Hasta La Gadget!

Velo Orange’s dynamo hub can be switched off to cut internal drag

Dynamo hubs are fantastically convenient. They power your lights whenever you ride, meaning you never have to change batteries. And because they are sat inside the wheel hub, they’re safe from the bumps and whacks that can damage external bottle-dynamos.

But they are also a drain on your leg power, dragging at your every stroke with their magnetic generators. Velo Orange’s Switchable Dynamo Hub fixes this with a switch that disengages the dynamo, letting you cycle drag-free by day, only engaging the lights at night. This is done by twisting the big disk on the side.

The aluminum hub comes in quick-release or regular fixings (weighing 750g and 685g respectively), is sized for 100mm frame spacing and can be had drilled for 32 or 36 hole rims. The output is six volts, three Watts.

Couple this with an internally geared hub at the rear and you’ll have a bike that packs a lot of function, while maintaining a very clean look. The Velo Orange Switchable hub costs $130, and is available now.

VO Switchable Dynamo Hub [Velo Orange via Eco Velo]

See Also:

• Affix Hub Switches from Fixed to Free with a Twist
• E-HUB Claims Bike Power Boost Using Springs
• Specialized to Roll Out 'Cheap' Fixed-Gear Bikes
• Sturmey Archer's Minimal Hub Packs in Gears, Brake
• Sturmey Archer Three-Speed Fixed Gear Hub

The Cinco may be the cutest cargo-carrier ever

Alex Liauw designed the almost ridiculously practical Cinco bike, and unlike most concepts, this one will be in stores soon. The Cinco is for city bikers, and is made to carry loads and yet still be easy to ride. Think of it as a mini cargo-bike and you’re half way there.

The most obvious feature is the rear carrier, which can be used with either a wooden deck or a wide, strong basket. Because it is part of the frame, this rack is strong and stiff, and can even carry a loaded airline carry-on case.

Now take a look at the wheels. They’re small, at 20 inches, but far apart, thanks to long chain-stays. This gives it the feel of a bigger-wheeled bike and allows the rear load to sit low and forward, close to the bike’s center of gravity. This makes it more stable.

Then look at the tires. They’re fat, making the ride smoother. The bike comes in one size, but adjustments to stem and seat heights mean that it can mimic frame-sizes of 46 cm to 56 cm, big enough for a six-footer to ride. The multi-shaped frame also offers plenty of closed loops through which to thread chains and locks, meaning you can secure it to almost anything.

Future plans include a simple, single-speed model, and a range of locks and other city necessities, but for now there is one nine-speed model only. The price has yet to be announced, but if you happen to be in Taipei, Taiwan between March 16th-19th, you can take it for a spin at the cycle show.

Cinco product page [Ortre via Bicycle Design]

Cinco details [Cinco5]

See Also:

• Home-Made Kid-Carrying Cargo-Bike
• Electric Cargo Bike: A True Car Replacement?
• Amazing DIY Cargo-Bike Mods
• Bullitt Bike is Cool, Cargo-Carrying Cruiser

Worried that the fancy-schmancy SYNC system you just ordered up in your Mustang will soon be outlawed? Fret not, speed demon. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will reportedly not push for restrictions on handsfree phones or in-car technology until “the government conducts further research.” There are generally two prevailing trains of thought: one feels that any type of calling — be it handsfree or otherwise — is a terrible distraction to the driver, while the other feels that properly integrated technology is safe enough for use on the road. As the story goes, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating whether systems like SYNC post a “cognitive distraction,” while some automakers suggest that motorists are going to goof off with their phone anyway — might as well make it as safe as possible for ’em. Of course, things could change in short order once this so-called “research” gets finalized, but for now, feel free to request that your OnStar system read on to the next post. Your OnStar system can read Engadget, right?

Transportation secretary Ray LaHood: no restrictions (yet) on in-car information originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink emgCarTech  |  The Detroit News  | Email this | Comments

Another day, another anime-themed promotional campaign. It still sometimes surprises me how the so-called moe and otaku (geek) “subcultures” have now become so suffused into the Japanese mainstream. I’m not convinced it is a wholly healthy thing for marketing — from the point of view of vibrancy and variety — since the imagery has become so ubiquitous these days, but if it is attracting new customers to troubled services, who am I to argue?

Two ferry companies shuttling passengers between the main island of Honshu and the fourth largest Japanese island, Shikoku, have turned to similar methods for pushing up passenger numbers. Both Kokudo Ferry and Nankai are producing merchandise with female moe cartoon imagery to attract younger customers and, judging at least by the sales of the products, it seems to be working.

The ferries have seen business decline, aggravated by the government’s highly publicized highway toll discounts for encouraging people to get in their cars and drive to regions around the country.

[Images via Asahi]

Kokudo’s slightly racy Utakakarin-chan was created by Akira Yamato; initially available as two stickers from spring last year, she sold out in a month. The company added another girl over the summer as a t-shirt and this also sold out in two months. (Unfortunately, it’s not known how limited the production numbers were.) The latest female character came out in January this year, forming a set of three sisters promoting the ferry service’s fiftieth anniversary.

The Nankai characters were two fictional high school girls brought up locally respectively at the two ports the ferry serves, designed by an illustrator from the region.

Apparently there was also a successful use of similar characters for packaging on rice from northern Akita Prefecture in late 2008, with the result that in sales of rice in three months equalled that usually sold over three years, according to J-Cast. The organizers then followed that up with using the moe motifs on bottle labels for shochu from the region.

[Image via Gigazine]

With the government highway toll nationwide discount scheme set to kick in again from April, the real battle between the re-animeated ferries and the roads is about to begin…