bikes
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Cowboy’s ‘Adaptive Power’ update breathes new life into its flagship bike
Cowboy is updating new and existing e-bikes with a new feature called Adaptive Power. It works by tapping into the e-bike’s accelerometer and other sensors based on the rider’s weight, momentum and other factors – even wind. The new feature adjusts the motor’s power without the need for gears or tapping a boost button. But where's the new bike?
VanMoof's new A5 and S5 e-bikes are harder to steal and smoother to ride
VanMoof’s e-bikes before, but its latest generation of e-bikes usher in changes across the board. The company has tried to make most of the parts on its newest e-bikes itself. The most significant change might be the removal of the tube-based display of the S3 and X3 bikes, swapping it for a duo of Halo Rings near the buttons on each side. The company continues to offer peace of mind against e-bike theft, through a system-wide lock system and its team of bike hunters.
Google Maps integrates bike-share locations with navigation
Google Maps has offered directions specifically for bikes for years now, and the app also can show you where to find bike-sharing locations. Today, Google is mashing those two options together and showing docked bikeshare info in the directions — if you don’t have your own bike, it’ll route you to the nearest bike-sharing location and include the closest drop-off spot to your final destination as well. Basically, it combines walking directions to and from the bike pick-up and drop-off with the best biking route.
Lime brings Jump bikes back to London
Lime is bringing Jump bikes back to London.
Lyft wants to be your ride to and from concerts
Lyft is hitting the music festival circuit this summer. The ridesharing company announced today a partnership with entertainment giant AEG to be the exclusive rideshare, bike and scooter partner a number of major music events. Lyft will be on hand at 16 venues and available in eight major markets where music festivals are behind held.
Lyft sues San Francisco to block rival bike-sharing services
It looks like San Francisco's call for applications to expand its dockless bicycle program didn't sit well with Lyft. The company has just filed a lawsuit against the California city, seeking an injunction that would prohibit SF from giving its rivals permission to operate. Lyft claims that giving other companies a permit will violate the 10-year exclusivity agreement Ford GoBike -- previously operated by Motivate, which Lyft eventually purchased -- signed with San Francisco. The ride-hailing firm says the deal gives it exclusive rights to run bike-share services in the city, but local authorities are saying otherwise.
Uber's bike service is cutting into car rides
If you suspected that Uber's Jump bike sharing would be popular enough to cut into its mainstream car service, you suspected correctly. Jump has revealed that more than 63,000 customers in San Francisco have taken over 625,000 trips since a launch in the city in 2018, and that this popularity is affecting car rides in the area. While an initial study in July showed that bikes were starting to replace cars, Jump noted that the trend had "remained consistent" since then -- the more people relied on pedal power, the larger the decrease in car trips. That was particularly true for peak periods.
Lime offers free bike and scooter rentals on Election Day
If you're looking for a way to the polls this Election Day, you can snag a free ride via bike or scooter from Lime. The company is offering free trips on its fleet of shared bicycles, e-bikes, and occasionally abused electric scooters on Tuesday, November 6th.
Fisher-Price built a stationary bike for your toddler
Fresh air? Sunlight? Who needs that mess when your kid can get all the exercise he needs while exploring the Great Indoors? Here at CES, Fisher-Price debuted its Think & Learn Smart Cycle. If you think it looks like a tiny $150 SoulCycle bike with a tablet stand, you're right.
Uber admits its self-driving cars have trouble with bike lanes
After reports of Uber's self-driving cars running red lights and failing to stop for pedestrians during trips in San Francisco, the company has also admitted to issues with its autonomous vehicles navigating around (and legally interacting with) bike lanes. A spokesperson told The Guardian that the company was working to fix a flaw that allowed cars to turn into cycling lanes. Instead of merging into lanes ahead of making a right-hand turn, SF Bicycle Coalition executive director Brian Weidenmeier said he saw Uber's self-driving cars make unsafe turns through bike lanes, twice.
China's largest ride-hailing company is investing in bicycles
The largest ride-hailing service in China just made a big investment in a different kind of transportation program: bicycle sharing. According to a report from TechCrunch, DiDi Chuxing is kicking off a "multi-layered partnership" with Ofo -- an app-based bicycle sharing outfit with a network of over 70,000 bikes in 20 cities. The details of the investment are pretty bare, but DiDi Chuxing says the companies will "explore strategic cooperation in urban rideshare, including offering a quality bike-sharing experience on DiDi's platform." In other words, the company's ride-hailing app may include a bicycle rental option in the near future.
Six folding electric bikes that fit practically anywhere
By Cat DiStasio Imagine being able to carry a clean energy vehicle with you, just about wherever you go. Enter the folding electric bike. Battery-powered bicycles are on the rise as two-wheeled commuting gains popularity in places with heavy traffic and limited parking. Having the ability to fold up an e-bike and toss it in your trunk -- or even in a backpack -- expands your range of transportation options. There are a few big-name car companies like Ford and Volkswagen getting in on the action, while other innovations come from tech startups and university research groups. They all have one thing in common, though: They take a 300-year-old design for a two-wheeled vehicle and make it address modern transportation issues.
