*Other crowd-funding services are available.
Let’s kick things off with that rarest of rare things – a crowdfunded product that we think we actually might want to buy!
Link is luggage brand Restrap’s take on the ‘action belt’. With a sleek magnetic buckle that can be opened and closed one-handed, elasticated webbing and a breaking strain of 50kg, it looks well-suited to the task of holding up our baggier baggies. It’s also made in Yorkshire – and, with all that on board, it’s not really surprising that the project’s already reached its target four times over.
Restrap’s currently working on some bike luggage using a similar, innovative magnetic fitting system, which featured in our Bespoked show write-up. We’re hoping to get our hands on some test kit from them soon so keep your eyes peeled.
And, now that sensible bit’s out of the way, let’s resume normal weird and wonderful Kickstarter service. Fancy some floral arm warmers? Fund Svelte Cycles £15 and they’re yours.
Svelte is aiming to make “quality cycle apparel” – at the moment the Heritage jersey for men and women, plus shorts, base layer and arm warmers – and will be manufacturing in the UK (east Laarndaan, to be precise), from European-sourced fabrics, with the obligatory merino content that you’re not anything without these days, dahling.
On a similarly fashionable note, the Swagger toolbox might look like a set of boy’s jewellery, but the cufflinks, collar stays and tie clip cunningly double up as a mini multitool kit (and, of course, there’s the obligatory bottle opener). Perfect for the James Bond-wannabe in your life.
Next, introducing RideAir – “the next generation of effortless air pump”…
The best way we can describe this, is as an inflatable pump. It seems to be pitched at your common or garden variety hipster – so if you’re the sort of person who programs your iPad to say good morning to you, wears brightly-coloured Bluetooth ear cans while cycling to the coffee shop for your morning flat white and are too weedy of bicep to pump up your own tyres, then it might be for you.
Next up is Halfbike, which has already reached its target and is now available to buy!
Which is great news, because it looks like a cross between a step machine on wheels and a full size version of those lethally fast kids’ scooters – so in short, just what we always wanted. Though if we were being picky we’d point out that it looks like an emergency stop might mean an immediate trip to the emergency dentist, as the whole thing pivots around the front wheel and pile-drives the unfortunate passenger into the ground face first… Still, we’re sure they’ve thought of that. The price for this three-wheeled trip into legend? A cool 499EUR. Bargain!
Aaaaaand here’s another three-wheeled wonder: the Trivek Recumbent Tricycle.
It’s an interesting idea; makers Hiele say they’ve tried to make it safer than a regular recumbent, by placing the rider higher, while cashing in on the stability of a trike. You steer it by leaning – not so different to a regular bike, then – and the wheels come off, so you can pack it in “the trunk”. Those crazy Yanks, eh?
More safety-orientated product: the Lucid Brake 2.0 is a motion-sensing rear light.
Its eight LEDs light up when you slow down; it can apparently tell the difference between deceleration and an emergency stop, with different lighting patterns for both; it runs for a year on two AAA cells, and the fitting looks like Velcro on steroids. All good signs of a winning idea which started life in someone’s shed before going on to take over the world. (Perhaps.)
And one more bit of fashion: Shredly makes “Awesome mountain biking apparel for women”.
We imagine that women who are in the market for mountain bike apparel and think shorts made of your nan’s curtains are “awesome” is rather thin on the ground this side of the pond, though in the endless sunshine of California the designs might be a little less incongruous. Also, we know lots of men who could potentially carry these off far better than us. Sigh.
Lastly: 3D printed food! Bocusini is: “the perfect tool for creative chefs or confectioners as well as for creative end users… There is nothing mysterious about food printing – it is just the dosing of a food product like melted chocolate, mashed potatoes or a cookie dough layer by layer onto a plate by a small nozzle – the principle of food printing is nothing more than a very precise automatically controlled pastry bag.” So there. No word yet on whether or not they’ve worked out how to print chips and gravy but once they’ve sorted that out, we’ll be investing in one for the office.
No – thank you…
