At Last, A Solar-Charged, Theft-Proof Bike Light [FastCompany]
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Bill
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LIKE A RAY OF SUN ON A SURELY-SOMEONE-HAS-A-SOLUTION DESIGN CHALLENGE, PIXIO LIGHTS ARE ALWAYS SECURE ON YOUR BIKE, ALWAYS READY TO GO.
Bike lights are equal parts essential and infuriating. Toss them in your bag after locking up, and they’re likely to turn on and flash for hours, running down to zero before you reach for them again. Leave them on once you’ve parked, and a sticky-fingered stranger will gladly relieve you of their service. Forget to charge them, and they’re dead when you most need them. Bike design continues to evolve--tremendously, impressively, with a passion for new materials and aerodynamic and invention almost like none other. But apart from a few small recent introductions, bike lighting design is still pretty much in the dark ages.
It makes sense then that Dutch product designer Hugo van de Watering’s aha moment occurred due to a cyclist’s common act of nighttime improvisation. He was hanging out at a friend’s place, all set to head home, when he realized he didn’t have his lights. As one does, he duct-taped makeshift reflectors to his metal steed. They weren’t a good look and weren’t particularly effective, but they were enough to inspire him to action. He teamed up with friends and designers Koen Ruskamp and Jelle Van Stegeren, and together formed the Hague-based Rydon to build a brand new fixture.
“When we started we had a clear vision of what the product should be: A light that always works,” van de Watering tells Co.Design. Figuring out how to turn this platonic ideal into a physical reality, however, was quite a tall order. Pixio represents the culmination of a project five years in the making, developed in the off- and after-hours from the trio’s day jobs. It’s a bright new addition, thanks to a few key features...
Nearly 30 years ago, J. David Rhoades had a unique idea – to design and market a 4-wheel bicycle that everyone could enjoy. He appropriately named it the Rhoades Car... http://www.rhoadescar.com/rcar/index.shtml
The simple tension seeker (STS) by DMR Bikes should not really be called a chain tensioner , but rather a slack-remover. It's an incredibly simple solution for those looking to convert a bike with vertical dropouts for single speed use. DMR is a UK-based company that specializes in downhill, freeride, and dirt jump chain devices, and the STS reflects this design experience in this burly device. Installation is a 5-minute job (assuming you have already replaced your cassette with a cog, and shortened your chain as much as possible). Simply remove the skewer nut and slide the black aluminum mounting bracket onto the dropout. Then loosely bolt the stainless steel arm to the bracket and the derailleur hanger with two 5mm bolts. Replace the skewer nut. Rotate the cranks until the chain is at its tightest. (Very few chainrings and cogs are perfectly round.) Lift up on the arm so that the red pulley pushes the chain upward, removing the slack, and tighten the two 5mm bolts. That...
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