Tag: BICYCLE

3-D printing has changed the way that engineers and designers prototype things, but it hasn't really made its way into mainstream manufacturing yet. But engineers at EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, are making strides by using a process called additive layer manufacturing, which uses a laser to melt plastic, nylon or metal powders in layers until the finished product is ...

Oblivious Brooklynites intent on walking and gabbing need to be on high alert for brazen and blazing cell-phone thieves. A wave of iPhone thefts has intensified in recent weeks, and the ride-by bandits commit their crimes while saddled on bicycles. The cell-crime spree, which began to garner attention in October, continues to spread through various neighborhoods in the borough, including Park ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never move from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over their creations, nevertheless. Some ...

Share Ask any experienced manufacturer to name the key component to a winning product, and they'll undoubtedly reel off a string of theories, personal maxims and anecdotes. Then, if they're even remotely honest, they'll confess that they have no idea what they're talking about. Some ugly and even poorly made objects go on to wild success (cough, Bluetooth headsets, cough), while beautifully ...

While its main function is to demo a new fuel-cell technology, SiGNa's electric bike can travel 60 miles on a single charge, which is nearly twice as far as most electric bikes. According to Wired, its fuel cell is filled with a powdery chemical that -- upon adding water -- generates hydrogen gas, which produces electricity. The chemical reaction is safe for bikers, and the excess electricity is ...

Do you remember the little Murata robots, the adorable droids that ride bicycles and unicycles? Well, Seiko has been updated yet again; she could previously go back and forth on a narrow beam with her lone wheel, but now she can navigate curves. Click past the break, and see a video of her previous incarnation at last year's CEATEC, the Tokyo electronics show where the new Seiko will demo next ...

When you think of monorails, you probably conjure up images of the famed Disney World shuttle or of a super-fast bullet train rocketing across Japan, not about recumbent bicycles housed in plastic tubes dangling from some roller coaster-like track. The latter is essentially what the folks at Shweeb have created, though, and Google thinks the idea is good enough for the company to invest $1 ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never move from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over their creations, nevertheless. This ...

Meet the Stringbike, a new, chain-free bike that will solve all the problems you never even knew you had. Designed by a team of Hungarian cycling enthusiasts, the 19-gear Stringbike replaces the traditional chain apparatus with a significantly more complex wire and pulley system. Whenever a rider applies pressure to a pedal, a swinging arm swings back and forth on its shaft, and pulls the wire ...

Bike computers are a must-have accessory for avid cyclists. But, sadly, for many of the hipsters here in New York who ride around on vintage fixies, their in-board gadgets seem to be made of cheap plastic and aren't aesthetically appealing. This concept from Redfish Creative ditches the plastic and digital watch-quality LCD display for leather, brushed metal and a retro dial gauge. The main gauge ...

When Kristin Rule (a.k.a. The Unconventional Cellist) started planning her 2010 tour to support her latest album, she decided to use it as an opportunity to promote a "green" message. Her appropriately named Slow Ride Album Launch tour will have Rule riding a bicycle across Australia, lugging her cello behind her. Dragging the sizable instrument around the continent via pedal power would be hard ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never progress from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over them, nevertheless. This week saw ...

SoBi, or Social Bikes, is a new bike-sharing system being developed by urban planner and bike advocate Ryan Rzepecki. SoBi uses some of the concepts and technologies behind mobile social networking to connect cyclists with bikes -- and each other -- in ways that actually save money over traditional bike-sharing systems. Where traditional bike share systems require special docks placed at ...

The town of Dudley in West Midlands, England has just deployed a crime-fighting vehicle that's more cute than it is fearsome. According to the BBC, after a "slight increase" in the number of robberies since April, the Dudley Bobbies decided that a pedal-powered contraption in the shape of a giant, sideways apostrophe would help make civilians more protective of their valuables. The 'Digi-Bike,' as ...

If you had to choose one bike to ride across the continental U.S., you probably wouldn't choose one named 'Precious.' The moniker doesn't exactly ooze the kind of fearless aggression you'd expect from your riding partner, and, in recent years, it's become more synonymous with slow-moving behemoths than swift speed machines. One 'bike with a brain,' however, is out to debunk all of our ...