Un-be-reavable, as they say in Japan!  The technology marches on!  Here’s a couple of those “OMG!  I GOTTA HAVE IT!!” devices that have shown up recently, one soon to be available, and one that will only be brought to market if enough people make enough noise about it!  Let’s do that one first.

No bike lanes where you do your night riding?  No problem!  Take your own with you!!  Here’s a neat … taillight? … laser gadget? … that projects a bike lane on the pavement behind you, complete with a “bike lane” symbol!

They call it the LightLane but this product is, unfortunately, still a concept from Altitude, Inc.  waiting on a buyer. 

Designed by Alex Tee and Evan Gant, I think this is one of those NBKs, (Natural Born Killers), that only come along every so often.  If some savvy entrepreneur brings this to market at a reasonable price, I can see one on the back of tens of thousands of commuter and enthusiast bikes!

I sent off an email to Altitude to see what we as cyclists can do to bring this one to market.  I’ll update this article with their reply as soon as I receive it!  (Got it!  Feb 04 - See update below!)
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The next one, also an NBK in my opinion, was brought to my attention by Jeff Spahn on the Hobbes email list.  It is already scheduled to be available in the winter of 2009 from a company called Cerevellum.  It’s a rearview camera with a 3.5″ LCD display on the handlebars!  The wiredless version’s camera straps to the seatpost, and the wired version is a bar-end plug!  How cool is that!

The manufacturer claims that it will be a 310 gram unit, and can become the digital display for a variety of products.  The wireless one will be about $350, and the wired one about $50 bucks cheaper.  Not bad!

So for those of you who swear by mirrors, this widget will not only get rid of the “geek factor” of the mirror, but add a stealth factor to knowing when your wheelsucking buddies jump!  Set it to monitor your cyclometer or HRM when anyone is around, and switch to rearview when you’re doing the pulling!  They’ll be wondering for months how you always seem to “know” when they are accelerating around you!

I’m definitely *not* a mirror fan, but this thing is so cool I may just have to have one myself!  Put it on the back of the tandem for Maggi.  With our BlueAnt headsets she could quietly warn me when someone’s gettin’ froggy!  

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UPDATE ON THE LIGHTLANE!  IT’S NOT JUST AN IDEA ANYMORE!

Received this reply from Alex Tee of altitude, Inc:

Bill and Maggi,

Thank you so much for your interest in our LightLane concept.  Right now there is no need to make enough noise (although grab your pots and pans if you want), as the overwhelming response has convinced Evan and myself to continue down the development path.

We just finished building our beta prototype and once the snow clears off our streets we will be experimenting with different laser colors and orientations.  Once the optimal laser configuration has been established and validated, we will quickly develop a fully functional unit where we will focus our efforts on several aspects of usability including theft prevention, weather resistance and ruggedization.  Concurrently we will be looking for manufacturing and distribution partners. 

Therefore we hope to be hitting shelves by the end of the year although that will require all of the pieces falling into place rather quickly.  Feel free to visit our companies blog (http://dustbowl.wordpress.com/) where we will be posting periodic updates.

If you have any other questions or input, we’d love to hear from you. 

Sincerely,

Alex . . .

Alexander Tee
Mechanical Engineer

First of all, let me say that the BlueAnt Interphone, ( http://tinyurl.com/27xejv), is the next generation of intercom systems for the cycling enthusiast.  Yes, yes, I know, their website shows it being used with a motorcycle helmet, but that’s only because they don’t know any better yet.  But they will!  In the meantime, this article will not only review the Interphone vs the other available comm systems, but will also tell you how to adapt it for use with tandem or single bicycles.  But first ….

 The Concept 

Actually talking to your riding partner!  Imagine that!  ;-)  It’s a damn fine idea if I say so myself!  It probably dates back to the first pair of riders to exceed 20mph on bicycles when they discovered they had to yell to talk to each other.  But it wasn’t brought to market until 8 years ago in any real sense, (the tandem-talk units), and that was for tandem riders only since they were wired units.
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