Pro-ID

Also recently posted at Yanko Design, re:energy is a front wheel concept that promises to harness kinetic energy from riding. The idea behind the design by Jinsik Kim and Boseung Seo is that a user can recharge his or her laptop, phone, or other gadget with the energy stored in the wheel. Maybe in a world with no crosswinds, but in real life it is not very practical. I certainly wouldn’t want to get passed by a bus while riding a bike with a disc wheel in the front. Ouch!

Speaking of molded plastic bikes, check out the Bisickle, a “whimsical” commuter bike concept by illustrator/inventor/cartoonist Steven Johnson.

I’m really liking the illustrations by Chris McNally on the new Ibis website.

PUBLIC bike has couple of new models that will debut this month. Tell them in ~200 words or less where you would take them and what you would do on a 90 minute bicycle trip in your hometown, and you might win one of the new bikes.

Every other blog in the world has mentioned this, so I might as well quit holding out and jump on the bandwagon. I am skeptical about the idea, but I have to admit that I did find it initially interesting (maybe it was just the models and photography that drew me in). I can’t wait to see how this product is received when Hövding actually starts selling it in Sweden, possibly as early as next Spring.

Pedalr is a site where you can buy or sell bicycles, parts, accessories, apparel or anything bike related. Unlike Craigslist and eBay, pedalr gives “artisans, boutique manufacturers and small shops of the biking world a platform to create identity and connect with bicycle passionate folks.” Read more about it here and click around a bit. It is a pretty cool site to explore.

I liked the Eurobike Student award winning design for a tent that used a bicycle as part of the structure. Apparently, Topeak has a similar tent on the market.

Apple’s “smart bicycle” patent was making the blog rounds not long ago (including on this blog). Yannig Roth shared some interesting thoughts on the subject, with a mention of the Smart e-bike, recently on his blog.

Bike198 is introducing a new t-shirt line starting with this “Size Does Matter” 29er shirt. Robb Sutton of Bike198 says, “The design of this tee by Adam Allen gets to the retro roots that started with custom steel 29ers but still speaks to the aluminum full suspension designs that we see in today’s market.” They are offering the shirt at a discounting rate until 11/13, so check out the pre-order page.

Richard from Cyclelicious attended the 2010 San Francisco Bicycle Expo last week. Check out some of his photos, including those from the Pedal Savvy bicycle fashion show that took place during the expo.

On a trip to Italy to visit his wife’s family, Brian Miller visited theGemmati Velocipedi factory, which has been producing Iride bikes since 1919. Over the years, he visited many times and finally decided to start importing the classic steel lugged Iride bikes to the U.S. The deep-drop pantographed stem on the track bike, caught my attention. I still have a few old pantographed 1980’s Italian parts that I no longer use, but I just can’t bear to part with.