1. Small and mighty - Emu Mini Folding Electric Bike, £999
The ground-breaking little Emu Mini is set to be one of the lightest folding electric bikes on the market, tipping the scales at very palatable 16kg. This nifty e-bike is packed with lots of lovely stuff, including Shimano hub gears and disc brakes, Samsung battery, LED display, integrated front and rear lights and puncture-resistant tyres.
The frame has been designed to sit in a similar fashion to a tripod, allowing it to be freestanding as well as using the rear wheels to be pull it along when folded. The perfect commuter or city bike for cyclists on the go.
2. Wear green - GRN Cycling Jersey, £69, and Bib Shorts, £75
Ethical lycra is here. British manufacturers GRN have developed a brilliant range of sportswear made predominately from recycled plastic bottles and fishing nets, and their eco-friendly designs have already caught (geddit) the eye of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, who’ve partnered up with GRN to create cyclist-specific men’s and women’s lines that include bib shorts and cycle jerseys.
The ‘NET Positive’ stamp on the clothing guarantees that it was ethically produced using recycled materials. The jersey and bib perform just as well as your favourite brands, and are breathable, wicking, soft and fast drying, just with extra saving-the-world smugness when you wear them. They look great too, with bright colours and retro styling.
Buy them and you’re also helping support other WDS projects around the world, as GRN donates 20% of each sale to the charity. Gets our ‘seal’ of approval...
3. Drinkable air - Fontus Airo Bottle, £200
We like the idea of getting rid of single use plastics. We like supporting new design talent. So we were very excited to discover the Fontus Airo water bottle.
Through a Kickstarter campaign, Austria-based Fontus has developed a self-filling water bottle that rather magically extracts moisture from the air and turns it into drinkable water. The bottle uses solar panels to turn vapour in the air into drinkable water inside the bottle while you ride, and Fontus claims their bottles can harvest up to 0.5l of water per hour in the optimal setting of high temperatures and humidity. The future is now.
4. Tech Head - Livall Helmet BH51, £150
If Robocop designed a helmet, we bet it would look a little like this. Livall are clocking up the awards this year for their stylish new BH51 helmet (despite its rather uncatchy name) and we can see why.
The sleek commuter design is boosted by a strip of bright red LED lights that illuminate when you break or turn by linking to a remote on your handlebar. To add to this protection there’s an SOS function that alerts an emergency contact if you fall off your bike and don’t respond within 90 seconds.
And there’s more clever tech here for cyclists keen to stay connected - the helmet can pair with your phone via Bluetooth, making it possible to take hands-free calls while still paying attention to the road. Bet your bog-standard lid looks boring now.
5. Smart navigation - Beeline, £85
Dragon’s Den-approved Beeline is making a storm in the navigation world by taking an alternative approach to helping cyclists find their way. The award-winning gadget connects via Bluetooth to an app that is surprisingly simple to use - just enter your destination into it before pedalling off and you’ll see a big fat arrow showing you direction and distance, with the flexibility to pick your own route as you pedal.
Or give power to the route assistant and it’ll automatically generate a guided, cycle-friendly route. The Beeline is easy to fit on your bike, bag or keys, is water-resistant and backlit for night riding and lasts for a month on a single charge. We’re in.
6. Hybrid protection - Camelbak K.U.D.U Protector, from £160
Mountain bikers are likely to already have a trusty Camelbak hydration backpack in their kit but their brand new K.U.D.U Protector is a whole new ballgame, perfect for the active and the accident-prone alike.
This year’s version features a CE level 11 back protector that helps to protect your body by absorbing impact in the event of a crash, plus a 10L or 20L bladder-compatible cargo pack to keep your water levels topped up on long rides.
There are useful pockets and straps and an effective built-in raincover but the pack is still small and light enough totake on challenging mountain adventures, or you can unzip the pack and just wear the back protector on shorter day rides.
The K.U.D.U may offer great protection but it’s still comfortable to wear - Camelbak have managed to fuse functionality with comfort to ensure you get maximum results without feeling weighed down.
