News

There must be few cyclists this year who have not yearned for a roof. Mark Richardson is no different, but, unwilling to pay for an off-the-shelf human-powered vehicle (HPV), he has built his own fab velo using a discarded bicycle, wheelchair and office furniture, and much ingenuity.

For winters that are extremely cold, rather than simply exceptionally wet, tyre company Nokian is developing retractable tyre studs. In icy conditions, the driver pushes a button on the dashboard that causes studs to rise up from the surface of the tyre. When the studs are not needed, they can be retracted back into the tyre. Winter...

A team of engineers has re-invented the cycling light as an illuminated heart - the Tracer 360 which is worn on the centre of the chest or back and held in place by fibre-optic shoulder straps. With the lighter evenings of spring a distant prospect, the highly distinctive, multi-coloured light will be of interest to cyclists and jogger who...

The Hero RNT is a new design of diesel-powered motorcycle that promises to make powered two-wheelers an even more practical and environmentally friendly alternative to the car. 2WD hybrid There are many situations when a motorcycle would benefit from a little power to the front wheel - not least when off road. The challenge with such...

It’s easy to assume the popularity of folding bicycles in cities around the world is a recent trend, but 100 years ago, many thousands were rolling off production lines across Europe. As the world stood on the brink of war, troops across the continent were being issued with folders. Long before Bromptons became ubiquitous on London-bound...

Audi has unveiled a car with lasers for headlights. The Sport quattro laserlight concept boasts twice the lighting range and three times the luminosity of existing LED high beam lights. The car’s dual headlights feature two rings of light - the outer one generates the low beam light using LEDs, while the inner element produces laser light...

It's estimated that millions of cycles languish unused in sheds across the country. Alongside side them are lawn mowers, power tools and other household paraphernalia lying idle. Streetbank.com is a not-for-profit website that allows neighbours to share bicycles, lawn mowers, tents and tools. In fact, anything that might prove useful to...

New technology from Google will allow restaurants, shopping malls and garages to offer free taxi rides to their customers. A patent awarded to the internet giant reveals how the company plans to use advertising revenue to fund free local travel - possibly using its own fleet of self-driving taxis . How will the free Google taxi work? In the...

A new petrol engine from Nissan is so small it could be carried on board a passenger plane as hand luggage and yet weighs only 40 kg. At 1.5 litres, the capacity of the DIG-T R is no larger than the engine in a Nissan Micra, but whereas the little city car produces around 65hp, the new power plant produces up to 400hp – as much as a Ferrari...

An ambitious plan by Boris Johnson to spend £100m on transforming a handful of outer-London boroughs into ‘mini Hollands’ could result in an influx of Dutch-style bikes. [quote type="cycle_insurance"] Most of the budget will be spent on major improvements to infrastructure including the scrapping of gyratories and the re-connection of...