Hasta La Gadget!

The eCortina’s drive-side uses an ingenious two-chain setup

The eCortina could be considered an electric bike, but its builder — Roy Prince — prefers to call it an “eBike hot rod.” With a motor that can take the hard-tail downhill bike up to 45mph and “lift the front wheel almost at will,” it’s easy to see why.

Prince chose the Cortina Triton as a base bike as it is designed to go downhill at speed, and — more importantly — it’s made of steel. This let him weld and clamp the motor and other necessary parts. The motor, by the way, is an Astroflight 3220. It spins up to 10,000rpm, weighs four pounds and needs to be geared way down when used on a bike. If you want one, it’ll cost you $700.

What drew my eye, though, was the two chains on the drive side. One will be familiar: it connects the pedals to the rear wheel just like any other. The second runs from a tiny chainring to a giant rear sprocket. This gear reduction is required because of the high-revving motor.

The first of two gearing reductions sits out of the way on the bike’s left side

The motor itself drives the crank from the left (non-drive side) of the bike, where the gearing is further reduced.

Both the pedal power and electric power go into a three-speed Shimano Nexus hub.

This ingenious setup exploits the freewheel. Because the pedals can stay still while the wheel turns, neither drive mechanism interferes with the other. It also lets you use the electric motor as an assist for your legs. And just as well — at 60 pounds you won’t be riding this far on human power alone.

The eCortina is actually version two of the design, improving in v1.0’s 35mph. Lord knows how fast v3 will go.

eCortina project page [RPEV via Bicycle Design]

See Also:

• 'The Beast' Electric Bike: 50mph, $33500
• Awesome DIY Electric Bikes Defy Laws, Good Sense
• Amazing Electric 'Bike' Is a Junkyard On Wheels
• Minimal Electric Bike Contained In a Single Wheel

Kryptonite Mini locks — the hipsters’ favorite, now available in multiple colorways. Photo My Beautiful Parking

The trouble with being a hipster is that you end up looking like all other hipsters. Take, for instance, the Urban Fixed-Gear cyclist or — as Bike Snob NYC calls him — the Nü Fred. This freshly pierced and tattooed trust-fund kid will show his allegiance to the tribe in many ways, one of which is the Kryptonite Evolution Mini D-Lock.

The familiar orange-headed shackle is usually seen peeking out of a rear jeans pocket, a mating display similar to that of a baboon’s bright-red rear. But what if our hipster wants to indulge his other passion: color-coordinating bike and acessories? Well, Kryptonite itself is here to save the day, with the Mini U-Lock Color Skins.

The skins come in three parts. A colorful tube to cover the curved shackle, a cup with a hole which fits over the normally orange section of the crossbar, and a clear plastic dust-cover, replacing the black one already on the lock. Thus, the lock can be made to match a bike in blue, purple, pink, white and red.

The price? Around $5, easily within the weekly allowance provided to our Nü Fred by his indulgent parents. Available now.

Mini U-Lock Color Skins [Kryptonite via My Beautiful Parking]

See Also:

• Hipsters Grieve: The $150 Walmart Fixie
• Designer Chainsaw for Hipster Lumberjacks
• Hands Off! With the Kryptonite Evolution Mini
• Bike Chic
• Hiplok Bike Lock Is Worn Like a Belt
• U-Lock Tool Turns Kryptonite into Wrench

The Fixtation is so handy there should be one in every transit station

We’ve covered self-service bike stations before, but the Fixtation at the Uptown Transit Station in Minneapolis is worth a special mention as probably the best example yet — and not just because of its cool name.

The Fixtation combines a repair stand equipped with most of the tools you’ll need for basic repairs, including tire levers, an adjustable wrench, a wheel-wrench, screwdrivers, and a set of Allen wrenches. There is also a pump giving free air.

But it’s the other half of the installation that sets this apart. Next to the repair stand is a vending machine. This can contain whatever the provider wants, but typically you’ll find essential spares like patch kits, tubes, lights, multi-tools along with energy bars and drinks.

