So it's a hell of a lot cooler and more powerful than a scooter, moped or Segway—but the 1300 watt lithium ion-powered motor will only take you between 18 and 31 miles on a one hour charge (depending on weight). That's not enough to make it a serious mode of transportation, but if you live in an urban area it might make some sense. You don't need a parking spot and you can ride it in the same areas as a traditional bicycle. Of course, that kind of flexibility won't come cheap. Expect to pay €5877 ($8742) for the Grace E-Bike when it ships in January. [Grace via DVICE]

Case-Mate, the people who used to make zipper booklets for CDs, built the $80 Enlighten case that lights up the Kindle at night by way of an LED-illuminated acrylic overlay. So basically they pulled a Sony: Taking what's right about e-ink, and screwing it up. You don't put anything on e-ink, for the same reason you don't read paper through a film of plastic. We typically don't write up cases, but despite its unique gimmick (okay, because of it) this one looks exceptionally pass-worthy. [CNet]

It's bad enough when pompous over-the-hill watchmakers think they can get into the cellphone business, like Tag Heuer did when it introduced the luxury-for-luxury's-sake $6000 Merediist. It's worse when they team up with an extreme car company to release a still more ridiculously irrelevant phone, like Tag Heuer did when it called up its friend Lamborghini and cooked up the, yep, special edition Merediist Automobili Lamborghini. For $8000, you get the same crappy phone as before, but with the signature angry cow shield on the keypad, and a plaque in place of the crocodile skin. Yes they'll sell a handful to bald Italian billionaires over 60, but how many of those can there be? [Tag Heuer via Gadgetell]

I love when the age-old bicycle gets a redesign, and points go to Joey Ruiter for thinking through the needs of the urban bicyclist, trading speed for agility, and stripping the bike to its simplest parts. But I never thought bike seats could look any more uncomfortable than the borderline rectal probes out there now, until lo, I spotted this rectangular sucka. Joey, you're clearly talented, but I gotta ask, how can that seat be copacetic to the culo? [Core77 via The Awesomer]

As much as I want alternative energy ASAP, I am worried about wind farms. First, they're killing off flocks of birds or at least scaring them the hell away, and now they're making air traffic control jumpy too. Because of their flailing metal blades, radar waves get super screwy around them, and sometimes cause airplanes to disappear from radar. (Cue gulp of fear.) For this problem, a firm called Qinetiq built a seemingly decent solution, layering blades with sheets of radar-slurping glass-reinforced epoxy and plastic foam. It's nice, especially because you can pretty much replace the blade and leave everything else as is. But it's just coming out of the trial phase, and will take some time before it's ready for turbines that are now in place or being built. While we wait, let's talk about them birds... [MIT Tech Review via PopSci]

The Edge 500 can track GPS position, speed, distance, time, elevation, climb and descent. It also has a barometric altimeter to pinpoint changes in elevation. Its high-sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFix also allows it to display temperature readings and changes in time zones.

GPS isn't its only game. When paired with a Garmin heart rate monitor it can track micro changes in a user's heart rate and can calculate the number of calories burned. The Edge 500 retails for $250 and $350 with the bundled heart rate monitor. [Garmin]

The new bike design has a built-in locking system that can only be activated and opened by the owner's fingerprint. The computer-equipped machine can also monitor the amount of calories burned. Made of carbon fiber, it will even have a battery that will assist you when going up a steep hill, as well as puncture-proof, self-inflating tires.

Unfortunately, for now it is just a concept, even while Boardman believes "it could be built now if there was a will. All the technologies are already there, it's just that nobody's put them all together before." The future is not coming soon enough. Heck, I would be glad if the weekend came already. [Daily Mail]

Maybe you can put the capirinha in a regular plastic bottle and attach it to your bike using Matthias Ries' Bottleclip, then go on a little trip from Brooklyn to somewhere in New Mexico for two weeks. Or maybe just around the block and back into the Surf Bar. In any case, nice little gadget for your bicycle. [Matthias Ries via Mocoloco]

Frame: Double butted 7005 Series Aluminum Front and Rear Triangle
Front Suspension: RST CAPA-T8 Suspension, disc mount, adjustable preload with CLIX™ Ramps
Folded Size: 36" x 28" x 12"
Color: Cammy Green
Gearing: SRAM 24-Speed

I always thought that folding bikes made you look like an oversized clown named Zappo, but the Montague Paratrooper Tactical Folding Mountain Bike is different. It may be the combination of its design and the cammy green finish, but it just looks good enough to buy one, even if it costs $800. [Military Bikes—Thanks W]

Update: Actually, as a reader points out in the comments, his idea may have some merit.

It's either that or he's just completely nuts. Apparently, he spent 18 months making this thing. Just imagine that: Only 18 months to create an amazing piece of advanced mechanics that will cause a lifetime of back pains to anyone who tries to ride it.

