News

The latest designs of torch that project GPS mapping information onto any surface pave the way for bicycle-mounted sat navs that project route details onto the road ahead. The TamTam Flash concept GPS torch has been designed with pedestrians in mind. It allows its user the option of projecting either a street map view or turn-by-turn...

A new version of the award-winning GoCycle electric bicycle is to be sold without a motor or battery and pitched to cyclists who, according to the designers, “don’t mind breaking a sweat on their way to work.” Riders of the Gocycle Black who later decide they would like a little help with the pedalling can retrofit purchase the EmpowerPack...

Motorists who drive cars that were first registered before 2001 are unlikely to be aware of how much CO2 their vehicle emits. A car’s V5 document (sometimes referred to as the logbook) details the amount of CO2 the vehicle emits per kilometre, but this is not the case for vehicles registered before 1st march 2001. How to calculate CO2 g/km...

It is perhaps because small capacity motorcycles regularly travel 100 miles on one gallon of petrol that so few are designed to maximise their aerodynamic efficiency, but a Dutch cycle designer has done just that and achieved an impressive 214mpg. Allert Jacobs fitted a Honda Innova 125cc scooter (best known in Britain as the pizza delivery...

The government is currently considering a change to the law that would allow Electric Personal Vehicles (EPV), such as the Segway, to be used on the roads and cycle tracks. Consideration does not include use of pedestrianised areas or pedestrian footways, but does apply to their use on existing shared pedestrian / pedal cycle use areas. One...

Bicycle helmets that feature a synthetic scalp to reduce the risk of rotational head injuries are to go on sale within a year. Existing cycle helmets are little more than polystyrene encased in a plastic shell – working in a similar way to the skull by protecting against direct blows – but they are not designed to mitigate rotational...

A British invention that allows cycle helmets to imitate the way the scalp moves over the human skull when it receives a glancing blow has been welcomed by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA). Existing cycle helmets work in a similar way to the skull by protecting against direct blows, but in the event of a crash the Phillips Head...

New technology is fuelling a cycle lights arms race; the most powerful of the latest crop of LED, Xenon strobe and high-intensity discharge (HID) bicycle lights are rated at over 2000 lumens – by comparison, the typical halogen car headlamp produces around 1000 to 1500 lumens. However, despite the ever-increasing power of cycle lights, they...

The introduction of LED bulbs has made lightweight, powerful and durable lighting affordable for cyclists, but the evolution of bicycle lights may be about to make another leap forward with a design that senses approaching traffic and illuminates the rider as well as the road. The Firefly bicycle light uses a passive Infrared sensor to...

It’s not as small as a Brompton, as light as a Dahon or as finely engineered as a Moulton but a new design by Makoto Asawa promises to be the fastest-collapsing bicycle on the market with a folding time of two seconds. The full-size is designed to be folded as it is being wheeled along by Japanese commuters in a hurry. The frame hinge is...