More Schools Join the Pay-You-to-Bike Bandwagon

Clark U, Rice University, U Minnesota are all launching bike-sharing programs, along with the City of Minneapolis. Towson University has launched several green transportation programs - sadly no bike sharing, yet. Many of the schools include financial incentives to get out there and try biking for a change.

Article continues at TreeHugger.com: More Schools Join the Pay-You-to-Bike Bandwagon

GreenWheel: Swap the rear to make any bike electric

The "GreenWheel" lets you turn a bike into an electric simply by swapping the rear wheel. The batteries and motor sit inside the plate at the axle, while the throttle control operates wirelessly through Bluetooth. At full charge, the GreenWheel has a range of around 25 miles, extended by the pedaling of the rider.

Discovery News:

A GreenWheel equipped bike is a smooth ride, as Discovery News found out during a recent afternoon test ride around MIT's campus. Turning the handle mounted throttle, like any motorcycle, just a few small degrees produces a noticeable increase in power and a light electric hum.

The inventors estimate a life of nearly 40,000 miles, which is pretty incredible. They're trying out different sizes and power ratios and hope to have a product on the market very soon.

KGS Bikes custom bicycles know nothing about the credit crunch

Tier 3

Luxury is something that could come your way in any form, and if it’s simply a two-wheeler, then it definitely needs your attention. Custom bicycles from the house of KGS Bikes seem to be a recession defying notion at the time when companies from all around the world have succumbed to the global financial meltdown. Maybe it’s a bad time to introduce luxury bicycles, but it doesn’t stop Kevin Saunders from rolling out the high-end custom bicycle “Tier 3” priced at a cool $30,000. The one-of-the-kind custom bicycle that costs almost equivalent to a car comes etched with fine woodwork and comfort riding that adds an immeasurable value to the buyer’s life. Apart from the highest priced bicycle, the manufacturer brings two relatively low-end versions - Tier 1 and Tier 2 – priced at $10,000 and $20,000, respectively. Saunders says his high-end KGS bicycles are as exclusive as a Lamborghini, Rolls Royce or Bugatti.


Tier 2

Tier 1

Via: PRWeb/KGSBikes

Six Great Long-Distance Bike Trails Without Cars

Wouldn't it be great if there were long-distance trails specifically for bicycles? Basically -- roads without cars?

Well, there are! A quickly emerging network of abandoned railway lines are being converted by regional governments into superb bike paths. In addition to offering very gentle grades that are ideal for bikes, many of these new trails are satisfying long. The longest rail trail is over 300 miles long, and the longest off-pavement bike trail in the country stretches 2,500 miles. On these bike roads you can cruise along for weeks without ever encountering a car, or worrying about being bumped off the white line by an oblivious motorist. These are not paved roads, but packed gravel or dirt. Many sport spectacular tunnels and bridges courtesy of the former railways. At the same time these trails pass through small towns affording local eateries and rural lodging, as well as the usual camping spots along the way. I tell you, there's nothing like arriving at the soft pillows of a B&B after a long day of pedaling.

Many of these trails did not exist as bike paths even a few years ago. More are being opened every day. There's great effort to sew short sections together into long haul bike-primary paths. Eventually you will be able to cross the country via a series of interconnected car-free roads. In the meantime, the clearinghouse for the latest additions to the bike-road network is the Rail to Trails Conservancy.

But you don't have to wait to enjoy some fantastic overnight tours on roads without cars. Here are six of the longest continuous bike trails in operation right now, in ascending order of length on Kevin Kelly's Website KK.org/cooltools.

Arm powered quadcycle is like a rowing machine with a view

Most of us start out on an exercise plan with good intentions, but let's face it, sitting in a room doing the same repeated motion gets boring pretty fast. I have a rowing machine propped up against my wall, but lately, it gets used mostly as an expensive coat rack.

Cycling is a great alternative that gets you plenty of fresh air and outdoor views, but the exercise is confined mostly to the lower torso and legs. What if we could combine the outdoor fun of cycling with the all over workout of rowing? Well, short of finding the nearest river and launching a kayak, this arm powered quadcycle called The Champiot looks like a great solution.

Instead of pedaling, you create power by thrusting the handlebars back and forth like a rowing machine, and unlike most human powered alternatives to a regular bike, the Champiot is designed for one rider. Manufacturer Ferez Industries makes several versions including some with supplemental electric drive for when you lack the strength to row home. The Champiot Ultra shown here sells for $999.

