Bobs bikes

Belgian e-bike maker Cowboy has delivered on its promise to help riders avoid pollution on their commutes with a new air quality navigation feature in the company’s latest iOS and Android apps. Owners now have the option to pick the quickest or healthiest routes to their destination. The feature is enabled by the integration of air quality data from a company called Breezometer, with a claimed data resolution of 5-meters (about 16 feet). That’s specific enough to help riders navigate around polluted routes in densely constructed cities like Amsterdam, as demonstrated in the video above. Breezometer’s ability to measure air quality with such granularity involves some guesswork since it doesn’t have physical sensors distributed at 5-meter intervals around the globe. Encouragingly, Breezometer’s claims are backed by chief scientist, Dr. Gabriela Katz, who was previously at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Breezometer’s model … [Read more...] about Cowboy e-bikes now navigate you around air pollution

Maintaining even the best electric bikes isn't difficult, but there are some important things to know if you're going to keep it in top condition and get the best performance every time you head out on a ride. Your e-bike really needs insurance – here's why Electric bike conversion kits: your complete guide To find out exactly what you need to know to keep your e-bike in perfect shape, TechRadar spoke to Julian Thrasher, Head of Training at Shimano. Buy your Shimano products and support local bike shops at www.freewheel.co.uk . What checks should you do before riding? Before heading out on your electric bike, a few quick checks will help make sure you're getting the best, safest ride possible. "Mechanical and electrical checks are the key thing," says Thrasher, "so from a mechanical point of view, tire pressures and if you’ve got any mountain bike suspension settings as well. Mainly because if you’re riding an e-bike with deflated tires then you may not get the … [Read more...] about E-bike maintenance: how to keep your new electric bike running like a dream

In 1978, a group of researchers in a laboratory at Queen's University in Canada clustered around a plexiglass box enclosing a treadmill … with a pigeon walking on it. The purpose behind this comical scene was to try and answer an age-old question: Why do pigeons bob their heads? Head-bobbing is as much a feature of pigeons' identity as is their tendency to swarm us at the slightest suggestion that we might be harboring a snack. Bopping their heads as they stalk about pecking the ground for crumbs, these birds seem to be grooving to some secret beat, as if they're all attending a silent disco in the town square. But what's the real purpose behind this seemingly ridiculous motion? Related: Why Are There So Many Pigeons? The 1978 treadmill experiment gave us the first crucial insights into that question. And the study overturned one major assumption in the process: Pigeons aren't actually bobbing their heads. Instead, they're pushing them forward. When … [Read more...] about Why do pigeons bob their heads?

Apparently, prison can be pretty boring. That's on top of it being, well, prison. Plus you've got all that potential labor just sitting around doing nothing terribly productive. Why not utilize it? That's what Santa Rita do Sapucai prison in Brazil is doing. For every 16 hours prisoners put in on a set of special bicycles, they will remove a day from their sentence. You see, these bikes are charging batteries from the effort. So they're trading hard time for the most literal form of manpower in existence. Jose Henrique Mallmann, the city judge, got the idea from other prisons that offer incentives for similar activities. And it's proven to be a hit with the prisoners. They have something to do, it keeps them in shape, and they get to remove some of their sentence a little at a time. On top of that, they charge batteries as fast as their legs can manage. The batteries are brought to the city center at night where they are used to power street lights. It's become so popular with … [Read more...] about Brazilian Prisoners Bike to Reduce Sentence, Charge Batteries

Electric moped rental company Revel is expanding its product lineup to include monthly e-bike subscriptions for residents of New York City. It’s the latest company to try to capitalize on the e-bike boom by shifting to a Netflix or Spotify subscription model for transportation. For $99 a month, interested customers can get a stylish electric bike manufactured by NYC-based e-bike company Wing delivered straight to their door. The price also includes complimentary maintenance, including flat tires fixes, loose chains repairs, or brake upkeep. Service requests can be submitted via Revel’s smartphone app, and Revel says a repair technician will respond within 24 hours. The company will also supply a bike lock and educational material to help subscribers navigate New York City’s less-than-bike-friendly streets. In an interview, Revel CEO Frank Reig said he watched his fellow New Yorkers embrace cycling in much greater numbers during the early months of the pandemic, and he was … [Read more...] about Revel introduces a $99-a-month e-bike subscription for NYC residents