lights, whether they blink or burn bright, only shine forwards and back. The Down Low Glow adds a third dimension, making you visible from the side. The light (available in five colors, including hot, hot pink) also marks your territory -- the glow on the ground marks out your space on the road and car drivers keep out, meaning you won't get clocked with the wing-mirror when they pass.
According to the FAQ, the lights are neither waterproof (although they try) or burglar-proof. The batteries are rechargeable lithium ion, so at least they're not affected by the cold, although the lamps may take a little longer to warm up. But if you live in a cold, dry town with low crime rates and a lot of drunken driving, these might be just the thing.
Product page [Rock the Bike via Cool Tools]
vel'oh! Luxembourg City Gets a Bike Sharing System
A new bike sharing system, vel'oh!, has been put into action, this time in Luxembourg city, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Europe.
For a city that is quite hilly and has just under 85.000 inhabitants, over 600 long-term subscriptions and 300 short-term ones are not bad going considering it only launched in march this year. If we compare vel’oh! to Barcelona’s Bicing service, we find that in Luxembourg non-residents can also rent the bikes, and which, unlike in other places, are available 24 hours, 7 days a week.
So how does vel’oh! work?
You can simply take a bike from one of the 25 stations (not very many but hopefully they expand soon) located in the center of the city. The stations are approximately never more than 400 meters away from each other and easily accessible. You can subscribe online for a yearly membership (15€) or only for 7 days (1€), using your credit card at the stations. After that, the first 30 minutes are free and every extra hour after that is 1€.
Luxembourg has chosen blue for the bicycles that have been designed for users over the age of 14. It comes with a wide mudguard to protect your trousers and a big shopping basket at the front. Bicycles are of course unisex, come with 3 gears and an adjustable saddle and permanently lit front and back lights. It would be quite interesting to see what the bike sharing systems in each city say about its inhabitants…
We like the way vel’oh! advertises cycling as being kind to your body and the planet. So if you’re every in Luxembourg city, use vel’oh! to get around. More information ::vel’oh!
Cycling-Induced Helmet Hair May Contribute to Climate Change?
photo by Andy GatesBicycling is a great way to get to work without using gasoline or other non-renewable resources. It strengthens the body, bolsters the immune system and adds to the overall well-being of the cyclist, but a new poll shows that some may not be utilizing pedal power for the wrong reasons.
Two Thirds of Women Never CycleAccording to a poll from the United Kingdom, the majority of women, aged 18-34, do not bike at all, and most of the women polled would not bike to work. 58 percent of those women cited the fear of sweaty dishevelment as the major deterrence. 27 percent were worried about helmet hair. Other concerns included lack of shower facilities at the workplace, safety issues, unwilling to carry a change of clothing and inadequate cycling skills. Only two percent of the women polled biked every day.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Hindsight Cyclist Glasses Are Eyes in The Back of Your Head, Kinda...
The Nike Hindsight cyclist's glasses from designer Billy May (I liked his Torn lights before) are designed to do one simple thing: stop cyclists from getting hurt on the roads.
At the extended side of each lens is a carefully arranged high-power Fresnel lens that captures the view to the sides of the wearer's head, and sends it into the peripheral vision.
That's the bit of your eyesight that doesn't capture too much detail but does excellently at detecting motion...so the extra data hopefully wouldn't be too distracting.
Essentially its a clever way of augmenting your normal checking of the road, and avoiding being side-swiped by a fast-moving vehicle that was sitting outside your normal vision zones.
Simple and blindingly obvious, when you think about it... and could have potential uses in all sorts of places.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
10-year-old completes 100-mile bicycle ride
On Oct. 4, Teddy Collinson completed the Seagull Century 100-mile bicycle ride from Salisbury to Assateague Island and back. Teddy recently turned 10. He lives in Edgewater and is a fourth-grader at the Key School. He is the son of Sharyn and Tom Collinson.
Teddy's account of his ride:
My dad told me about the Seagull Century when I was 6. He had done the ride several times with his friends and thought I could do it some day.
When I was 7, I rode 60 miles of the Seagull Century on a tag-along pulled behind my dad's bike. The very next year, I did 60 miles of the Seagull on my own bike. It took me about 9 hours in the wind and rain.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Bailout Bill includes funding for Bicycle Commuters
I’m definitely not a supporter of this bailout, but I’ve got to hand it to Blumenauer, he sure fights for cyclists.
From Bicycle Retailer and Industry News:
Employers of people who bike to work stand to gain a $20 per month tax credit per cycling employee, according to the final version of the Wall Street bailout bill, H.R. 1424, passed this afternoon.
The House passed the bill today with a final vote of 263-171, a comfortable margin that was 58 more votes than the measure garnered in Monday’s stunning defeat. The Senate passed the bill Wednesday by a vote of 74 for and 25 against the bill.
The bicycle tax provision was part of an additional $110 billion in line items added to the already $700 billion bailout package.
