Get up and go with an engine from Zoombicycles, a DIY moped kit that turns any bike into a speed machine with the addition of a 49cc or 80cc 2-stroke motor, gas tank, clutch and throttle controls.
Once you’re up and running, the engines can do between 18 and 30 miles per hour, and gets up to 150 miles per gallon, though the tank isn’t exactly going to take you on any cross-country road trips.
The best part is that because you provide the bike and do the install yourself, the kits are rather cheap, with all the necessary parts setting you back between $100 and $200 depending on options.
If you’ve got the need, then Zoombicycles is here to provide the speed.
When speed is everything, anything that shaves off a few seconds can mean the difference between winning and losing, so for Shimano’s new bicycle derailleurs, they’ve gotten rid of cables all together and replaced them with computer controlled motors and gear selectors in an effort to provide smoother and more consistent shifts during the most demanding of races.
They’re not without their detractors however:
“People choose bicycles precisely because a bicycle’s motion requires only human effort, and nothing could be more simple, independent and autonomous,” said Raymond Henry, a cycling historian in St. Etienne, France. “Any source of external energy, however weak, runs counter to this philosophy.”
As with any new technology, these things don’t come cheap, and initial systems are expected to add about $1,250 onto the cost of an already expensive system, but if they can prove their reliability and speed up a rider’s pace, they just might be shifting the gears of every high-dollar race bike in a few years time.
If you’re willing to put your electrical skills to the test, then you can create your own Electric Mountain Board with a scooter motor and the batteries needed to power it.
The design allows for minimum damage to the board, and the ability to remove it if you want to do some standard riding.
Jason Lewis recently completed his journey around the world; a 13 year, 2 month and 23 day trip that makes him the first person to ever circumnavigate the globe (reach antipodal points on the surface of the globe) using only human power. (No motors or sails.)
Transportation included bicycles, in-line skates, kayaks, swimming, walking and a unique pedal powered boat, and he traveled over 45,000 miles, including five continents, two oceans and one sea.
During the trip, Jason was hit by a drunk driver, chased by a crocodile, harassed by pirates, and questioned as a suspected spy.
I can only hope it was worth it, because Jason Lewis apparently doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘quit’.
It might take millions of dollars and military backing to get into a real dogfight, but with a few dollars and some DIY plane building skills, you can be combat gliding in no time. Combat gliders are scrapped together planes with nine-foot wingspans that use cliff updrafts to stay in the air. They have “no [...]
Hennessey is the self-proclaimed “Home of the World’s Quickest, Fastest & Most Powerful Vipers”, and after seeing their latest creation, I have no reason to doubt that claim. The 2007 Venom 1000 Twin Turbo SRT is a force to be reckoned with, featuring 1000 hp and 1100 lb-ft of torque from the 8.4 liter (522 [...]
