Cycling
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AR glasses will quench your ride-stat thirst
The bike I was riding to test a new set of AR glasses was probably a bit too small for me. Also, it was a typical San Francisco summer day, so it was cold and windy, and, like an idiot, I left my jacket upstairs. But none of that mattered, because I was peering into the future of biking. The best part was that the Everysight Raptor AR glasses I was wearing didn't feel bulky and didn't require me to strain my eye socket to look into a tiny screen -- all the information was being projected right in front of me.
AI will predict key moments at the Tour de France
Machine learning is popping up in a range of different sports, helping to predict everything from athletes' injuries to peak performance levels. Enter the Tour de France -- the world's biggest cycling event, consisting of 198 riders across 22 teams who must traverse a total distance of 3,540 kilometres -- which is utilizing AI for the first time ever during this year's event.
Mayor of London wants a zero-emission transport system by 2050
London mayor Sadiq Khan has a wildly ambitious plan to make the English capital more environmentally friendly. In a draft "Transport Strategy," which is now subject to public consultation, he suggests making London's entire transport system zero emission by 2050. That deadline, of course, is a long way off, so Khan has outlined some stepping stones too. He wants all taxis and private hire vehicles to be zero emission "capable" by 2033, followed by buses in 2037 and all remaining road vehicles by 2040. "Transport emissions can blight the streets, harming human health and contributing to climate change now and in the future," he says.
Strava wants runners and cyclists to be bloggers too
Strava wants to be more than a simple tool for tracking your runs and bike rides. Much of the experience is focused on the "Feed," a place where you can share your training sessions and accomplishments (and view those recorded by other people). Normally, these bite-sized posts are limited to a small map, some basic stats and a short caption. Now, Strava is introducing "athlete posts," which are essentially full-blown blog posts. For now, the feature is exclusive to 36 Strava-approved athletes, however the company says it will roll out to the rest of the community "later this summer."
BeeLine's bike computer makes every ride an adventure
Cycling in a city can be stressful, especially if you're headed somewhere that you've never been to before. Most people ride with a specialized cycle computer, or with a smartphone strapped to their handlebars. While useful, both devices can be a distraction on busy, dangerous roads. Instructive turn-by-turn directions also do little to improve your street-level knowledge -- the screen becomes a crutch, rather than a tool to help you learn about the various roads, bridges and tunnels around you.
France isn't ready to ban cyclists from cheating with motors
The pro cycling world may be cracking down on the use of hidden motors to cheat in races, but it doesn't look like governments are ready to make it a criminal offense. The French government has shot down a proposed law that would have made this "technological doping" illegal, adding legal penalties to the punishments from racing leagues themselves. It's not that the politicians endorse cheating, of course. Rather, it's that they feel the proposal was premature and potentially too harsh given existing measures.
LeEco's Android-powered smart road bike is for hardcore cyclists
LeEco, the eccentric maker of TVs, phones, cars and bikes, has a new pair of high-end smart bikes to show off here at CES 2017. The company hasn't even brought its original Super Bike to market yet, but it's already refined the concept to make its new offerings more practical for serious cyclists. Gone are the heavy dynamos and size limitation; this year's vehicles come in two flavors, and are more lightweight. The new, somewhat blandly named Smart Road Bike and Smart Mountain Bike pack a new version of LeEco's Android-based Bike OS software that now supports a small selection of third-party sensors. I hopped on a prototype road bike the company was showing off for the first time here in Las Vegas, and so far I find the idea of a smart bike slightly questionable.
SpeedX's Unicorn bike comes with smarts already installed
If you're serious about cycling, you'll want to track every ride. How far you went, the amount of calories you burned -- that sort of thing. Until now, that's meant equipping your bike with a slew of third-party sensors and a less-than-sleek cycle computer on the handlebars. Not so with SpeedX. The Chinese startup is building carbon road bikes that integrate all of these components in a clean, blemish-free design. Its latest creation, the Unicorn, takes the concept one step further with a new, detachable "SpeedForce" computer that runs on Android and -- in a first for the cycling industry -- a built-in power meter to measure your effort on the pedals.
SpeedX's Unicorn bike knows how much effort you're putting in
SpeedX is back with another "smart" road bike that promises to track your rides with a sleek, blemish-free design. The Unicorn is a sequel to the Leopard, which I took for a spin last June, and comes with a new, detachable bike computer on the stem. It has a 2.2-inch touchscreen and runs a custom version of Android, clearly indicating your current, average and maximum speed, among other information. Despite its color display, SpeedX says the new "SpeedForce" computer will be visible in direct sunlight and last more than 20 hours on a single charge. There's also a wireless button on the handlebars for convenient screen switching.
Smart cycling glasses show data without blocking your view
You can already buy smart glasses for cycling, but they tend to have one big catch: the heads-up display partly obscures your view. That's annoying at best, and risky at worst. Everysight thinks it can do better. It's close to finishing development of Raptor, a set of augmented reality glasses that projects data on a transparent display on the lens. You'll get navigation, speed, heart rate and other vital info without losing valuable visual real estate. They'll even record your ride in HD (with sound), so you can review your performance after the fact.
