bike

Bryce Roberts and I get out on the trail several times a week during the mountain biking season (and up on the slopes during the winter - by the way, Snowbird is still open with tons of snow). Utah has some excellent trails just minutes from our houses (we live a block from each other).

We went out Saturday night to help me recuperate from a difficult (but successful) end of Alfresco's quarter. Riding at dusk, the air at 70 degrees Farenheit...perfection.

I'm going to be organizing a mountain biking tour of Utah. If you like to … Read more

I was recently shopping for a new bike helmet and I was struck by a realization: Is there another category with lower differentiation amongst the different brands?

Above is a representative sampling of helmets from four different manufacturers: Bell, Giro, Louis Garneau, and Specialized. I've removed the logos. Can you tell one brand from another? I certainly can't. (Answer at the end of the post)

The bike helmet category, so far as I can see, is primarily style driven, as all the helmets have to meet minimum safety standards determined by a couple of third party organizations. The … Read more

What do you get when you decide that a bicycle needs only one main wheel while declaring that the seat and handles are useless? You get the Magic Wheel, which functions like a foot scooter but looks a little like an Andy Warhol installation.

We first spotted this odd conveyance while on our way to lunch, and our initial thought was that this was a little late for an April Fool's joke. But shockingly, we found out it's an actual product.

Despite its unusual design, the distributor claims that it takes only a couple of hours to master … Read more

Why should car drivers be the only ones to enjoy watching video on the road? As cyclists acquire more rights, they should also be able to distract themselves as effectively as their motorist counteparts.

The "iPhone Bike Mount" is supposedly designed to make it easier to control the device for music and phone controls on handlebars, but we fear that it might simply add to the growing list of eye-averting gadgetry that has made commuting a multi-tasking adventure for many afflicted with dangerously short attention spans. The bracket can rotate 360 degrees so the screen can be seen … Read more

With so many electric and hybrid bikes come out, it's hard to imagine where one such as the "E+" from Electric Motion Systems will fit in. There's already a broad range of competing products that are trying everything to distinguish themselves, from Yamaha's iPod-dock-equipped "EC-02" that glows in the dark to Brammo's ultra-lightweight "Enertia" on the high end that can hit 50 miles per hour (not to mention $15,000).

The E+ does have an LCD instrument gauge and "regenerative braking" that recharges the battery, as Engadget says, … Read more

Where safety features are concerned, usually bicycles adopt ideas from cars. But SweetskinZ wants to do it the other way around.

The company got some ink last year with reflective bike tires that looked more like art projects than safety measures. Now it's applying this patented "SkinZ" technology to car tires, especially for ATVs in no-man's land.

Not only will these wheels increase visibility, but they'll definitely make a fashion statement as well. After all, how many tires have you seen on the road that look like snakeskin? Outside California, anyway.

Although automobiles have countless safety devices and technologies, there are relatively few for bicycles by comparison. And that makes little sense when you look at the global trends, which will only increase in coming years with the growth of green initiatives.

That shortcoming inspired London design student Michael Chen to come up with a concept for a jacket he calls the "Reactiv" (that's right, there's no "e" at the end--it's not at typo or some weird British spelling). Using an accelerometer to track movement, the high-tech garment has LEDs on the sleeves that … Read more

Some gadget makers just won't listen to reason. As much as Crave has ranted about the dubious value of handlebar speakers, they insist on coming out with more of them.

The latest example comes in the form of this bike stereo speaker from a distributor in Italy, of all places. We can't even imagine what it would be like to try to hear them over the cacophony of horns and obscenities in Roman traffic jams.

It does have the practical foresight to include a protective case for an MP3 player to protect it from the elements, according to … Read more

Some people will do just about anything to get their bikes noticed. But if you're one of those boring cyclists who just want lights for safety--as opposed to a statement--then Puma's latest model may be worth consideration.

The reason: It glows in the dark. We're not talking about some randomly placed stickers or reflectors here, but the whole frame. It's finished in luminescent paint that absorbs sunlight during the day, according to ProductDose, so it's not as if you'd be riding around in Day-Glo colors 24/7.

And lest you think this … Read more