The Gadgets Page

I met Josh Leo at Vloggercon this year. He has this wonderful video about mopeds:

Since gasoline prices are hovering around $3 a gallon, mopeds, scooters and motorcycles seem like an alternative to gas-guzzling cars. The only problem is in most areas, the weather makes riding these vehicles unpleasant or even dangerous. While the weather is nice, take a spin on a moped and see if you like it. You might just cut your costs for your daily commute.

We were driving home to Salt Lake City, Utah from Mount Hood, Oregon. Somewhere in Idaho, the rain hit us hard. The wind was blowing and the windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the rain. Then it got even worse. The wind started blowing our wipers OFF the windshield. For at least ten seconds, the wipers weren’t touching the glass, yet we could still see. The Rain-X that I had put into the windshield wiper fluid had made the glass water repellent. I truly believe that in those ten seconds when the wipers were blown off the windshield, Rain-X saved our lives.

After the rain slowed down and we regain our wits about ourselves (stopped screaming like lunatics), we realized that we should have taken a video of how well the Rain-X was working for the Gadgets Page. We found a nearly empty portion of the freeway. I filmed while Mike drove. He turned off the windshield wipers so you can see how much the Rain-X was actually doing. The rain had actually calmed down a bit by the time we remembered to video this, but I think it shows how well Rain-X works.

The funny thing is that I didn’t buy Rain-X because of its wonderful water repellent properties. I had been out of windshield wiper fluid. The store where I bought some was out of the inexpensive blue stuff, so I mindlessly sprung for the more expensive brand without even looking at it. Worth every penny!

Seriously, right now. Go out and get Rain-X for your car. I can’t stress how well it works. Not even this video shows how great it is. It could actually save your life.

I’ve written before about the Seven-Person Tricycle from Hammacher Schlemmer. Here’s a video of it in action:

Viddy Well filmed five tourists taking a ride on the bike. I was surprised to see that most of them weren’t using the pedals, so the bike was being powered mostly by the woman in charge of the bike.

These look like a fun novelty to own if you live in a big city and can charge tourists for bike rides. Next time I find myself trapped in traffic behind a horse and carriage downtown, I’m going to take a deep breath and repeat my new mantra, “At least it’s not a 7-person bike, at least it’s not a 7-person bike…”

The first thing that I thought when I saw this bicycle is, “I don’t have seven friends to ride on this bicycle with me.”

That’s a total lie, but I believed it when I thought it.

• The Seven-Person Conference Bicycle at Hammacher Schlemmer

Dakota saw one of these in New York:

• Dakota: New York City, Installment 1

There was a group of people riding it down the street, attracting attention:

“Arriving in Times Square at 2:30 AM, due to a small traffic jam in Hartford, we were somewhat slowed on 46th Street by a bicycle of sorts – actually it was a group riding a bicycle of sorts. The group made erratic progress down the street in front of us, as well as a great deal of noise.”

This thing looks like a great novelty to rent for a party, but I don’t know that I would be willing to shell out $19K for it. For that price, I could buy an inexpensive car!

Via: Museum of Hoaxes – Seven-Person Bicycle

This little car is electric. It was featured at a couple of booths at the Sands convention floor. Zap! Cars was one of the sponsors for the Scientific American Innovations People’s Choice Awards. Here are a run down of the facts:

• Speeds up to 40 mph (not freeway legal)
• Range up to 40 miles (don’t go too far from home)
• Uses NO gasoline (all you do is plug it in)
• Length: 9 feet Width: 4.7 feet Height: 5 feet Weight: approximately 1500 pounds
• Seats up to four people (only if they’re short)
• You can charge it at any electric outlet
• It comes in Xebra Flash (pictured above), Ocean Blue (pictured below), Kiwi Green and Lipstick Red.

I used to own a Yugo in the Eighties and this car was very similarly equipped. I had a flashback of trying to find a window crank for the Yugo when I saw the interior of the vehicle and I immediately recoiled from the machine. Unless you live in Southern California, this car is probably not for you. When the window crank breaks, you want to be able to walk into any auto parts store to get a replacement.

I can’t find any information about how long it takes to charge a Xebra. I would hate to think that it’s only good for 40 miles of errands and then it has to charge overnight. That would make it completely useless. I might as well ride my bike.

