Just spotted the Volkswagen Bik.e Electric Scooter on Wired’s Gadget Lab blog. Aside from the whole no-pedals thing, it’s definitely an interesting concept. Charlie Sorrel says:

The Bik.e is actually a sidekick for your car, something you are supposed to remove from the trunk when you have parked up and can go no further on four wheels. The Bik.e is electric, and folds up to fit in the spare-wheel well in the back of your car. While sitting in the dark like a kidnap victim, the Bik.e recharges from the car’s electrical system as you drive, meaning it is always ready to go.

Skip past the techno-themed intro to see Bik.e in action.

This reminded me of an email that I sent to Zipcar a few years back. My suggestion was that they should store folding bikes in the trunk of each of their cars, and rent them out through a “Zipbike” bikeshare program. They could piggy-back on existing infrastructure: they have already secured bicycle parking (read: trunks) throughout many metropolitan areas, they have already built a robust software/hardware payment and access system for rentals, and their primary focus is transportation. I haven’t used Zipcar for several years, but at the time they had many VWs in their Boston fleet. It seemed like a no-brainer to me, but I never did hear back.

Seems worth suggesting again to the carshare programs out there: Why not run a bike-sharing program out of the trunk of a car-sharing program?

Somewhere, in your basement, in your garage, your old bike is leaning against wall. The tires may be flat, the chain may be a bit rusty, but the frame is the right size. Let’s start here. You’re willing to give bicycle commuting a shot, at least for a week or two. I don’t think this necessitates the Hyland just yet, but a tune-up at your local shop is definitely in order. Give them a call and schedule it.

Let’s skip ahead a bit. You’re enjoying the daily commute, have done a bit of reading online about the little things that help make commuting easier. But even after a two or three weeks, your seat is still uncomfortable. Or perhaps your back is sore from leaning too far forward. Or you’re having trouble seeing bumps in the road on your ride home. Whatever is bothering you most, it’s time to address it. Head back to the shop, and get that new saddle, the handlebar extensions, or the headlight. The following week, you’ll be able to appreciate the difference. Another few weeks later, when something else is bothering you, repeat the drill.

I’ve seen a few instances of the big, up-front new-bike investment based on good intentions to begin commuting, and it’s always sad when it doesn’t play out as planned. What I’m suggesting here is an alternative: that if you incrementally improve your commute, you will keep your investment in line with the experience payoff.

I’m not saying this will be pretty. I started in grad school (which, by the way, is an excellent time to begin commuting by bicycle), on an early-nineties steel-frame mountain bike, to which I bungee-corded a milk-crate to carry my laptop and books. Over the past few years, the milk-crate has been replaced with REI Garage Sale panniers, the seat has been replace by a more comfortable saddle, the pedals now sport Power Grips, the front headlight, rear blinky, and wheel monkeylectrics are all LED-based. The tires got skinnier, more puncture-resistant, and grew fenders. The handlebars sprouted comfortable extensions. The water bottle holder now holds my sound system. I’m still waiting for the opportunity to turn it into a NuFixie. Lest it should sound like I now ride a completely different bike, I will point out that these changes happened slowly, over the course of several years and thousands of miles of commuting. In that time, I continued to prove to myself that the incremental improvements were worth the time and cost. And while this early-nineties steel frame bike now likes like some sort of FrankenGiant, it’s one that I’ve been quite happy with.

At this point, now that I’ve convinced myself that I’m in it for the long haul, I feel comfortable investing in a shiny new bicycle. Every now and then, I stop in a bike shop to try out something new. Ultimately, I seem to always walk away disappointed, thinking about the ways that I wished the test-ride was more like my daily commute. I’m sure some day soon, I’ll try something that grabs me. But until then…

Click for larger image

Let me start by saying that I believe in visibility. And not in the dim-red-blinky kind of way. A healthy dose of LEDs and reflective tape cover both me and my bicycle when I ride after dark. But while my 4-AA front Cateye is quite bright, and my PlanetBike SuperFlash on back is nearly unmissable, my side visibility falls short. So a few years ago I picked up a pair of Hokey Spokes, and attached one to each wheel. (These battery-powered units attach to a spoke and fill the wheel with light from 16 yellow LEDs when it is spinning.) Last week, I took off the Hokey Spokes to try out something new: the Monkeylectric Monkey Light (m132s model.) I’ll start with a few videos…

I first heard of Monkeylectric last summer, when I met Dan Goldwater in Cambridge to see his then-current prototype. Dan, the force behind it, is a bona fide Maker. Prior to Monkeylectric, he was a co-founder of Instructables, a community site for how-to’s and DIY projects. He has contributed a large number of projects there, both LED-themed and bicycle-themed, and the Monkey Light clearly draws on this body of work. Where the Monkey Light differs, however, is in accessibility: It is for sale, already assembled and ready to use.

I will compare the Monkey Light to the Hokey Spoke based on the three criteria that I believe to be most important to the bicycle commuter: enjoying the commute, practicality, and staying safe.

Enjoying the commute:
There’s no questions about it: the Monkey Light is fun. Bright colors, in a variety of patterns, constantly changing.

