The Geek Church

Of course, children’s safety is very important when it comes to bicycling at a young age. Bikes for kids who are new to bicycling usually come with training wheels attached. Then there is common safety equipment such as helmets, elbow pads, knee pads and wrist guards, which teenagers and adults should also be using. However, some people seem to take an extreme approach to bicycle safety for children through unconventional methods. For example, Italtrike recently designed a tricycle with features for extra safety.

Their tricycle is called the oko-Plus. It has a padded seat with a three-point safety harness and a front wheel that can’t make turns beyond 45 degress in order to avoid jack-knifing and toppling over. Furthermore, the oko-Plus also uses a completely enclosed chain-drive with the foot pedals attached to the sides of it instead of on the front wheel. Other features of this tricycle include handbrakes, adjustable handlebars (and the seat is also adjustable) capable of nine different positions, enabling the same child to use the tricycle from age two to age five.

Now that’s quite a list of safety measures for a regular child’s tricycle. Personally, I think Italtrike might have gotten a little carried away in emphasizing safety for users of the oko-Plus. Nonetheless, their efforts show a passion to protect children and that’s a noble goal to be respected. This tricycle is available for $146.

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If you consistently follow the latest news in conceptual and recently developed technology, then you’re probably familiar with the idea of an electric-powered bicycle. Many electric bikes have been developed in Japan before. But according to Crunch Gear, the design of most of those models usually end up being ugly or unattractive. However, Yamaha just unveiled a new model called the PAS Brace-L, which is intended for young and older male consumers.

According to Yamaha, this new model was conceived for guys who want an electric bike for their personal enjoyment but never got one since most designs for existing models are physically unappealing. Furthermore, a truly desirable electric bicycle could serve as a trendy way to exercise or get to work.

The PAS Brace-L runs on an 8.1Ah/25.2V lithium-ion battery and features options such as an assisted travel range of 47km in its standard mode and 37 km in its power mode. The battery itself takes at least four hours to fully charge. This new electric bicycle will be available in Japan on July 15 for $1,630.

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Personal safety is very important when it comes to bicycling. It is wise for a cyclist to use protective gear such as wrist guards, elbow pads, knee pads and a helmet. That being said, the helmet is obviously the most important piece of protective equipment you can use. Of course, making sure your helmet is good condition for use is just as important as having it in the first place. But how you do know when your helmet needs to be replaced after long-time use? Apparently, some German scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg decided to deal with this issue by designing a bicycle helmet that actually stinks when it’s been damaged.

They placed microcapsules of stinky oil inside of a helmet as a mechanism to signal when the piece of head gear is damaged and should be replaced. These tiny capsules are 1 to 50 micrometers in size. In the event of a cyclist having a serious fall off of a bike, stress is put on the helmet. Then cracks can develop in the helmet, lessening its effectiveness as protective head gear, which puts you at risk of a future head injury if you keep using that helmet. However, the stinky smell released by the microcapsules in the helmet are intended to provoke the user to get rid of that head gear and replace it. The amount of stinky smell released in the helmet depends on the size of the cracks when the head gear is damaged. Larger cracks will give off more of a stench.

According to Dr. Christof Koplin from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM, bike riders tend to waste their helmets by replacing them too soon after having a fall. Furthermore, cyclists also face the uncertainty of not really knowing when their protective head gear is truly damaged and must be replaced. Thus, the capsules of stinky oil are a suitable answer to resolve this issue. Personally, I’d take my chances with a regular helmet and waste money on a replacement instead of dealing with head gear that punishes me with a foul stench if I break it.

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Riding a bicycle to get from one place to another in a neighborhood, community or city has a number of benefits. By using a bike, you save money on gas and can go through areas that aren’t accessible by car. You also get more exercise through cycling and it’s a cheaper form of transportation than automobiles overall. But what if you want to enjoy these benefits of bicycling without having to spend up to a hundred dollars or more on a bike of your own? Well, the bicycle company Trek is ready to help you with their new bike sharing system.