It sure is a cute car, though. Despite the limitations, I’m attracted to it in a strange way. It reminds me of the car in the video “Never Let Me Down Again” by Depeche Mode (that car had one wheel in the back instead of two). It feels very European with its three-wheel design. I imagine driving it would be fun because I would be the only one in my city with a Xebra. Still, Salt Lake City is very spread out and 40 miles wouldn’t even get me from one end of the Salt Lake Valley to the other.

• ZapWorld.com – ZAP Xebra Electric Vehicle

I purchased the Bell Spinfit Calorie Speedometer for my bike at the beginning of spring this year. The biggest risk with a bicycle speedometer is that when you store your bike away for the winter, you’ll forget how to reset the speedometer and get it in some stupid mode where you have to remember the magic number for your size tire. Worst of all, by the time next spring rolls around, you know I’ve lost the instruction booklet. How does this speedometer rate now that I’ve lost the booklet?

Fortunately this speedometer is easy enough to use that I don’t really need to hunt down the instruction manual each time I try to use it. The top button changes the display from Calories Burned to Speed (MPH). If you hold down the button while on Calories Burned, it will clear that screen so you can reset it for each workout. The bottom button switches between Time, Trip Time (Chronograph), Trip Distance, Odometer, Average Speed and Max Speed. The Chronograph will stop counting when the wheels stop spinning, which is very convenient if you’re timing how long you’ve been working out. You can reset the Chronograph and the Trip Distance by holding down the bottom button while you’re in Trip Distance mode.

I have lost my instructions, so I don’t know how to reset it for my weight or what the magic numbers are for my tire size, so when I have to change the battery, I’m out of luck. I wish the manufacturers of these speedometers would just let us input 27 inches for the size of our tire. It would take a little more programming, but it would greatly increase the ease of use. It would also be helpful if Bell would have PDF files of their instruction manuals online so that when someone does lose their manual, they’re not lost.

The instructions state that the sensor should be mounted on the front tire, and that’s the easiest way to install it. If you’re going to use this speedometer with a bike on an indoor trainer, then you should mount it on the back tire. If you missed it, here are the instructions on how to do that.

• The Gadgets Page » Making Your Bike Speedometer Work With a Bike Trainer

I have really liked this speedometer because it’s easier to use than others I’ve had in the past. It’s very easy to reset the Trip Distance and I really like that the Chronograph stops counting when the wheels stop turning. It’s a great buy and I have really enjoyed using it.

Update 06-23-06: I’ve received so many comments about the instruction manual that I scanned mine in. You can find it here:

• The Gadgets Page » Bell Spinfit Calorie Speedometer Instruction Manual

My dog, Sid, can pull me on my bicycle going 12 mph for over five miles before he starts to slow down. The only problem with exercising him this way is that he’s a little excitable and if he sees another dog, he’ll just pull me over and head toward the other dog. This dog scooter looks a little safer.

• The Original Dog Powered Scooter

For someone who has a large and energy-filled dog, this looks like a feasible way to exercise your dog without killing yourself, either by being pulled over on your bike or trying to keep up with him. Inventions like this make me want to invent my own doggie harness that can be attached to my bike. They bring out the inventor in me.

Via: Give The Dog A Bone, Let Him Walk You Home – Gizmodo

It was a rainy day, but that didn’t stop the owner of this bicycle from commuting to work. Before I ran across this bicycle at the local bakery, I had never seen a mountain bike conversion before. I was so excited that I immediately grabbed my camera to take pictures.

I don’t know if you can tell from the pictures, but the motorized conversion doesn’t stop you from being able to use your bicycle as a normal bike. You can pedal your way home, or if the wind or incline are too much for you, you can fire up the engine and get yourself home a little quicker.

It took me some searching on the Internet to find this particular brand of bicycle conversion kit, but I finally did:

• Spit-Fire Motor Works Motorized Bicycle

You can’t order it online through Amazon anymore and when I called their phone number, all I got was a message directing me to their website. I have no real proof that you can actually get this product anymore, but this is a perfect match to the bike conversion I saw chained up in my neighborhood.

Here are a couple other bicycle conversion kits that I found online while looking for the Spit-Fire.

• Lash Out available at Electric Cyclery – lashout electric bicycle

• ecoZen Bike Index

Considering the cost of gasoline lately, an inexpensive conversion kit sounds like an economical way to get yourself around town if you’re not in good enough shape to power your bike yourself. With this little gadget, you can certainly work yourself up to that point pretty quickly.