Ah the Humanity, always pushing progress forward. Or backward. Or just crashing down into the ground. [China.Org.CN via Dark Roasted Blend]

The handlebars and body of the bike can rotate around to accommodate different angles of the poles and racks the lock latches onto. Sounds like it would be a quite handy concept, but I'm sure the idea of lugging around a chain lock won't be so bad once you realize your tires have gone missing... again. [Yanko]

The Price: $3200, Yes you read that right, $3200 bucks.

The Verdict: Let me first explain that this bike is not a motor driven bicycle, it is merely electric motor-assisted. That means there's still pedaling involved, but the electric motor will actually help you, so the pedaling is actually easier in most riding situations.

The electronics behind the Tailwinds power is an electric motor located in the front hub and a removable Toshiba SCiB 5Ah 24V battery that mounts inside the rear rack. The whole electric system is actually pretty cool and well thought out. The battery pack just slides in and out of the rear rack which makes removing it for charging very simple, and the battery only takes about 30 minutes to complete a full charge. You get somewhere in the range of 25 to 30 miles per charge, but that all depends on the type of riding and the terrain.

The bike can be ridden in either that motor-assisted mode I explained earlier or in conventional bike mode—toggled between by using the PowerDial on the left handlebar. That PowerDial can also switch between power modes: downhill, flat or uphill, each changing the way the motor assists.

Aside from the electronics, the Tailwind is a full featured commuter bike. It's got bells and whistles like an 8 speed Shimano rear hub, Nexus twist shifter, fenders, lights, integrated rear wheel lock, an actual bell bell, brakes, rear rack and of course a kickstand (but no whistle). With all the added crap like fenders and lights combined with the electric motor and battery the bike ends up weighing more than 50 pounds, which compared to a road bike can feel like a ton.

When it comes to actually riding this thing, I have to say it's somewhat interesting. When starting out on the bike and the motor-assist is enabled the bike initially feels like a normal bicycle. Then all of a sudden as your pedaling cadence starts the electric motor kicks on, you can feel it pushing the bike forward making it easier to pedal. As soon as the bike reaches the current gear's top speed or your pedaling ceases, the electric motor stops assisting and saves battery life. For the most part riding around town up and down easy hills is great. As soon as you begin pedaling harder on a hill the electric motor will pitch in and the hill becomes much easier to climb. It's not doing all the work for you but I would imagine the motor-assist would at the very least save you from breaking a sweat.

Don't expect to be climbing huge hills with this bike that you couldn't already do on a normal bike. I attempted to hit a decent-sized SF hill thinking the electric motor would at least help out with my pedaling; I was dead wrong. As soon as I left the saddle and began putting my weight into pedaling the electric motor just shut off, the battery drained instantly and I was left lugging a 50 pound bicycle up a hill. Not fun.

With a $3200 price tag it's hard to justify buying this bike. Yeah, it's got a pretty sophisticated electric motor system which does indeed help when commuting around town for work or school. But for $3200 it seems more logical to buy a cheap Vespa or motor-scooter that actually features a full time motor with no pedaling needed.

55-year-old Peijia Wu, from Shandong province, allegedly took three months to build his DIY wooden bike. It features no metal parts whatsoever – joints are fixed with small wooden bungs and a rod-crank system has replaced where the chain would normally be.

Ingenious! It's like a stair master and a bike rolled into one and it's probably less likely to fall apart than other wooden bike models. [Chine Informations via Shanghaiist]

Gizmag says the Factor 001 can collect various bits of info, such as ergonometric, biometric, physical force and environmental data, then take all that and analyze it in ways to help the rider's performance. BERU normally works on F1 components, so the bike was designed entirely in-house by F1 engineers using F1-grade materials.

The bike weighs under 7kg, and comes with other advanced features such as ceramic brakes. All the components and wiring are integrated into the composite carbon-fiber frame during manufacturing, which make the bike appear simple on the outside.

However, if the aforementioned specs weren't enough, the price definitely reveals it's anything but simple. With a pricetag of 20,000 GBP, very few people will be able to afford the BERU Factor 001. [Factor 001 via Gizmag]

The art piece is called Bio-Cycle, and was made out of metal by Jud Turner. If I could actually ride it, I would install red LEDs on its eye sockets. [Jud Turner via Walyou]

This "heated cycling seat," cleverly named the Iron Saddle, is made from a clothes iron with remarkably few changes. There's no steam, because that could get slippery and safety is always paramount, but besides that it's just an upside-down iron with an attached battery. Short of using a live porcupine, I'm hard pressed to come up with a less comfortable seat, but for sheer novelty and a shameless lack of reality, this one gets a thumbs up from me. [CyclingInfo via MAKE]

We suppose there's a case to be made for getting exercise at home, when you can wear lousy clothes and sweat all over them, then using the electric power to get you to work in your nice clothes. But what's the point of riding a bike to work then? Why not just pedal normally and convert your pedaling energy into forward movement instead of losing part of that energy when you're charging the battery, then losing part of it again when that gets converted to powering your bike?

In any case, it's an electric bike that you power by pedaling. Surprised? [Behance]

[My Atomic Mass via Likecool]

[Dark Roasted Blend]