Bergamont’s E-LINE C MGN: the best e-bike at this time?

I’ve had a high speed Flyer. It’s a decent e-bike but the range was a little too limited for me and the engine support a little too weak. I’ve been using it to bike to work (±60 km,one way).

I’m riding a Stromer ST1 now. It’s got an engine that is over twice as powerful: that really makes a huge difference when going uphill. It’s got a bigger range as well and  with the battery built into the frame, I can tell you it’s much better designed: no more rattling external battery when riding on cobble stones.

Stromer is owned by BMC. So is Bergamont. And if you’re not necessarily looking for a high speed e-bike, than this is probably the real deal:

It’s called the ‘E-line C MGN’. Dreadful name, but great bike. It’s got a Bosch drive unit, a Gates Carbon belt, a 70 lux B&M headlight, … All top of the line components. Yep, it doesn’t come cheap: about 3000 €. But remember: as always, you only get what you pay for.

With almost every e-bike brand out there, out of juice also means out of light. This particular e-bike however has got a hub dynamo. Which means you will never end up in the dark when you happen to be out of juice. No great feat? Well, it happened to me when I had my Flyer. And I can (luckily still) assure you: there is nothing more stressful than riding a heavy e-bike with no engine support and no lights when it’s pitch dark… in traffic.

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A beautiful urban steel commuter from Estonia.

Velonia (a company based in Estonia) builds bicycle frames and wheels. But they just happened to build this urban steel commuter that will really make heads turn: the Viks. It still is a prototype, but boy, what a looker this is:

The Viks appears to have no breaks but is featured in this Velodroom movie for a tail light that lights up when using your brakes. ;)

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Sustainable transportation design at its best.

Some people believe that my Butler has a retro look. Well, they may be right, but I’d rather think of it as a beautifully designed, solid, ‘no frills’ functional bike.

The Cykno however undoubtedly is ‘vintage style design’. It is not a style I fancy, but this pedelec is irrefutably the work of a great designer.

The Cykno is from the hand of Luca Scopel. It has a monocoque carbon frame and is all Italian. Except for its engine which is Swedish.

No word about pricing yet. And if you’re into leather, you’ll probably like the video. ;)

Cykno from Saverio De Nittis on Vimeo.

 

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The wheel reinvented.

Suspension within the wheels: another brilliant Kickstarter project which most probably will get funded: with over a fortnight to go, it already has about 90% of the required funds.

There’s really not much to add to the video. Besides the fact that this is really, really, really brilliant bicycle innovation.

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The sandwich bike: a flatpack bicycle delivered by your postman.

Believe it or not, but this box contains all the parts necessary (50 to be exact) to build yourself your own sandwichbike. Even the tools are included, so you can start straight away after the mailman has dropped it on your doorstep. 

The wood is weather coated, so don’t worry too much about the rain. Worry about how to stop instead, because brakes don’t seem to be included. ;)

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Riding your bike in Brussels: awfully horrible in the worst possible way.

The thing is: it’s hard to come across people with a vision that goes anywhere beyond the length of their noses. This applies to many fields in life (and work). But eventually, the results are sometimes of the hallucinatory variety. When it comes to traffic, Brussels has become the world’s most congested city. This is a very beautiful documentary. Too bad it’s actually a very sad story…

Brussels Express from Sander Vandenbroucke on Vimeo.

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Finally: a foldable helmet that actually looks great.

So far, we had the Pango by Biologic which basically looks like a fencing mask you put on top of your head. Then there was this collapsible helmet by Overade which looks like a piece that fell off Iron Man’s outfit. Now there is this beautifully designed foldable helmet by Carrera which is aptly called ‘the foldable helmet’. In very nice colors by the way. I want the orange one.

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The most baffling bike innovation happens at Kickstarter.

You’ve probably heard about Kickstarter by now: it is a crowdfunding platform where people with ideas can get money from people with, well, money.

Revolights has just kicked off a project because they would like to start building wheels with built-in leds. Just have a look at the video and you’ll immediately get it: it’s supercool!

The Mission Bicycle Company will be building two different models with Revolights’ wheels: a fixie and one with an internal speed hub.

Has a very high ‘Tron’-factor to it. 

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A simple desire for asymmetric aesthetics. With 36” wheels.

Apparently, 36” wheels are nothing new. According to Paolo De Giusti, they’re a blast from the past, “having been commonplace many years ago for their uniquely smooth, relaxed and sturdy rolling, perfect for the everyday cruiser”. It’s kind of a weird concept bike. Nice though.

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Stolen bike recovery? We might be getting closer thanks to the Bikespike team.

The BikeSpike from Bike Spike on Vimeo.

The BikeSpike is a Kickstarter project. It only has 9 more days to go, but it’s still pretty far from reaching it’s goal. That’s a pitty, because it seems like a pretty nifty ‘tamper and collision detection’ system.

Besides increasing the chances of recovering your stolen bicycle drastically, it also has a collision detection system. Which means key members of your contact list get a notification in case something should happen to you.

BikeSpike has an open API (Application Programming Interface) which allows any interested third party to use the BikeSpike’s functionalities for their own solutions.

Head over to Kickstarter if you’re interested. The BikeSpike Team is gonna need your support!

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