Ferez Industries, via Treehugger.com

'Sound From Wind' Turns Bikes into Musical Instruments

Remember the mods you used to inflict on your bike when you were a kid? Flags and streamers were fine, but best was the conversion of pushbike into motorcycle by the simple addition of a playing card and a clothes-peg. To a child's ears the rat-a-tat of laminated linen against spokes was engine noise.

Sound from the Wind is another way to convert motion into music. The concept, from Korean designer Joseph Kim, consists two ceramic replacements for the handlebar grips which channel air through their internal tubes. The setup apparently sounds like a flute or ocarina, and you can alter the pitch with some switches on the handlebars. Volume is increased by riding faster.

What I really like, though, is not all about the sound but the look of these things. They remind me of airplane jet-engines, which are obviously an essential addition to any kid's bike. In fact, the only problem is that they are ceramic, clearly too brittle to survive for long.

Sound from wind: musical bicycle

Double Bike Takes You on a Supremely Ridiculous Ride

By the looks of things, this double-wheeled bike concept can easily stand alongside gems like the 12-foot tall bicycle, face to face tandem bicycle and the running bicycle in terms of sheer stupidity and pointless danger.

Since there is no chain attached to the lower wheels, I can only assume that the upper wheel is generating all the momentum—transferring the energy like a set of gears (although, I can't imagine that would be very efficient—and you would have to pedal backwards).

At any rate, you would have time to think about how stupid this all is as you hit a pebble in the road and fall to your untimely death.

[My Confined Space via Coolbuzz]

Bodum Chambord 8-Cup Press & Thermal Glasses

Bodum Chambord 8-Cup Press & Thermal Glasses

While high-end coffee makers promise ultimate convenience, there's still nothing quite like a french press.

The Bodum Chambord 8-Cup Press & Thermal Glasses ($40) brews up to 8 cups of coffee the old-fashioned way, and features a built-in, three-piece stainless steel filter, a polished stainless lid and holder, a wide black handle and knob, and a glass carafe.

As a bonus, the set includes two 12-oz. Pavina double wall glasses, giving you everything you need for a great coffee experience.

A2B Trike offers disabled children a special needs vehicle with style...

Inspired by disabled children in Jerusalem, designer Shabatai Hirshberg concocted an ultra-cool tricycle for special needs children that never-the-less inspires a bit of geek envy.

The A2B Trike is designed to allow a child to walk right into a mounted position for cycling, while the chest support plate stabilizes the child's body during transit. Although still in the developmental stage, Hirshberg hopes to bring the prototype design to market for around $6,000 in the near future.

Via Metropolis & Yanko Design

Factor001, world's most advanced superbike, rolls out for an amazing $27K+

When the world runs out of gas, we'll all be riding carbon fiber bicycles, weighing 15.4 pounds and hooking our bodies up to telemetry systems that rival the space program. With The Factor001, you don't have to wait for such inevitabilities — if you happen to have a spare $27,724 lying around, that is.

Designed by Formula One race car engineers at BERU F1 Systems, it's the most advanced bicycle in the world. You'd think it was a Ferrari, with its carbon ceramic brakes controlled by a hydraulic system, and then there's that flashy metallic finish. It's also packing a built-in GPS transmitter, and like a good Garmin Forerunner, gathers up "laboratory quality" biometric and performance data for you to peruse on your PC when you get home.

Besides all that, it looks so cool I thought it was some design-concept-y prototype bike. But no, it rolled out at London's Science Museum on March 11th, and is ready for prospective buyers to be measured up for this custom-fitted machine of the future. Now if they can just bring that price down to under $1000, I'm in (that is if some wealthy reader can loan me the cash).

Factor001 Press Release, via Inhabitat, Via Dvice.com

Tensegrity bike is totally wired...

Tensegrity is a word coined by Buckminster Fuller to describe structures where strength and integrity are achieved by balancing members under compression, with other that are in tension. In creating a bike frame where most of the members are under tension, Romanian designer Ionut Predescu's Wire Bike replaces most of the tubing with high strength carbon fiber and Kevlar cables, saving lots of weight in the process.

WhileI don't doubt the Wire Bike's basic strength, I wonder whether it will have sufficient lateral strength to avoid flexing when a rider really stands on the pedals. Especially when a 'BOB' (Big Ole Boy) like me hits it....

Yanko Design, via Treehugger.com