More 2x700C carbon footbikes

It’s a trend! Carbon scooters date back ten years; Peter Groeneveld has been building them with two 700C wheels, and now French recumbent manufacturer Zockra is running with the design.

Rip’t mah jeans – not!

One advantage I thought footbikes had over bicycles was the possibility that one could wear long pants while riding – after all, there is no corduroy-chewing chainwheel to nip at one’s right leg.

That’s not quite the case, though; on G3 and older Kickbikes there is a rear side-pull brake anchor bolt that’ll bite your left pants-leg, and on AW Footbikes the rear fender stays will get both of ‘em, depending on where the wind’s coming from. (And you’ll be wanting a rear fender to protect your nice long pants from road-juice – right?) Or if you remove the rear direct-action brake on any modern footbike, the remaining braze-ons will snag your baggies.

Looks like a job for scooterman!

For its first-ever Global Commuter Pain Index, IBM surveyed 8,192 drivers in 20 cities on six continents, getting feedback on issues such as commuting time, anger caused by driving in traffic, and the amount of time stuck in traffic.

Shown is traffic in Beijing, the worst offender in the index. Interestingly, most Beijingers my age or a little younger can recall when the bulk of traffic there was bicycles.

Everyday cultures include footbikes, sure

The inhabitants of the Ruhr Region of Germany are throwing a “Festival of Everyday Cultures” Sunday on the A40/B1 Motorway from Duisberg to Dortmund. One side of the motorway will be for tables for the exhibition of “everyday cultures”; the other will be for non-motorized transportation. They don’t specify further, but what better place for kicking?

It looks like a few footbikes are in the left foreground of the pic, but on closer look, it’s just three bicycles with perspective problems. Still…

Freerider Skatecycle combines snowboard, skateboard and casterboard

Designers are always looking for new and interesting (and hopefully profitable) ways to provide kids with the various cuts and scrapes that are an essential part of growing up. The latest pretender to the throne still occupied by bikes, skateboards and scooters is the Freerider Skatecycle – a two wheeled recreational vehicle that allegedly combines the “foot control of snowboarding, the balanced turning of skateboarding, and the nimble, undulating movements of casterboarding.”

Continue reading at GizMag

Big Brother on your big scooter

Now kickers who want to be spied on by the NSA or others or remotely attacked by Apple can mount their iPhones on their handlebars.

(You didn’t read it here.)

Middlin’ review of bicycle alternatives

This article in The Press of Atlantic City on alternatives to bicycles only mentions “kickbikes” twice, being mainly about the “stepper” bike.

The stepper is joined, among others, by electric-assist and fully-electric bicycles, recumbent and semi-recumbent bikes and the kickbike, which is a bicycle-scooter hybrid.

…bikes geared toward providing more exercise [are] the stepper, the StreetStrider or the kickbike.

The stepper’s interesting, but elegant it ain’t. They don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Two feet good; four are fine, too

Here’s a new YouTube video uploaded by a happy customer of DogPoweredScooter.com, where the first priority is dog safety. Dog fun seems to be right up there, too, not to mention kicker fun.

These scooters are an interesting alternative to traditional scooter mushing; the dog(s) are behind the steering wheel, making esoteric commands unnecessary. All the dogs have to do is run (if they feel like it), and the kicker can still help.

Call me when Kickbike has one

Razor is marketing a Pocket PC.

A little late, no? Still…

Kickbike America finally gets around to publicizing the G4 Kickbikes that have been on sale since last year.

Kickbike America is offering their new Kickbikes to be available for sale June 21st. Now Americans can get fit while having fun at the same time which many believe is the key to getting people off the couch.

Still, better late than never.