The tools and the air are free

The Minneapolis station is open all year long from 6AM to midnight. That’s great for Minneapolitans, but what about the rest of us? Well, that’s the main reason for this post. Fixtation will supply the kiosks and vending machines to anyone who wants them (although they are, not surprisingly, bases in Minneapolis). I’d love to see these in transit stations everywhere. The public but always-staffed nature of these locations would prevent vandalism, and as transit stations are usually in convenient spots, they seem perfect.

FixStation [Fixtation via Urban Velo]

See Also:

• Bike Inner-Tube Vending Machine
• Free Bike Repair Stations Pop Up in Cambridge, Massachusetts …
• Video: African Bike Repair With Home-Made Tools
• Hand Solo: Cable Stretchers for Single-Handed Bike Repair

Yes, this is another concept bicycle project, but this time there’s a difference. The designer, Vojtěch Sojka, has actually made a working prototype, and it looks pretty sweet.

Working at the University of Technology in Brno, Czech Republic, Sojka developed the electric bike with Czech bike company Superior. From a distance, it looks like a cross between the Specialized Stumpjumper and a BMX. Step a little closer and you see the usual additions beloved of concept-bike designers.

The brakes are disk brakes, the handlebars and stem are annoyingly melded into one hard-to-replace unit and the battery is hidden away inside the seat tube. But there are also some rather practical design decisions.

While the fork gets some internal suspension, the rear relies on fat tires for rider-comfort. Unless you have some pressing reason for long-travel suspension, fat tires and sprung saddles are probably the best (and most maintenance-free) way to go. Next up is the position of the electric motor. It’s inside the bottom bracket, keeping the weight in the center of the bike. Finally, the Shimano Alfine hub on the rear wheel keeps the lines clean and the gearing simple.

The most interesting part of the bike, though, is the omission of seat-stays. This was done to make it easy to fit the carbon belt drive. As carbon belts can’t be broken and relinked by chains, you usually need an opening section in the seat stay to fit the things. Sojka’s design obviates that need. It also means the entire weight over the rear wheel is borne by the chainstay/bottom bracket joint, which worries me.

Why not use removable, bolt-on seat-stays like you find on many old Dutch Bikes?

Still, Sojka’s bike is one of the better concepts we have seen, and gains extra marks for actually existing in a real, rideable state. I’d totally take it for a spin.

City Electric Bicycle by Vojtěch Sojka [Bicycle Design]

See Also:

• Even The Laziest Rider Could Use this Electric Commuter Bike …
• Zaaf's Concept Bike As Fragile As the Granny That Would Ride it …
• Rael Concept Bike With Rear-View Camera
• Cannondale Concept Cross-Breeds Bike and Shopping-Cart
• City Concept Commuter Bike for Non-Cyclists
• Scary-Looking Concept Bike is All Corners

Valve-cap LEDs may be tacky, but they’ll also make you safer at night

Here’s a case where tacky novelty can actually result in something that keeps you safe and also makes you look cool. The Flash Tire Wheel Valve Cap Lights pretty much sum up their function in the name: they are little LED lamps that replace your bike valve dust caps.

The little battery-powered lights screw onto a Schrader valve (the fat kind also found on cars and motorbikes) and glow like tiny Lightsabers. For such a cheap item (just $3 per pair on Amazon), they’re actually pretty smart. Instead of switches, the lights have motion and light sensors so they only turn on when you’re moving and it’s dark. Once you get going, they’ll paint a virtual circle of light in the air.

Be careful, though. Fellow gadget blogger and Wired.com alumnus John Brownlee put something similar onto his bike when he lived in Berlin, Germany. His lights were bigger and flashier, but the effects on the normally calm and bike-friendly population of Berlin were startling. Poor John was heckled and even had beer bottles thrown at him on one night ride.

If you decide to risk it, strap on a helmet and grab a pair in red, green or blue.

Flash Tire Wheel Valve Cap Lights [Amazon via Red Ferret]

See Also:

• Spinning Wheel Lights Make A Rolling Video Screen
• Magnet Powered Bike Lamps Light Up the Night
• Pimp Your Ride: Cyglo Bike Tires with Embedded LEDs
• LightLane: Personal Laser Bike Lane