The joys of updates
Well, it’s been a tad over a month since we re-launched Lab-Gear.com. It’s been a hell of a ride, with more orders than we expected and in amongst that, revisiting the .com and going back over it with a fine tooth comb, tweaking as we go. Sites are like that, you go like mad to get them finished and launched and then you step back after they are running and nit pick them.
As you may have noticed, we have made a lot of little changes as we stepped back and moved things around. We think it’s shaping up pretty well. While not 100% done, we are pretty darn close and that makes us happy. What makes us unhappy is when late on a Monday we realise that all the help files were missing their images as the system did not re-update the links when we reorganised the files. Poo!
Thankfully they are all fixed now, but we think that’s called ‘egg on the face’ - to break a perfectly working site!
Insane Mechanism
[Just nuts...... really is]
Vegie car……
“Environ-MENTAL - The steering wheel is made from Carrots… powered by Waste Chocolate and Vegetable Oil… with Potatoes used to produce the bodywork… and it goes 125mph round corners!”
A really interesting project worth checking out…. do so here: [worldfirstracing]
[via all sorts of places]
Get wood
“Wood frame bikes have long given way to aluminum and space age materials but designer Arndt Menke thinks we were too hasty in giving up on one of the strongest, resilient, and lightweight natural materials. There are over 60,000 woody plants worldwide but we use less than 300 of them in a terribly unsustainable way. The Holzweg bike’s frame is totally made of wood and weighs a scant 2.3kg.”
We’re liking this idea. We’ve seen rare wood rims on some road bikes locally but the idea of a wood frame is interesting. Not new, there are bamboo based ‘production’ bikes, but the thing about this is it looks like a real bike, not some funky thing that a lot of people have a hard time getting their heads around.
[via]
Mode folding bike
Say the designers:
“The clean and striking MODE is aimed at commuters that may have not considered cycling or folding bikes as an option. MODE avoids oily chains, complex tubes with hidden dirt traps, and the clutter of traditional bike features. Commuters, who do not want to change their appearance into “bicycle warriors”, can use it. MODE features IF (Integrated Folding) technology that offers a single-action, automatic fold that requires no tools or removal of parts. IF technology is based on a patented 3-dimensional 4-Bar linkage that automatically guides the wheels together when folding. Once folded, MODE rolls along in a convenient wheelable package.”
There are a lot of quite interesting things about this bike and while it does not look like a lightweight wonder, it has a certain appeal from a design feature point of view. Areaware in the US is selling the iF (International Forum Design) Gold medal winning ‘Mode’, though at US$2,250 they have to be dreaming.