As you may have surmised, we have arrived at Part Three of our three part bike innovation series.
Part One was focused on more of a futuristic approach to what bikes will eventually become and have the capability of becoming, while
Part Two is more of an urban approach of what genius ideas can do to make your bike extra smart as well as theft proof. In Part Three, we will see some bike hacks to give you that new fangled feature or the "sexed up" look, without having to shell out for an all new ride.
Easily the coolest piece of kit I've seen, is the
Helios Smart Handlebar. Coming in many styles, this handlebar comes with front and rear LEDs along with turn signals. Yes, I know, we've all seen indicator lighting blah, blah, blah... Yeah, you are way wrong! What sets the Helios apart, is the built in Bluetooth and GPS. Basic functionality lets you do the obvious stuff you would expect; tracking where you are, where you've been and how far in between. Get excited because here is where it gets good. Using the GPS and the rear facing LEDs, the
Helios gives you real time telemetry. Set your destination in the app and follow the lights to get to where you need to go, while using the pulsing color feature (to indicate speed) at which you are traveling. Better yet, should the criminal element make off with your ride, the Helios can send you a text to your bike (SMS) when you want to retrieve location coordinates. You'll then receive a text back containing a Google Maps link to its current location. Shwing! For added flair, you can turn the lights on or off from your phone when you approach or when you walk away. Yay safety! $279 isnt the cheapest, but this is a serious product for serious riders.
Named for its T-shaped appearance.
The Hammerhead is another navigation LED set up, but with more of a social angle. Much like the
Helios, the Hammerhead uses LEDs to give it the turn-by-turn directions, but steps it up a bit to let you know when road hazards show up in the mix. As for the social angle, it syncs to the popular cycling app
Strava, so you can send routes to friends, and of course, compete for bragging rights... you show off! For the price ($85), this is definitely a must have item, which you can preorder
here.
As you no doubt remember, back in May, my good friend Damion Schweizer featured
The Skylock...you did read it, right? For those of you who are new...or just slacking off... go
here to read about it's app based key less entry and accelerator based notification system. So when some douchebag is fondling your goodies or when you've taken a spill, it gives you the option to call for help to friends, family or to the authorities. Way cool!
Now that the douchebags are no longer diddling your diddles and you know where you're going, what you need next is to keep those wheels spinning with the
Patchnride. Small enough to fit in your pocket, this device can be used with any tube tire to permanently patch a hole. You don't even need to take the wheel off, although you will obviously need a pump to refill the air back in the tire. Head over
here to check it out.
Of course with safety being of the utmost importance to every cyclist, you cant forget your helmet. The
LifeBEAM Helmet will not only keep your brain in tip top shape, but it will track your heart rate, calories burned and distance traveled. Big bonus, no need to worry about any extra devices, straps or any unnecessary shenanigans. It can function in conjunction with almost all apps and devices. Head on over to
LifeBEAM to check out this and their other products such as a hat and visor with the same capabilities as the helmet.
Now that I have thoroughly met all of your future bike tech needs, the test will be on Monday. So study up! Haha! I'm just joshing you. Questions, concerns or ideas are welcome in the comments section, and dont forget..."Like" early, "Like" often.
