Over the last ten years, Google has had a fleet of hundreds of free bicycles for employees at its Mountain View headquarters, offering a quick and easy way to get around the constantly expanding corporate campus. With roughly 1,100 of these "Gbikes" now available, Google's latest problem is that it can't keep local residents from riding off with them.
BMW may be best known for its four-wheeled vehicles, but the company has been pushing a different kind of hybrid in recent years: e-bikes. The latest addition to the BMW Lifestyle brand is the BMW Active Hybrid e-bike, a new version of the electrically-assisted bicycle that adds power and finesses the design.
LeEco has unveiled a pair of smart bicycles at CES 2017, adding both of these connected products to its North American portfolio. These two new connected smart bikes come in Mountain and Road versions, both of which feature LeEco’s BikeOS, an Android 6.0 system that cyclists can access via a 4-inch touchscreen display. The system is powered by a Snapdragon 420 processor and a rechargeable 6,000mAh li-ion battery.
Electrobike has introduced the new AIR33, an electric bicycle poised for getting you around the city in style, and without the burdens that an ordinary street bike may present. The AIR33 is lightweight and foldable, with the latter feature being tailored sensibly to one's needs: the bike can still be rolled on its wheels when folded up, meaning you don't have to carry it. As well, the bicycle includes an electric motor for riding along without peddling or for assistance while going up hills.
Someone made a folding bicycle helmet, their intention being the conservation of space in one's bag while out and about, and naturally it sounds suspicious. A helmet is, in some cases, the only thing standing between the road and your skull. One would assume a folding helmet would be less capable of protecting said skull due to its propensity toward, you know, folding. That's not a concern, though, according to the team behind it: Fend, the collapsible bike helmet, features a special joint system that will keep it open and secured when you need it most.
Researchers at Stanford have been developing a new breed of bicycle helmets that use air bags to significantly reduce injuries sustained in the event of an accident. David Camarillo is a bioengineer at Stanford working on the helmet design and according to testing performed at the University, the new airbag helmets can reduce the force of an impact as much as six times compared to a traditional bike helmet.
Long before Uber was ruling the streets, the idea of car-sharing was associated with companies like Zipcar, the service where users can pay to use a car just when they need it, and then park it for someone else to take. Now Zipcar is looking to apply that same model to bicycles, and has announced a new partnership with Zagster where they will bring a new bike-sharing service to 15 college campuses in the US.
A new device has landed on Kickstarter that aims directly at the bicyclists out there that use a bicycle to get around. The device is called the Shoka Bell and it can work like a bike bell only instead of little dings and rings, it uses an app to provide different ringtones to alert cars and pedestrians that you are there. The device can also help you navigate around unfamiliar areas.
As we become increasingly more connected, it seem manufacturers are adding computers and touchscreens to an ever-expanding range of items. Some of these are more successful than others, and now Volata Cycles is testing the waters with a new high-tech bicycle that puts a touchscreen smack in the middle of your handlebars. The bike, which has simply been dubbed the Volata, is available for reservation now and has a few features that cyclists might actually find handy.
Getting outside and socializing needn't involve Pokemon GO, with Garmin launching a pair of new cycling GPS computers that each bake in rider pack interconnectivity. The Gamin Edge 820 and Edge Explore 820 each do the usual tracking and navigation you'd expect from a cycling computer, but also include the company's GroupTrack feature.
Many people like the idea of getting around on a bicycle, but not having to do so on the same roads as cars. To deal with that issue, Paris has decided to create a 28-mile highway that is exclusively for bicycles, banning all motorized vehicles on them and, as a result, making a safe space for cyclists to get around more quickly. The highway is called Reseau express velo, REVe for short, and it was first voted upon last year.
In an announcement that should surprise nobody, Xiaomi has entered another new market with an electric bicycle. It's called the Mi Qicycle Electric Folding Bike, and it's just launched this morning in Beijing, China. According to Xiaomi's Vincent Khoo, "Xiaomi is not a smartphone company, but we are a technology company. Why not enter another field such as transportation?" This bike folds up, runs on a rather massive battery, and comes with its own app.