I’ll repeat a request I made when reviewing another fun bicycle accessory: I’d like to see the lights blink to the beat of the music, a la iTunes Visualizer. Dan has posted schematics online, so perhaps this may not be impossible after all. If you figure this one out, please let me know…

Practicality:
Installation does take some time, but you only need to do it once. The included instructions are a bit skimpy, but Dan has posted a detailed guide on Instructables, which I recommend printing out. The unit is attached to spokes with zip-ties, and a set of rubber spacers eliminates any rattling. The Hokey Spokes, on the other hand, rattle incessantly, regardless of how much they are tightened. On the other hand, they were designed to be easily removable (with a screwdriver), and that does advantages over zip ties. I used the Hokey Spokes in the winter, when I ride home in the dark, but take them off in the summer, when it remains light longer. Now that the Monkey Light is zip-tied on, it’s not coming off again (unless someone cuts it off.) One suggestion: Before using the zip-ties, think about which side of the bike you stand on more often, and orient the Monkey Light so that the buttons are accessible from that side of the bike.

Unfortunately, the battery cage of the Monkey Light is not water-proof. You can either remove the batteries when parked outside on rainy days, or follow Dan’s Instructable on waterproofing the batteries, themselves. On the other hand, everything electronic outside of the battery cage has been coated with a water-proof layer, so you can use it in wet weather, if you so choose. The Monkeylectric website has photos of wheels partially-submerged in puddles during a downpour, to reassure you. I have yet to leave mine in the rain, but will update this review once I do… Monkey Lights now ship with a waterproof rubber cover for the battery cage, which works just fine.

When it comes to bicycle accessories for daily commuting, my preference is generally for road-ready manufactured products over homemade DIY products. Rain, snow, salt, constant jostling, and potholes are eventually unavoidable, and so my bicycle and the things on it must be able to handle that. So while it looks like a great project, I haven’t assembled a SpokePOV kit. Aside from the Hokey Spokes, there are other approaches to side-lighting for bicyclists. Commute by Bike reviewed the Pedalite Self-Generating Luminescent Bike Pedals earlier this year, and while it doesn’t look particularly bright, it wins points for not requiring any batteries.

Hokey Spokes do offer one feature missing from the Monkey Light: multi-unit synching. This is a cool trick in theory, but I found that the IR sensors were often triggered by bright sunlight, and frequently found them already running when I returned to my bicycle at the end of the day (Partially covering the sensors with electric tape solved the problem.) This synching and the fully-waterproof enclosure were two areas that the Monkey Light still lags behind. Perhaps next revision.

Staying safe:
The Monkey Light is significantly brighter than the Hokey Spokes (I included a direct comparison photo in the gallery above.) So to the extent that higher visibility means increased road safety, that’s good. I’m a bit worried about the swirling color light show being too visible, and causes a distraction to drivers, so, for the time being, I’ve been setting it to a single-color (orange.)

Summary: If you are concerned about cars not seeing you at intersections, the Monkey Light is a remarkably bright wheel-based light set. The customizability, hackability, and color variations may be unnecessary for a visibility-focused commuter, but hey, they definitely add to the fun.

Dan is offering a discount to readers of Bits and Bikes. Use coupon code “BIKECULT” when ordering to receive a 10% discount at the Monkeylectric web store. You can also purchase the Monkey Light through Amazon.

For the bicycle commuter who owns (and occasionally drives) a car: Looks like there will soon be an option for pay-as-you-go car insurance. Milemeter appears to still be a few months from opening up shop, but the description posted on O’Reilly Radar makes it sound very promising. Worth keeping an eye on.

Another option for part-time drivers is to have a membership in a car-sharing program like Zipcar. I found this to be a great first step after getting rid of my own car a few years ago. I’d love to seem them provide a few more steps for recovering car owners. Perhaps by adding some utility bicycles, folding bicycles, and electric bicycles to their neighborhood-wide sprinkling of vehicles?

REI.com is now selling a Dahon folding bicycle, branded as the Novara Buzz Fly-By. While it’s missing several commuter-friendly features that some other Dahon models offer (e.g. chain guard, rear rack, hub dynamo-powered lights), REI does provide an unbeatable guarantee on everything they sell. It worth a trip to one of their quarterly Garage Sales to fully appreciate this.

Finally, for those of you wondering if you should keep waiting for the bus or give up and start walking, a recent paper might provide some direction. Longer answer: Read the full paper. Shorter answer: Stay put.

* Car commute days: I want this number to be as low as possible for 2008!
* Bus-assisted multi-mode commutes, which are a blessing in the winter
* Separate mileage counters for commuting, errands, and recreation
* Separate mileage counters for each bike for maintenance purposes
* Temperature extremes
* Cold weather clothing logs to help me fine-tune my attire for those really chilly days

Particularly in the month-by-month sheets, I like the focus on mode of transportation for the commute rather than on speed or purely on mileage. I’d actually drop mileage entirely, and focus more on weather conditions (rainy? headwinds? icy? sunny?) and cargo weight (none? a box of books?). I do like that the AM and PM commute are tracked separately. Add a bit of code, and your spreadsheet can email you when it’s time to recharge the batteries in your lights and sound system.

via C.I.C.L.E.

I want my bicycle commute to be as safe, practical, and as enjoyable as possible. This is, and will continue to be, the underlying theme of the bikes portion of Bits and Bikes. And this is also the criteria I use when deciding what to bring along while commuting. If the result weighs 70 lbs, so be it.

——

Practical:
Old 21-speed mountain bike
full fenders (for rainy days),
rear rack and panniers for carrying my cargo: clothes for the day, laptop and accessories, assortment school books and papers
rain gear for me and my cargo (forecast dependent)
glasses (sun and clear)
U-Lock and 6-foot cable

Safe:
helmet
water bottle
LEDs everywhere: front white light, rear red bright LED, side lighting (i.e. Hokey Spokes)
reflectors and tape, plastered everywhere.

Enjoyable:
Being dressed appropriately for the weather
Powergrips up or down, depending on the day
And a nice sound system!