A few years ago, I bought a bright orange city bike, which I chose because it allowed me to sit up as I rode. A few times a week, I wear my regular clothes—mostly dresses—to go to meetings, run errands or ride on the bike path by my house. I don’t own any padded shorts. What would you call me?
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If you’re a time traveler who’s looking for a good cyclist’s map of California in the 1890s, well, today’s your lucky day.**
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There are a lot of drive-through places, but not many cater to cyclists. Sure, you can still go through the drive through on your bike, but it’s not the best experience in the world to be treated to the exhaust of other vehicles waiting in line – and some places expressly disallow bicyclists at their drive-throughs.
With the goal of providing cyclists with a better coffee experience when they’re on the go, urban authorities in Zurich teamed up with a team of designers to set up the Velokafi.
The Velokafi is essentially a bike-through coffee drive-in that is dedicated to serving cyclists. The highlight is perhaps the wooden tables with slits for the bike wheel that lets people have their coffee without getting off of their bike. To compensate cyclists for getting the word out about the coffee shop, baristas hand out free cups of coffee to cyclists who check in to Velokafi on sites like Facebook and Foursquare.
The Velokafi is part of Zurich’s strategy to improve their transportation infrastructure by 2025. Looks like things are going pretty well so far.
[via Pop Up City]
Cars that automatically stop when a pedestrian is in the way have been in Volvo’s fleet for a while now, but the automaker has just unveiled an update to its existing tech that’ll stomp on the brakes when cyclists are too close for comfort. Announced at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, the revamped system detects how close objects are with a grille-mounted radar and then uses a high-def camera within an auto’s rear-view mirror to discern whether it’s barreling down on a pedestrian or a biker. When bicyclists swerve in front of an automobile heading in the same direction, the setup immediately alerts the driver and applies full brake power — a world’s first Volvo says. According to the Swedish manufacturer, all vehicles outfitted with the pedestrian detection will have the cyclist spotting technology baked in, and it’ll show up in mid-May within the new Volvo V40, S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80. Head past the break for a video of the feature in action.
Filed under: Transportation
Via: The Verge
Source: Volvo
Wahoo Fitness’ BlueSC cycling sensor is well and good for iPhone owners that always have fair weather and friendly roads to ride. For everyone else, there’s the company’s just-unveiled KICKR Power Trainer, a bike training system that uses a Bluetooth 4.0 link with Apple’s device (or an ANT+ bike computer) to come as close as possible to the real thing. The KICKR can change resistance as soon as third-party iOS apps like Kinomap Trainer and TrainerRoad give the word, either arbitrarily for a routine or to replicate that on-asphalt feel at up to a 15 percent hill grade. Wahoo claims the super flywheel and wheel-off design improve the sensation of the virtual road and keep the measurements for both power and speed accurate over the long haul. If there’s anything holding back indoor athletes, it’s the launch. The KICKR will only land in US basements and living rooms come November, and while we haven’t been quoted a price, we’d wager that it’s much more likely to fall in line with the cost of a regular bike trainer than a sensor like the BlueSC.
Continue reading Wahoo KICKR Power Trainer lets iPhone cyclists feel the simulated burn (video)
Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Mobile
Wahoo KICKR Power Trainer lets iPhone cyclists feel the simulated burn (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 03:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Fitness gadgets are great, but you never quite know what you’re going to get when it comes to calorie counts, or a reading of how many miles you’ve run. That could change, though, thanks to a set of standards the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is adopting with regard to fitness devices. These two certifications, which apply to running and cycling gadgets, respectively, affect the way data (e.g., cadence, speed, distance) is transmitted to paired devices like smartphones, sports watches and cycling computers. As far as SIG is concerned, too, more standardization means OEMs will have an easier time bringing new products to market — not that there’s any current shortage of options to choose from.
Filed under: Wearables, Wireless
Bluetooth SIG releases certifications for fitness devices aimed at runners and cyclists originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Inhabitat is always on the lookout for new and interesting innovations, but some of the things that flashed across our screens this week truly defy the rules of physics. Take, for example, the story of 51-year-old Chinese man Sun Jifa, who lost both of his arms in an explosion and built his own bionic hands out of scrap metal. Building functional prosthetic limbs is one thing, but doing it without the aid of fingers? That’s downright mind-blowing. We were also pretty excited to hear that a California-based tech company has developed a working hover bike that travels up to 30 mph. It isn’t quite ready for a high-speed chase in the forest a la Star Wars, but it still looks pretty cool. And in another amazing development, a team of Harvard researchers has figured out a way to store 70 billion books in a space the size of your thumbnail.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: a locomotive that runs on hydrogen, honey detective and a 30 mph-capable hover bike originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bicycle rigs for charging cellphones have lit up our radar before, but now the EcoXPower is being billed as the first device of its kind that can simultaneously juice up LED lights and a smartphone with the power of your pedaling. Packing a headlamp, a red tail light and a lithium-ion rechargeable battery, the contraption attaches to a bike’s front wheel hub with the help of a universal mount. When clamped on, the apparatus’ clutch engages between the velocipede’s spokes so it can generate electricity. A USB adapter cable runs up the two-wheeler’s fork to a water-resistant, touchscreen-friendly case that can house iPhones, Android handsets and “all major GPS devices” perched atop the handlebars. Cyclists yearning to charge their electronics with the dynamo can pick one up for $99.99. Roll past the break for the full press release.
Continue reading EcoXPower charges a smartphone, bicycle headlight and tail light with pedal power
Filed under: Transportation
EcoXPower charges a smartphone, bicycle headlight and tail light with pedal power originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Do you love cycling? Casual cyclists might not experience a flat tire throughout their entire lives, but things are very different for professional cyclists. Just ask any of the riders in this year’s Tour de France – to be on the receiving end of a flat tire after one hits a tack or nail on the road is extremely frustrating, as it results not only in delays, but of more concern, it is absolutely dangerous in certain situations. In 2011, Hutchison introduced its airless Serenity tire to the world that is touted to be 100% flat-proof.
Now, necessity is the mother of all invention, but there is no stopping someone who wants to update an existing device – as cyclist Steve Boehmke realized that the Serenity tire is fairly difficult to install, and will only be able to fit to a very specific sized rim. He managed to turn the tables around by building wheelsets with the tires pre-mounted, so that there will no longer be any hassle for you to install them on your bicycle when the time comes.
Just a refresher – the Serenity tire is made out from a microcellular tube which will fit into a specially designed tire casing. It will ride as though it were an ordinary bike tire, with approximately 60 pounds of pressure, and that is more or less the equivalent to a mountain bike or city bike. As the tire has no air, it will not have any rolling resistance from air loss. Tipping the scales at approximately 1,400 grams (3 lb) a pair and boasting a reflective sidewall so that you will have some semblance of visibility during low light conditions, the tires are also said to be able to handle more shock absorption compared to the standard issue tube tires, where they are rated for approximately 3,000 miles (4,828 km) of wear.
Boehmke has, as many an entrepreneur has done, turned his attention to Kickstarter in order to raise the necessary funds to achieve his dream. Right now, there is still a week or so left to go, and his project has already raised $1,678 of its $1,000 goal. Good luck to Boehmke!
[ Serenity tire gets modified copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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