What does bicycle commuting have to do with credit issues or covering the debt racked up on Wall Street? Bicycle commuting advocate Earl Blumenauer, a Democratic Representative from Oregon, was one of the 228 Representatives who voted against the House version of the bailout package on Monday. House members looking to pass a bailout bill needed to convince as least 12 of the dissenters to switch their position and vote for a bailout bill.
According to a Blumenauer spokeswoman, the bicycle commuting tax credit had the Representative’s attention, according to a report by www.govexec.com. However, Blumenauer said he was opposed to the bill because it failed to include bankruptcy equity for homeowners, not because employers of bicycle commuters suffered unfair tax burdens. He is also against incentives for coal-based liquids, tar sands and oil shale also included in the Senate’s bill. Blumenauer voted against the bailout bill in today’s vote but his pet bicycling project passed with it.
Congressman Blumenauer spearheaded a seven-year campaign to extend commuter tax benefits to those who bike to work.
Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, said the Bicycle Commuter Act has been held up getting through with previous bills.
“It’s been attached to a variety of different bills or devices—climate change, energy, transportation,” Clarke said. “It’s ironic that it would wind up in a financial rescue package, but we’ll take it. I’m not going to quibble with the method; I’m glad to see it done.”
The employer tax break is laid out in Sec. 211, “Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters,” which is under the Transportation and Domestic Fuel Security Provision section in H.R. 1424. The $20 a month tax relief per bicycle commuting employee is to cover the cost of any employer reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee “for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.”
“It’s definitely a day to celebrate just this one little thing that has been achieved after seven years,” Clarke said. “It may not be a total game changer—it’s still a relatively small break—but it gets us closer to the kind of treatment that cyclists in the U.K. and other parts of the world have had for years.”
Coffee Cup Powers Your Morning...and Your Gadgets
Without that cup of coffee in the morning most of us would be completely useless. Now our gadgets can get the same jump start thanks to this 'coffee cup' charger from PowerLine.
It features 2 AC outlets and one USB charging port with 200 watts of continuous power (400 watt peak). That's enough to power up some TVs and laptops. Because of its coffee cup shape, the charger fits snugly into most cup holders so it would be ideal for long trips.
Just make sure that you don't reach for the PowerLine when you are looking for a sip of Starbucks. Sticking your tongue in this thing would be seriously unpleasant. Also if your car is like the one in the photo, or like my own, this might take up 'necessary space' for the real thing thus making this device, useless... No way will I give up my coffee spot, unless I can figure out a way to power a whole coffee pot hmmmm I wonder... I let you know...
Available for $27. [Gizmodo via Coolbuzz]
Read More: Porta-Jump Will Jump Start Your Car From the Comfort of the Driver's Seat">Porta Jump Will Jump Start Your Car From the Comfort of the Driver's Seat
Monday, October 13, 2008
Austrian cyclist Kohl tested positive for CERA
So the 'mighty' keep falling... My guess that this year's Tour de France was not the 'clean' Tour that everone was hoping for...
PARIS (AP)—Third-place Tour de France finisher Bernhard Kohl tested positive for a banned blood booster when his race samples were checked for the new drug.
French anti-doping agency director Pierre Bordry told The Associated Press on Monday that he told Austrian anti-doping authorities, who confirmed the doping case.
The Austrian cyclist is the fourth rider to be caught using CERA, an advanced version of EPO.
The new blood tests for CERA also exposed Kohl’s teammate at Gerolsteiner, Stefan Schumacher, and Italian cyclists Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli.
Kohl, the Tour’s best rider in the mountains, finished third behind Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans in the second-tightest podium finish in the 105-year-old race.
Kohl risks a two-year suspension and could lose his podium spot to fourth-place Denis Menchov of Russia.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tour de France rocked by new high profile positive tests
This coming after rumors involving sixth-place overall finisher Frank Schleck, has put even more doubt about this year's Tour.
Two Tour de France stage winners have tested positive for an advanced blood doping product.
Italy's Leonardo Piepoli and Germany's Stefan Schumacher (25th overall, winner of 2 stages, and wore the yellow jesrsey for a few days) tested positive for Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (Cera).
Italy's Riccardo Ricco has already admitted to using Cera, a version of the blood booster erythropoietin (EPO).
Between them the three riders won five stages during the July race - or about a quarter of the 21 stages.
The French Anti-Doping Agency has been retesting blood samples from the race in a bid to catch more cyclists they suspect may have used Cera.
The German cycling federation (BDR) is set to take disciplinary action against Schumacher following his positive test and he could face a two-year ban. Schumacher has been suspended by his team Gerolsteiner.
Cyclist Vinokourov plans comeback to clear name?!?
Here is another one from the Canadian Press, this one I can't say I thought would ever happen
1 day ago
PARIS — Kazakh cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov is making a comeback because he wants to clear his name following a doping ban.
In an interview in Tuesday's editions of French sports daily L'Equipe, Vinokourov said he has lived with a sense of "enormous injustice" since he was kicked out of the 2007 Tour de France after testing positive for a banned blood transfusion.
"With time, I understood that I would not live with that forever and I felt the need to ride again to show who I really am," Vinokourov was quoted as saying.
