News Archives - January 2012

Cold weather muffs for your bicycle handlebars

Cycling in the winter is a joy, but extremities need to be kept warm if it’s not to become a chore. Cyclists prepared to compromise their aerodynamic profile and perhaps a little style, can plump for a BarBra; a waterproof, handlebar-mounted guard to shield the rider’s hands from cold air and rain.

Dad, why can’t you build me a titanium bicycle?

What do you ride when you’re seven? A BMX from Halfords? A child-specific design from a specialist bike company like “Islabikes”:http://www.islabikes.co.uk/? A bike that’s too big to ride because your dad said you’d grow into it? What if your father builds titanium bicycles for a living?

Don’t scrap your car, build a house with it

The 2m cars disposed of each year in Britain seems high but is dwarfed by the 14m scrapped by American drivers in 2009. A significant amount of steel is recycled during this process, but environmental awareness is encouraging ever-more creative ways to re-use the materials from scrapped cars.

DIY heads-up speedo for £1.49

The heads-up display (HUD) technology originally developed for pilots and eventually offered as an expensive optional extra by luxury car makers is now available as an app for iPhones or Pocket PC/Windows Mobile devices.

Don’ts for women on bicycles…in 1895

The women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony may have said that the bicycle did “more to emancipate women than anything else in the world”, but the road along which it travelled was bumpy. On 21st June 1895, the Newark Sunday Advocate ran the following article: The Unique Cycling club of Chicago is all that its name implies. One of its laws is that on all runs bloomers and knickerbockers shall be worn, and two members who disobeyed this rule recently met with a punishment that they will not forget soon. Union park was the rendezvous for the last run, and 50 members turned out. The president, Miss Bunker, observed two women wearing short skirts over their bloomers…