I am a cyclist, I am also very much a tech fan. I’m betting you are the same.
There is something about cycling that seems to attract tech geeks. Most of the cyclists I know are heavily into tech and gadgets and indeed most are in or have worked in the software industry or come from an engineering background.
Cycling can be quite a simple, basic pleasure. Riding a bike isn’t rocket science as we all know. And actually, you can get away with knowing very little about how bikes work or function if you simply want to ride a bike. I know someone who goes to the bike shop to get her tyres pumped up, but that’s a different story altogether.
But when you get into it; the bikes, the clothing, the equipment, marginal gains and so on – it can become as technical as you want it to be.
I think you could probably say this about a few sports, but here’s the real beauty of cycling – it doesn’t just attract tech geeks, it also attracts extremely creative types (by the way I’m well aware that tech type people can also be very creative and vica versa). Artists, writers, filmmakers and so on love to use the bicycle and indeed the cyclist as their subject. Hence why we are able to stock a wall of cycling related art prints.
Yes cycling can be wonderfully technical with the latest material developments and so on. But cycling is and will always be a natural choice for people wanting a bit of human powered freedom and exercise. Cycling is fun, plain and simple. So whether your goal is to beat the competition or simply to get to work without sitting in a metal box of some description – you will have fun doing so and you can explore your creative and tech-minded passions wholeheartedly at the same time.
Cycling Inspired Gadgetry
There are some really amazing cycling products springing up all over the place. My favourite ones combine a highly creative concept with a superb engineering solution. Here are some I particularly like:
ICEdot
Great concept – you fix the small unit to your helmet and if you have a crash such that your helmet impacts the ground it triggers an alarm to go off on your smart phone. If you are unable to turn the alarm off then it texts your GPS position to up to 10 of your chosen contacts.
http://vimeo.com/53905081
More info: https://icedot.org/site/
Spurcycle Bell
Granted there is nothing new about a humble bicycle bell. And to be fair this is just a humble bicycle bell. But the approach Spurcycle (the company behind Grip Rings) have taken to “re-invent” the bell is very creative and full of tactile engineering loevlyness. Like all successful kickstarter projects – they know how to make a good video:
More info: http://www.spurcycle.com/
Helios Bars
Again, another outstandingly produced video helped lead this innovative idea to a highly successful kickstarter programme. They asked for $70,000 they got $120,000 – not bad.
I’m not sure I would have it on my bike but you’ve got to admit, it’s a lovely idea and very well executed indeed.
More info: http://www.ridehelios.com/
The Moral of the Story
As a cyclist the chances are you are either very creative, or very much into tech, or a combination of the two. Whichever you are, you are undoubtedly very attractive and you would be very wealthy if only you could stop spending all your bloody money on cycling equipment!