bicycle

Izhar Gafni has created a bicycle out of $9 worth of cardboard that feels sturdy, rides well, and looks pretty nifty. A lot of people have wanted to know when they can get one of their own.

A new Indiegogo campaign aims to launch the unusual bike to the world.

The bike may be made of cardboard, but it can hold up to 400 pounds and is both fire and water resistant. It uses recycled cardboard, plastic, and rubber.… Read more

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The National Institute of Informatics has developed infrared LED glasses that let you slip through an airport undetected by the NSA. We take a quick look inside home theaters built for a king, and Crave introduces a new segment called the Lego Block. Can you guess what it's about? … Read more

First, flying food became a trend. Now, the hot new flying creations are flying bicycles. The latest entry in the wheeled-air-machine category comes from British company XploreAir. It's a bicycle, flying machine, and camping tent all built into one device.

The Paravelo can be taken apart and used as just a bike, or it can docked to its trailer with a flexible wing and biofuel-powered fan. Up in the air, it can go at speeds up to 25 mph for up to 3 hours and reach heights up to 4,000 feet up.… Read more

Pigs may not be flying yet, but a bicycle just recently took to the air in a successful test flight. The flying electric bike is the creation of several Czech companies that have been developing a prototype. The proof-of-concept bicycle looks a bit like a regular bike crossed with a giant RC quadcopter.

The unusual vehicle demonstrated its chops with a flight that lasted a few minutes, carrying a dummy onboard. It was radio-controlled from the ground. The 220-pound bike got off the ground thanks to six battery-powered propellers. This is enough to spark dreams of peddling down the road and then suddenly taking off to fly over obstacles or impress strangers.… Read more

When he's not racing 125cc baby strollers, Colin Furze, a plumber by day and mad inventor by night, is likely to be doing something even more mad. Take, for instance, his most recent project: building what he calls a "big-a** pulse jet."

Of course, once you have a pulse jet, you can't just let it languish in a shed. Which is why Furze decided to rig it up to a woman's bicycle that used to belong to his friend's mom, Norah, for whom the bike is now named. It has a certain ring to it, no? And Norah the Jet Bicycle is hot. Literally. Furze had to lengthen the bicycle not just to fit the jet, but also to keep the rider away from the heat. … Read more

San Francisco bike workshop Rock the Bike had a bike stolen a few weeks ago. It wasn't just any bike; it was a serious electric cargo bike called the Mundo 500. That means the heavy bike, locked to itself, posed quite a challenge for the determined thieves, who couldn't have just pedaled off with it. Nonetheless, they managed to take it.

So began a search aimed at recovering the valuable bike. Paul Freedman, Rock the Bike's founder, started asking around under freeway overpasses and spread the word through friends and on Facebook. Three weeks later, it was sighted, locked to a signpost. The blue bike's custom modifications led to a confirmed match, and a unique recovery operation was under way.… Read more

Kickstarter has been fertile ground for bicycle accessories. There have been smart handlebars, anti-theft bike lights, and wheel LEDs. Joining that illustrious lineup is Monkey Light Pro, a bike wheel display system that creates lit-up images and animations.

The Monkey Light Pro consists of four bars with 256 full-color LEDs, which mount inside the bike wheel. A Web-based application lets you build a playlist of images or animations to run on the system. Download that information to the device via Bluetooth and go riding. The images are stabilized at speeds between 10 and 40 mph and the battery lasts for up to 8 hours.… Read more

In general, bicycles haven't adopted the same high-tech features as many cars. Turn signals are done by hand, and GPS equates to using good old-fashioned brain power or the information you have on your phone. Helios Bars, a Kickstarter project, can turn a regular bike into a smart bike.

The feature list is a fun read. There are left- and right-turn signals, a headlight, GPS tracking in case someone nabs your ride, proximity lighting that senses your presence, and a visual speedometer with color-changing lights. There is also a turn-by-turn navigation feature. Rear-facing LEDS on the handlebars indicate when a turn is coming up.… Read more

When you pedal a bicycle, the kinetic energy is channeled into propulsion, but what if it could be used in other ways? Architect Michael Strain isn't the first to think of using pedal power to charge your gadgets -- in fact, there are products on the market that already allow you to harness that excess energy -- but his concept bike, has a few other tricks up its suspension.

The bike, called Levitation and designed for the 2013 Hi-Macs Annual Design Contest, looks like a more low-tech Tron Cycle. It features an on-board generator and battery that stores the power collected while cycling. The power can then be used in two ways: charging small gadgets via the USB port on the bike's handlebars, or sending it into your home's power supply via a drain cable to alleviate grid usage. … Read more