Six of the world's weirdest bikes
By Cat DiStasio Bicycles are ubiquitous on most city streets, but that doesn't mean they have to be boring. Over the years we've seen some absolutely bizarre bike designs that tiptoe around the borders of insanity. Some, like this wild dinosaur-inspired trike, were built to raise awareness about the environmental impact of fossil fuels. Others have more to do with the rider experience, whether it's the pursuit of a more thorough workout or the desire to fly with the birds. Bikes come in all shapes, sometimes with pointy bits, and sometimes without any pedals, but no matter how weird they look or work, there's something distinctly universal about these things we call bikes.
6 high-tech bikes that bring cycling to a new level
By Cat DiStasio For cyclists who want to go farther, ride faster and look cooler doing it, there are a lot of options on the market when it comes to high-end bikes. This week we're gawking over a few of the world's most technologically enhanced cycles. Some are electric hybrids; some transform for better ergonomics; and some take the notion of a bicycle and darn near throw it out the window. From the innovative to the chic to the out of this world, here are six of the world's most incredible (and expensive) rides on two wheels.
Breathalyzing bike lock keeps tipsy cyclists from riding drunk
You'd be surprised by the amount of damage and havoc that an inebriated bicyclist can inflict just by swerving through traffic, ignoring stop signs or falling off their bikes into the paths of oncoming cars. To prevent this sort of thing from happening, the Alcoho-Lock from Japanese firm KOOWHO combines the functionalities of a breathalyzer and bike lock. It works on the same principle as the ignition locks DUI offenders are often required to install on their cars. You simply blow into a mouthpiece on the underside of the lock and wait for the device to measure the amount of alcohol on your breath. If it's below the legal limit, the lock releases and you can be on your merry way. If it's above the legal limit the Alcoho-Lock will totally rat you out, sending a warning text to a family member or friend telling them you're smashed. That contact will then have the option to remotely unlock the device on your behalf.
6 amazing bikes that fly, float or go faster than cars
By Cat DiStasio, Inhabitat Staff These days, many people prefer two wheels to four. Folks opt for bikes instead of cars for the exercise, the maneuverability, the low environmental impact and the camaraderie among riders. It's the ever-changing design of bikes that grabs the world's attention, including those of us who aren't so steady on two wheels. Whether you're a diehard cyclist or you're skeptical of human-powered transportation, here are six incredible cycles that will leave you thinking bikes are a superior class of vehicle.
London tests traffic lights that stay green for cyclists
Cycling is one of the quickest ways to get across London, and soon adaptive traffic lights could make pedal-power even faster. Transport for London (TfL) is testing a system that detects groups of cyclists and, where possible, keeps the lights green for a little longer than usual. The problem being that during peak times -- for instance, the morning commute -- tons of cyclists take to the streets, causing congestion at major junctions.
Developer bike gang rides across the US to de-stress
William Stallwood is burned out. In 2008, Stallwood and Dain Saint co-founded independent studio Cipher Prime in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they've since built a reputation for creating stylish games rich in music and dreamy visuals, such as Auditorium, Splice and Intake. Cipher Prime hit success on Kickstarter before it was cool. Stallwood is heavily involved in the local game dev scene, and he helped found Philly Game Forge, Philly Dev Night, and he's Creative Director of the Philadelphia Geek Awards. Right now, he and three friends are taking a break from normal life – and from Philadelphia – to ride across the country on bicycles. "Cipher Prime is down to just Dain and myself again, and I needed to sort of run away and collect myself," Stallwood tells Joystiq in an email. "I've taken on a bit too many management roles and my recent work on the Philadelphia Geek Awards has pushed me a little over the level. I'm hoping to refuel my creativity and process all the things I love."
Azeroth Choppers Episode 7, voting opens today
With the arrival of Azeroth Choppers episode 7, we'll finally have the chance to do the thing that the entire webseries was leading up to, namely to vote on a new mount favoring either the Horde or the Alliance. Which will you choose, that monstrosity with tank treads the other faction got, or the awesome bike with tank treads your faction got? Well, whichever you pick, the time to do so is now. Are you excited for any of the bikes? Or just swept away by faction pride? Or are you like Anne, and you're literally insane to watch people build stuff? Personally I find the building aspect of the show to be absolutely riveting. Hah. Riveting. I made a joke. Personally I'm hoping that the next webseries that Blizzard does is with the awesome Man at Arms people. Seriously, how cool would that be? Blizz can break up into teams again and design badass new Horde and Alliance specific weapons and have a real life version forged by Tony Swatton and his team. They've made the Buster Sword, they could probably handle Ashkandi. Ooh. Forget the competition. Just make Ashkandi. And then deliver it to my house. Get ready to go vote for your favorite bike over on the official site.
Azeroth Choppers episode 6 is now available
Episode 6 of Azeroth Choppers is up, and if you've wanted to see some actual work get done on the bikes, today is your lucky day. I'll admit right now, I watch all kinds of TV shows that are about people building things, so I found today's episode to be the best one simply because the bikes are getting worked on. The Alliance bike in particular is starting to look pretty cool -- the armored gas tank and sword handlebars are definitely striking. Of course there's the usual drama of this kind of show - will it get done on time, clashes about what the direction for the build should be, etc - but again, finally we're getting a real sense of what the bikes themselves will look like. Frankly I'm disappointed at the lack of Samwise's beard in all this, though. I think he should just be in every scene.