He added his return from retirement, announced last week, aims "to show that I am a clean rider." After serving a one-year doping ban, the 35-year-old Vinokourov said he plans to ride competitively for two years.
He said he plans to join Team Astana, which is based in his native Kazakhstan. Seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, who announced last month his return from retirement, is also expected to ride with Astana.
Vinokourov said he would have "no problem" riding alongside Armstrong - whose advocacy on behalf of cancer patients Vinokourov called "remarkable." "My opinion of Armstrong has changed a lot since his retirement," the Kazakh cyclist was quoted as saying.
Still, Vinokourov said that unlike the 35-year-old Armstrong - who has said he aims to win an eighth title at the world's premier cycling event - he has not set the bar too high.
"I am not shouting from the rooftops that I am going to win the Tour de France," Vinokourov was quoted as saying. "At my age, that seems risky."
Doping probe into Tour de France cyclist Frank Schleck being extended
LUXEMBOURG — Luxembourg's anti-doping agency has expanded its investigation of cyclist Frank Schleck, who was provisionally suspended by his team last week.
Schleck, who finished sixth overall in the Tour de France and led the July race for three days, told the agency last week that he transferred money to a Swiss bank account held by a Spanish doctor at the heart of a major doping scandal.
The agency ruled on Tuesday that his statements denying that he doped or had direct contact with Eufemiano Fuentes were insufficient to clear him.
"It has been decided to carry out an additional investigation at different levels," the agency said in a statement, without elaborating how long the process will take.
His CSC Saxo Bank team acknowledged that Schleck told them he transferred almost $9,500 to an account held by Fuentes in March 2006 "to receive training advice by experts who presumably worked with some of the biggest names in the sport."
Fuentes was at the heart of Operation Puerto, cycling's biggest-ever doping investigation, which was set off by police raids at clinics in Madrid and Zaragoza in May 2006 that turned up steroids, hormones and the endurance-boosting substance EPO, nearly 100 bags of frozen blood, and equipment for treating blood.
Over 50 cyclists, including 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, 2006 Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso and 1997 Tour champion Jan Ullrich, were reportedly linked to the scandal.
Schleck admitted making "a serious blunder" and deeply regretted the contact with "these people," the team said.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Riding on feathers with the most expensive bicycle wheel
Riding your bicycle with a wheel trimmed to suite your build is something any professional cyclist would cherish, for he would know what advantage it brings to him while riding. This however, does not mean that the Lew Racing Pro VT-1 tubular road wheel is meant only for pros, but yes, a price tag of upwards of $15,000 for a set can categorize you as one when you have it fixed.
The amazing thing is the weight of these wheels, which can get as light as low as 850g for a pair, based on how you furnish the details, which shouldn’t cite a wheel required for the higher terrains. The usage of boron in the rim surfaces gives the engineers over Lew Racing the ability to curb that weight to unbelievable limits, and it is the same fiber that places the wheel at a sky-high price, the highest in the world.
Weight Tubular Standard Set PRO VT-1 Both Front and Rear = 880 grams* (APPROVED RIDER WEIGHT < = 185lbs)
Weight Tubular Clydesdale PRO VT-1C Both Front and Rear = 1080 grams* (APPROVED RIDER WEIGHT < = 250lbs)
Friday, October 3, 2008
Video: New York CityRacks Design Competition Finalists
Beautiful Bike Racks for NYC
Our friends at StreetFilms went to have a look at the finalists of the CityRacks Design Competition (which we wrote about in the past few months: See Call for Entries: Redesign the Bike Rack and Turning Bike Racks into Works of Art). Some really great bike racks have been designed. Little the little girl, I like the one that looks like a giant paperclip.
You can see the video and photos below.
Read more: Video: New York CityRacks Design Competition Finalists
Shade-Grown Coffee Ensures A Future Cup-a-Joe
Photo Via Melinda Shelton
Coffee is grown in two main ways: in the sun or in the shade. But three University of Michigan researchers show that if we want to look forward to a nice hot cup of coffee a few years from now, shade-grown coffee is where its at.
Read more: Shade-Grown Coffee Ensures A Future Cup-a-Joe
Treehugger post: Op-Ed Piece Argues That Cyclists Should Get Off the Road
Visit Yehuda Moon'Get Bikes off the Road.' The article began as follows: "It is often suggested that automobile drivers should learn to share the road with bicyclists. In my opinion, it is foolhardy and dangerous for bicyclists to be on the highways with motorists, period. Bicycles no more belong on roadways than autos belong on bike paths." In all likelihood the driver that almost hit me, as well as many drivers, would agree with that statement.
Guide To Winter Cycling
I went on a chilly night ride last night, so I feel that this post was quite timely...
With the rain setting in and the temperature dropping, cycling at this time of year can seem like a chore. Soggy shoes, messed up hair and numb fingers are just the tip of the iceberg – but if you make sure you’re prepared for the worst of it, cycling in the winter doesn’t need to be so punishing
New Consumer.com has put together a guide to help you get ready for the onslaught of bad weather, which will help to make your journey far more pleasant
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