One man is cycling the length of Britain in VR
Exercise bikes can be a little boring. Even with some music or mindless TV in the background, it's a mind-numbing workout. Pedalling, pedalling, pedalling. Not for Aaron Puzey. The Brit has developed an app for Samsung's Gear VR headset which displays Street View imagery while he's riding. Using a Bluetooth cadence sensor, which tracks how fast he's pedalling, the app knows when to manipulate and change the panoramas, giving the impression that he's travelling. His goal? To ride the length of Britain, from Land's End in Cornwall to John O'Groats in Scotland.
Strava's safety 'Beacon' shows friends where you're training
Strava has added a safety feature to its running and cycling app that we're surprised isn't more common. "Beacon" lets up to three friends see exactly where you're biking or running, even if they don't have the app installed. On top of showing a map, It will them know if you've stopped for a long period, if your battery is low or if you're out of network range.
Garmin's new bike computers track riders in your pack
If you like to bike in groups, you know that it's not always easy to keep everyone together. What if your miniature peloton has to split, or someone wipes out and you don't notice? Garmin wants to put your mind at ease. It's unveiling two cycling computers, the Edge 820 (shown at left) and Edge Explore 820 (right), with a GroupTrack feature that shows where everyone is regardless of how far apart they are. You'll also get a preloaded Cycle Map with bike-friendly data, a 2.3-inch touchscreen (smaller than on the Edge 810) and support for Garmin Varia gear like the Vision headset.
Tour de France will use thermal cameras to spot hidden motors
For decades, the world of cycling has struggled to come to terms with the amount of doping in the sport. Lance Armstrong leads a long list of athletes who have used performance-enhancing substances to win, but in recent years, technology has given rise a new form of cheating: hidden motors. With the world's most famous cycling race just a few days away, Tour de France officials will utilize thermal cameras to detect so-called "mechanical doping," putting would-be cheats on notice.
The US Olympic cycling team is training with smart glasses
When the US cycling team heads to the Olympics in Rio this summer, it'll have an ace up its sleeve: training with smart glasses. Solos has worked with the team to create augmented reality glasses that show vital data in mid-ride (such as cadence and heart rate), making it ideal for athletes looking to push themselves a little harder. It talks to common cycling apps, too, such as MapMyRide, Strava and TrainingPeaks. However, the best part may be the availability -- Solos is running a crowdfunding campaign to get everyday cyclists using the eyewear.
Cyclist banned for six years after racing with a hidden motor
A professional cyclist has been banned for six years after it was discovered she was racing with a hidden electric motor. Femke Van den Driessche was caught at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in January, during an inspection of her pit area. A magnetic resonance scan, which Road.cc reports was conducted with a tablet, allowed officials to spot a battery and Vivax motor in the seat tube. Van den Driessche could have activated it using a Bluetooth switch concealed under her handlebar tape. She denied the allegations at the time, claiming the bike was given to her by mistake.
IMAX wants to host your indoor cycling sessions
If you live in in the heart of a city, it's hard to enjoy biking outside... not unless you like weaving through traffic. IMAX might have the next best thing, though. It's testing IMAXShift, an indoor cycling experience that promises to be more interesting than pedaling at the gym. The effort ultimately amounts to a cycling class in front of a giant screen, but IMAX argues that this could be a big motivator -- instead of riding either indoors or in a dreary urban landscape, you can travel along the Hawaiian coast or through the Solar System. There are even promises of "music-reactive visuals."
Cycling officials find motor hidden inside competition bike
"Doped bikes" that use hidden motors to give riders a boost have long been suspected but never seen. However, officials accused 19-year-old Belgian star Femke Van den Driesshe (above) of "technological fraud" at the cyclocross World Championships on Saturday. "It was no secret that a motor was found. We believe that it was indeed technological doping," said Brian Cookson, the president of the Union Cycliste International (UCI). He added that "we've been [testing] new methods of detection but you'll understand why I don't want to go into details."
Garmin bike headset warns about traffic behind you
There are already bike-friendly smart headsets that will tell you how you're doing, but they won't usually say much about traffic. How are you supposed to know when a car is getting uncomfortably close? That's where Garmin thinks it can help. As part of a larger CES launch, it's unveiling a Varia Vision headset that not only gives you vital cycling data (directions, notifications and performance) but also teams up with the Varia Rearview Radar to warn about traffic behind you. In other words, you'll know about trouble right away, without losing focus. It won't be cheap when it ships this quarter for $400, but it could be justifiable if you regularly bike on busy streets.
London's entire Boris bike fleet will soon have laser lights
Boris bikes have never been London's trendiest form of public transportation, although they picked up some much-needed style points earlier this year thanks to a laser-projected light system. At the time it was limited to 250 two-wheelers, but today Transport for London (TfL) has announced the trial will be expanded to all 11,500 Santander bicycles in early 2016. The Blaze Laserlight projects a green version of the standard cyclist symbol six meters in front of the rider, making them visible to pedestrians and traffic looking to pull out up ahead.
