Archive for the 'Cycles' Category

On Bike Accessories from Brake Systems to Helmets

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Bicycling is a wonderful way to increase your cardiovascular capacity, save fuel costs, while assisting in keeping the environment unpolluted. Cycling also does not damage your muscles that running and using gym equipment can. Not only that, it’s practical since one can get exercise by biking to work, or doing the shopping, so you don’t have to to set time aside for exercise as almost all other sorts of work out enforce on you.

But what variety of cycle to buy? One that is comfortable for you as you’re biking, and has many gears to enable you to ride up inclines with relative ease – after all, not everybody lives in Cambridge! One ought to be able to lift your cycle with relative ease as you’ll discover this is necessary sometimes, for instance up a few stairs. Claud Butler urban bikes are a good range of bikes to start looking at.

Also make sure you have decent accessories for your bicycle : front and back light, a pump, reflector lights, reflective jacket, mudguards, helmet and strong lock. Such cycle accessories help you stay safe in the dark, and your cycle out of reach from robbery. Ensure you lock the bike in a moderately communal location.

And finally, it’s a smart move to invest a bit of time into learning bike repairs. You don’t need to become a bike repair guru, but it’s useful if you can work out how to set the brake cables and brake pads as these frequently require fine-tuning following heavy usage. Also make sure you keep the bike well lubricated with oil and the tyres pumped up to a reasonable pressure to make it that much easier to actually cycle.. And of course, take great care on the streets – use your arms to indicate when turning, and keep on the left-handside at all times.

Coming This Year – A Motor Bike Powered By-Hydrogen?

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Are you looking for a vehicle that will have your neighbors staring in disbelief? How about a motor bike that goes 100 miles on $4 worth of… hydrogen? A British company, Intelligent Energy, recently unveiled just such a vehicle.

The ENV (it stands for Energy Neutral Vehicle) is described by Intelligent Energy (IE) as “the world’s first purpose-built, fuel-cell motorbike.” It is based around IE’s CORE fuel cell, which the company says is “a fully-integrated 1kW fuel cell generator providing power on demand directly to the drive-train.”

The ENV is actually a hybrid vehicle in that it also has a battery pack that provides a 6kW peak load to the motor – to help the bike accelerate from a standing start.

IE says the ENV motor bike goes from 0 to 30 in 7.3 seconds and has a top speed of 50 mph. The company also says it is “virtually silent (with noise emissions equivalent to an everyday home computer) and its emissions are almost completely clean.”

On a full tank, the ENV bike could be used continually for up to four hours without any need for re-fueling. The bike can be used by almost any rider as it has simple controls and no gears. While it is officially classified as a motorbike, those who have ridden it say “it feels more like a very quick and responsive mountain bike.”

Of course, there is a downside to a hydrogen-powered motor bike, and that is the fact that you just don’t find hydrogen service stations on every corner. Or on just about any corner. However, Intelligent Energy is also working on new technology for separating hydrogen from other fuels, so you may find more places to say “fill ‘er up” in the years to come.

Intelligent Energy has announced that when available later this year, that the ENV will initially sell for less than $10,000. But then, what’s $10,000 when you’re creating pratically clean emissions, and your neighbors are staring in envy?

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Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio, the Internet, technology and family finances.