They call this bike sharing system B-cycle and it’s currently making its grand debut in the city of Denver. Trek has set up a series of B-cycle stations all over Denver. In order to use this bike sharing system, you first have to start your own account. Then you can use a bike from any B-cycle station and drop it off at the station nearest to you after using it. Each B-cycle bike is equipped with a GPS unit that tracks your route when you ride it. Having a GPS inside these bicycles also allows you to check one of them out online after you’ve set up your B-cycle account.

Furthermore, the daily cost for using B-cycle is only $5 while a year’s worth of service is also available for $65. These service costs seem to be quite affordable and offer a nice alternative to consumers who want to use a bicycle without owning one. Trek is currently working to install their bike sharing system in a bunch of other cities but no information about these cities is available at this time. However, you do have the option of going online to vote on bringing B-cycle to your city at the Trek website if you don’t live in Denver. According to sources, the support of many grassroots organizations and enough public interest is required in order to bring this bike sharing system to New York City. Perhaps you can get B-cycle too if you get enough people in your city go online and rock the vote.

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When it comes to bicycles, even the electric ones, it’s most common to see them in the regular design of a metal body with hard rubber-layered handlebars and foot pedals. Of course, cyclists can find it difficult or inconvenient to park or store their bikes in some places when they’re out riding. Well, for those bicyclists who can’t always find a bike rack when they need it or who don’t like using chains, the people from Yuji Fujimura have an answer for you.

They call it the Electric Bike Concept Ver2. It has a very thin body with handlebars and foot pedals that are designed to fold in when the bike is stored and they can be folded out later for use. With a special rack, three or four of these new bicycles could be easily stored, taking up the same space as a more traditional model. This new model designed by Yuji Fujimura provides the options of powering the bike with electric energy, running it manually with the pedals or using a combination of both methods.

The Electric Bike Concept Ver2 also comes with a feature that allows mobile devices to be recharged by its lithium battery in a special compartment. Obviously, this new design was conceived for the purpose of very convenient storage to solve the issues of trying to park a bike in various locations. However, the thin design of the body raises serious questions about the bike’s sense of balance and its ability to function in actual use. Think about it, how confident would a rider be, handling such a thin bike when facing turns, traffic and strong winds?

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Hey cyclists, let’s talk for a moment.  There are probably, at least some of you who don’t like riding up a hill on your bicycle.  Let’s consider what it is you hate most about taking the bike upward instead of on easy flatland.  Is it the effort required to build momentum for the ride up, the stress it puts on your legs or the fact that it saps a lot of your strength?

Well,  Sanyo has a new bike to make your biking experience easier.  For years, this company has provided their Eneloop bike series which function as electric bicycles that take some of the work out of pedaling when riding up a hill.  The earlier models worked by recharging them whenever the rider went downhill or used the brakes.  Now the people at Sanyo introduce their newest smart bike called the SPL.  Along with recharging itself when going downhill or using the brakes, this new SPL model regenerates its battery when the cyclist is riding on flatland too.

The new bike also has an “Eco Charge Mode” that allows its range to increase by fifty-three percent.  In addition to this, the model contains a new chrome basket as well.

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I have seen foldable bikes before, but the biggest problems that they have are the wheels. You see, they can’t really fold, because they are full of air.

Unless you want to inflate and re-inflate them, those wheels will usually take up the same amount of area and will refuse to be compacted.

Until Victor Aleman’s design, which allows the tires to be compacted in a very small radius. Check out the folded version after the jump.

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I never thought I would see the day when the basic concept of learning how to ride a bike could be improved. Then along comes technology and utterly blows my thought process away.

In this case, it is the Gyrowheel. This is a front bicycle wheel that has a battery powered spinning disc inside that creates gyroscopic precession force that can balance the wheel like it was on a Segway. Check it out in the video.

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