Interbike 2013: Mtbr.com Walkabout
Here is a random summary of the cool, interesting and weird products I saw at Interbike 2013.
Bern Morrison Helmet
The Morrison is Bern‘s first full foray into a mountain bike specific helmet. Bern is known for their urban, skate and snow helmets, so it’s nice to see them applying their technology applied to MTB world. The Morrison shares the shell of their Allston urban helmet, but it has deeper extended coverage in the rear and a removable visor. It uses their ZipMold technology for a high strength to weight ratio with a clean matte finish.
The liner features a rotating dial to adjust fit as opposed to their previous use of Velcro padding. The liner snaps out for cleaning and allows you to convert to their audio and cold-weather liner kits, and the latter will make for a great winter time helmet. The Morrison should come in four sizes, multiple color and retail for $100.
Bushnell PowerSync
The PowerSync is a compact and lightweight solar roll with an integrated high-capacity lithium-ion battery. It comes in several models that would be applicable for biking, including the larger SolarWrap 400 and SolarWrap 200, and the smaller and lighter SolarWrap Mini (shown above), which I think would be the most ideal. It uses an Amorphous Thin Film panel to collect solar power to recharge the battery, and works in less than ideal conditions, and doesn’t require a direct angle to the sun. The solar panel just rolls back around the battery body for compact storage. Once the battery is charged you can hook up any USB connector and do an ‘off the grid’ recharge of a smartphone, camera, MP3 player, etc. The Mini weighs just 3.1 ounces and is 4.3″ x 1.25″ in size when rolled up, and has a 2200mAh Li-Ion battery for storage, which takes four hours to charge from at home or ten hours from the solar panel.
Fix It Sticks
Fix It Sticks is an innovative bike tool that was created by Brian Davis and was originally funded through a Kickstarter campaign. Basically, the two-piece tool has four pressed steel bits on each of their ends, and you mesh the pieces together to form a T-handle wrench. The current tool is made from aluminum and retails for 29.99 and comes in a slew of options depending on the chosen bits: 2.5, 3, 4, 5 and 6mm hex, #1 and #2 Phillips, T10, T25, T30 and T40 Torx, slotted 5 and 8mm.
Brian is working on a cool steel prototype which is magnetized (shown above), and it would have replaceable bits. The steel bits would just pop up into the sticks, making for a useful tool since you could swap out the bits as desired and easily replace them if they get damaged. The sticks themselves should snap together once he gets the magnets placed properly.
GU
GU‘s newest gel flavor is Salted Carmel, and I must admit the stuff tastes pretty darn good, and it will certainly make scarfing down a gel pack much easier. It provides a serving of vitamin C and E, and contains electrolytes. The new Roctane electrolyte capsules contain sodium, magnesium, vitamin D and B6 and ginger root. The ginger is supposed to help soothe the stomach while B6 helps minimize nausea. Instead of dumping something into the water bottle or hydration reservoir, you can simply take the capsules.
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