Cycla nanotech fabric
This nanotech umbrella sheds water like a ducks back. The nanoscale surface repels water absolutely, so a single shake dries the brolly. Hurrah!
If I had gone down the road of materials research, and currently lived in a little lab in the basement of some university, surrounded by white coats and Apple ][s, Nano would be my thing.
For one simple purpose.
Cycling gloves / mitts usually have a multicoloured patchwork back. This is not for style or fashion. This is not for an ergonomic comfort fit. This is simply so that you know which part of your glove you just wiped your nose on. So that you don’t then wipe your eye with it when a beastie gets lodged there.
So my nanofabric would have a simple use.
Grip tightly to wet stuff, but as it dries, shed it cleanly and immediately. I should be able to dip that thing in tomato soup and it should hang on to that soup like mad. It should be an orange ball! The bowl should be empty. But as soon as the drying power of the wind gets its way, the mitt is sparkly clean again. Bingo.
Cycla is probably sueably close to Lycra as a fabric name. But who cares. I’m not a materials scientist. Sadly.
Popularity: 23% [?]
bubblewrap socks
It struck me when unwrapping my latest bike purchases while standing barefooted in the kitchen, that standing on bubblewrap should be quite insulating and warm. And it was.
In my book that counts as product development research! So…
Introducing bubblewrap house-socks (you know, those oversized socks you wear like slippers, with grippy soles). Some tougher, yet softer, material would be required, but the basic principle would be the same. Just lots of little air bubbles trapped within a waterproof layer.
Think of the advantages over standard house-socks:
- Insulated
- Bouncy
- Bubbly looking (i.e. cool)
- Transparent
- Squeaky
- Waterproof for running out to the garden for herbs
Cool Toes. Taking the idea a little further, for comfort they could have different liquid cores to the individual bubbles - shoes could be bought slightly too big – and the liquid interior could be released through the day to lessen overheated swollen feet syndrome. Christmas or Ikea are the only times I suffer from this.
I don’t think overheated swollen feet syndrome is ever fatal, but if they can sell cans of cold to spray on your feet, I bet they could sell bubblewrap socks you can feed cold water into.
They would be great for use in wellingtons. The double squeak of welly rubber and plastic sock would sound terrifying.
Warm toes. For cycling they could be attached to a pump / heater which cycles warm liquid around your frozen toes on frosty November mornings. This would be an environmentally friendly option, extending the season where cycling to work is a reasonable option. The reservoir of hot water / battery / heating element could be strapped to your leg for a cool robocop look.
Popularity: 24% [?]
wearable led throwies
The months have moved into double figures and it’s starting to be properly dark in the mornings as I cycle to work. I need new lights. My bike currently sports a grand total of 4 leds. Not enough.
I used to have a 3 led bike light sewn into the lower back of my cycling fleece. It worked pretty well, made sure I didn’t forget my lights. But it was a bit clunky, and people laughed at it.
Introducing GLOWIES - the clicky wearable mini led for cyclists.
A simple, single, red LED held on a plastic clip which ‘pin fastens’ through your waterproof / fleece / jersey. (I know this could break your waterproof goretex perfection, but hey, it’s just that last inch of fabric, all it’s protecting is your shorts!). A swappable watch battery provides the power. So far so simple. So what’s new?
I haven’t seen anything like this with a simple switching mechanism. Making them wireless would be too much hassle, and too expensive. Making little switches on them would be an amazingly fiddly process when you have January fingers, and would get gunked up. No - we need a simple, inexpensive, ‘do it with gloves on’ solution. And who better to provide this than our friend the magnet.
With every pack of glowies comes a trigger magnet. This goes on your keyring or something. You just wave the trigger behind the glowies to turn them on, and in front of them to turn them off. An internal switch is then … well … switched to the appropriate position. Simple. The real benefit is obviously that the switch itself is sealed inside the glowie, so can’t get gunked up.
Creative types could draw flowers with them. Rock gods could spell ‘MAIDEN’ across their back in sinister glowing red. But more importantly, I could run a nice row of red lights across my back to make sure cars see me on roundabouts and country roads. And they wouldn’t have a flash mode. I hate flash mode.
Popularity: 23% [?]
bike saddle post locator
I’ve been cycling a lot recently, requiring me to leave my bike locked up outside the office, outside shops, all over the place.
I’m always paranoid about theft, so I lock the bike. I pop off the front wheel and lock it too. Just to be safe. I don’t pop off my saddle as often as I should though. Usually I can’t be bothered. Not because it takes time to remove - but because it takes time to put back in exactly the right place. That doesn’t mean it won’t be stolen someday though.
Introducing the bike saddle post locator thingy.
I line up my saddle post using the line of grease and grime that builds up. But if I’m in a hurry it can be a smidge too high or low, and a smidge to the right or left. This can have a serious impact on certain parts of a chaps anatomy if he’s not careful.
The locator is a collar you attach to the post which fits exactly where you want your post to rest (the excellently drawn white thing above). You just push down until you feel the clunk - and drop the quick release. Job done. No brain input needed. You could do it in the dark. Easy.
That deals with the height. The rotational alignment is handled with a lug pointing downwards at the back of the collar. This fits between the fastening bars for your quick release. Angled to be a universal fitting, it simply drops between them to get everything aligned. Bingo.
I’ll need to prototype to see if the act of tightening the quick release scuppers this part of the plan. On a test with a big screwdriver and some duck tape it looked okay though.
I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find anything like this. The fabrication would be easy, it could be a cool color. It could weight almost nothing. It could have an LED in it, or a mount for a light. It MUST exist.
And while I could replace the quick release with a straight bolt, then I’d have even more hassle getting the bike into the back of the car than I do now. And yes I could just leave the bike rack on the car at all times, but that’s just not very green. Is it.
CC bike post pic thanks and credit to http://flickr.com/photos/rulerofheck/380537663/ (saved me washing my own).
Popularity: 23% [?]
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About Steve
Steve invents things while travelling to work on the train. He sketches them in his moleskine notebooks. Instead of actually making them (and becoming a billionaire overnight) he posts them here for the good of mankind.
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