Bikes

WSJ:

There are roughly a dozen companies making electric skateboards, versus just a handful a few years ago, according to people in the nascent industry. There are skateboard lights, skateboard locks, skateboard storage racks, and boards made from recycled fishnets. The skateboard, it seems, has become a hotbed of innovation.

None of this stuff is aimed at what you might call real skateboarders. Instead it is for the growing number of urban professionals who don’t want to drive to work. Kyle Doerksen, inventor of the Onewheel, illustrated this distinction while touting his contraption’s powerful brakes.

Where the Segway left off, the motoized skateboard comes in. The venerable skateboard is certainly not as stable but for those of us who grew up perfecting our balance and who still have some of that skill left, this is a great and dare I say, fun mode of transportation (even up hills). The Li-Ion tech just makes the boards lighter.

Just make sure there are smooth streets without potholes and rocks on your commute.

If you’re looking for a high end electric motorcycle, check out Zero’s 2014 lineup released this week. New Features include with increased horsepower and torque that put them into the superbike range but at the weights of offensive linemen.  From Wired:

Everyone crows about horsepower, but torque is what you feel when you nail the gas pedal or twist the throttle. It’s a better measure of acceleration, and for 2014, Zero has cracked the infamous 100 pound-foot mark with its new SR electric motorcycle.

Torque is measured in pound feet — or, for the rest of the world, Newton-meters — and the Zero SR puts down 106 lb-ft — 56 percent more than its standard S counterpart, and a figure that brings it in line with some of the biggest, brashest, and beefiest bikes in the world. But unlike those bruisers and cruisers, the SR tips the scales at a relatively svelte 400 pounds. High grunt and low mass let you hit 60 mph in 3.3 seconds.

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Mission seems like the Tesla of motorcycles as president Mark Seeger stops by with his groundbreaking halo product, the limited production RS superbike. Only 40 of these will be assembled by hand in the USA but clearly there is a market for these if things go well.

Perhaps the hardest part? Convincing motorcyclists that they don’t need to be obnoxiously loud. 
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[kickstarter url=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flykly/flykly-smart-wheel width=704]

It is hard not to like this idea: You replace your rear  bike wheel with this special FlyKly wheel which houses a motor, a controller, and some batteries. You set the speed with a smartphone or Pebble app.

On the downside, you are also replacing your rear gear sprockets and shifting mechanism and it doesn’t seem like you can have too much control with a smartphone for changing speeds while biking.

Estimates look like the product will hit production late next year.

http://vimeo.com/68219134

Love this idea: You carry around a little Motor/battery pack and pop it on any bike. Rubbee is taking pre-orders on their Kickstarter page.

Specs:

• Installs in 1 minute
• 25km (15 mile) /charge with a 2 hour recharge.
• 25km range
• Top speed: 25Km/hr
• 6,5 (kg)/13,2 (lb)
• Battery pack: 14,4V/ 20Ah/280Wh

The Rubbee Drive system fits every standard bicycle tyre from 16 in to 29 in (700c). Smaller tyre sizes may interrupt a smooth operational use. Width of the bicycle tyre may vary between 20mm to 60mm.
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