Thursday, July 09, 2009

Shweeb is Shweet!

You jump into an aerodynamic capsule and race like a bullet for three laps. With seven gears to play with it’s easy to get up to your top speed.

Feel the adrenalin kick in as you fly around curves swinging out 60 degrees! You soar 4m above the pond and then miss the ground by inches!

Your seat adjusts to your exact height and is as comfortable as a hammock. The highly efficient vehicles let you go much faster than a bicycle.

The above comes from the Shweeb website. Now check out the promo video....



Sure, Shweeb is only available inNew Zealand, but the simplicity of construction makes me think that there might actually be a role for Shweeb in mass transit. I could see myself cranking one of these home from work each day. The pods would be the expensive bit, and mass production could minimize that expense. Just one more option for a varied transit system.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Cleaner Cycling

Here's something cool that I found while looking for green household items and gift ideas.
Gaiam's handmade vegetable soap is made with bike power! The unique invention pairs a bicycle power train with a soap-mixing vat allowing the soap-makers to pedal their way through every batch without electricity, synthetic scents or chemical hardeners. The soap is then cured for two months.
I wonder how many soap-makers and how many shifts of cyclists it takes to make a vat of soap.