Hasta La Gadget!

Sir Clive Sinclair, the English egghead that invented the revolutionary ZX Spectrum computer, and then went on the make the widely ridiculed C5 electric trike, is back with another, erm, electric bike.

Maybe Sir Clive was just way ahead of his time when he launched the C5 back in 1985, as this pod-like electric vehicle actually looks pretty smart today. The egg-shaped bubble is called the X-1, and works a lot like a recumbent, with a comfy seat, forward-mounted pedals and a nice, high, chopper-style handlebar. Then things get interesting.

The X-1 packs a 24v lithium-polymer battery which drives a slightly underpowered 190-Watt motor via a fixed-gear drivetrain. Disk-brakes front and back provide stopping power and built-in lights let the cars see you sat down in the road.

The whole vehicle weighs 30Kg, which is rather heavy for a bike, and I wonder if it could make it up a steep hill with that 190 Watt motor – especially as recumbents aren’t so great at climbing as it is. It could be heavier, though: the lower shell is made from carbon fiber to reduces weight (the chassis is steel and the screen is acrylic).

Most astonishing is the price, something that Sinclair managed to get right almost every time. The X-1 cost just £595, or $962, making it as cheap or much cheaper than many more normally-styled electric bikes.

In London, bike use has rocketed in recent years thanks to better infrastructure and rising transport costs. Could Sinclair’s X-1, which is uniquely suited to England’s rainy climate, actually take off? Maybe, but don’t expect this to be a welcome site in the capital’s bike-lanes, which the product blurb assures us the X-1 is allowed to use.

Available 2011.

Sinclair X-1 [Sinclair ZX]

See Also:

• Electric Bike Runs (Almost) on Water
• Gocycle Black, The Non-Electric Electric Bike
• Review: A2B Electric Bike Puts Some Buzz Into Backpedaling …
• E-Solex: French Electric Bike with Italian Style
• 3X3 Recumbent Trike for Scary Bearded Children
• Recumbent Trike is Less Portland, More Tron

When we think of oil by-products, most attention goes to gasoline. But oil is–literally–everywhere. It’s in many cosmetics and household products, in the plastics we surround ourselves with, and a major component of what you drove on today–asphalt.

But just because asphalt isn’t burned for energy doesn’t mean it doesn’t have toxic effects on the environment. Various chemicals are leaked into nature by asphalt’s production, installation, and throughout its lifetime.

That’s why engineers are starting to look to alternatives to asphalt in road construction. One pair of designers has created a new project that hopes to do just that. The research team of Thomas Kosbau and Andrew Wetzler recently won the Korean green design Iida
Awards 2010 for their innovative road construction: “Sand.Stone.Road.”

The idea is simple: using very cheap and abundant sand, and mix it with a common microbe to create roadworthy sandstone. If implemented, the idea would not only take a need for millions of barrels of oil out of the global equation, but save money. The system would be far cheaper than traditional asphalt, which rose in price by 222% (!) between 2003 and 2008.

Is the Camioncyclette a bike with too many baskets attached, or is it just a giant, ride-able shopping-cart? According to designer Christophe Machet, it is in fact a “transportation bicycle”, and it can carry up to 150 Kg, or 330-pounds in those wiry receptacles.

What I like most about the Camioncyclette is that it is dead simple. So many bicycle redesigns try to get fancy, dickering with a shape that is already almost perfect, in practical terms at least. Machet’s bike is just a bike with storage added anywhere it would fit, and is even strong enough to fit a person in the back, if they can stand the uncomfortable ride. No superfluous carbon-fiber, no integrated seat-tubes, no hub-less crap.

The wheels are small, which gives more space for cargo and also makes it easier to get moving and to maneuver. The bike uses disk-brakes so you can stop however loaded-up you are, and it appears to be a single-speed or use internal hub-gears, again keeping things simple. Finally, a proper two-legged stand in the center means you can actually load and unload the thing without it toppling over.

In fact, the only concession to fanciness is the Brooks saddle, although anyone who has one knows that a Brooks is in fact about the most practical and long-lasting (and comfortable) seat you can buy.

Machet’s design is, right now, not in stores. A shame, because it looks to be cheap and ugly enough to be very, very practical.

Camioncyclette product page [Christophe Machet via Oh Gizmo and I New Idea]

See Also:

• Home-Made Kid-Carrying Cargo-Bike
• Electric Cargo Bike: A True Car Replacement?
• Home-Made Cargo Bike Is Cheap, Easy Rider
• Bullitt Bike is Cool, Cargo-Carrying Cruiser
• Zaftig Cargo Fork: Lowriding Load-Lifter

High speed railways, particularly in Asia, have been soaring at around 200 miles per hour for quite some time now, but given just how much pride the Chinese have in their own rail system, it’s no shock to hear the entire nation gloating about a new speed record. Of course, we’re pretty partial to records ourselves, so we’ll happily open up a round of applause when a bullet train hits 262 miles per hour without imploding. The newfangled Shanghai-Hangzhou connection (which connects Hongqiao and Hangzhou) has gone into service today, with most riders treated to a top speed of only 220 miles per hour. Officials have already stated that they’re hoping to improve speeds to over 312 miles per hour, with other nations reportedly anxious to get ahold of their technology. Oh, and if you’re curious about details, the CRH380 train covers 126 miles in just 45 minutes, with seats starting as low as $12.

Update: We’ve learned that a maglev train in China has been known to hit around 268 miles per hour as recently as two months ago — we’re sure semantics are too blame here.

China’s Shanghai-Hangzhou rail line opens, hits record breaking speed of 262mph originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Beijing Review, BBC  | Email this | Comments

Focus Designs Self Balancing Unicycle (SBU) has hit version 2.0. Seeing as we never covered the previous versions here on Gadget Lab, we’ll only mention one improvement before getting straight to the specs (And, of course, the snark). The new SBU ditches the dirty old chain and external motor for an internal hub motor, making the whole thing much cleaner, both visually and literally.

The electric motor of this one-wheeled Segway puts out 1,000 watts (against 350 watts in the original), and three gyroscopes make for easier and smoother turning. This, along with lowered foot pegs, makes it easier both to learn and to ride.

Finally, the battery has been bumped to 5 amp-hours for an average 12-mile range, and a maximum speed of 10 mph. Regenerative braking helps conserve juice by charging the battery as you slow down.

You can buy the new SBU starting in November, and it’ll cost you $1,500.

And the snark? Well, the machine actually looks pretty cool, and a lot of fun to ride. Take a look at this video, though, and you’ll see just how to make people hate you when you ride it: Talk on your cellphone and mug for the camera while doing some lame hip-hop music-video hand gestures. Cool!

SBU v2 [Focus Designs]

See Also:

• Nimbus Ultimate Wheel: A Minimalist Unicycle
• Flawed Bike Concept for Danger-Loving Hipsters
• The Sideways Bike: Like Surfing the Streets
• Unibot, the 3D-Stablized, One-Wheeled Robot
• 50 MPH HyperBike Rolls Into Action