Dreamslide Bike

Eleven years ago, French rollerblading and boardsports enthusiast Jean‐Marc Gobillard decided that the small wheels of rollerblades weren’t quite speedy enough. He experimented with a few different ideas, which ultimately led him to design the Dreamslide. This unique device combines the standing stance of things like skateboards and roller blades with the efficient locomotion and larger, faster wheels of a bicycle. It even has its own special pedaling system, designed for a standing rider.

The first question people might have is, “Why would you want to stand instead of sit?” Well, for one thing, Gobillard likes the idea of being able to bodily lean into corners like a downhill skier – he believes that by standing on it, the Dreamslide becomes more like a part of the rider’s body, and less like a separate contraption.

Secondly, as anyone who has climbed a hill on a bicycle knows, you can deliver more power to the pedals by standing on them. If you try to ride a bike very far in a standing position, however, you’ll get tired pretty quickly. This is because you have to pump your entire body weight up and down with every pedal stroke. To get around this limitation, Gobillard has invented what he calls the Adaptive Pedaling System, or APS.

On a bicycle, the pedal crank arms are connected by an axle, so they move directly in proportion to one another. With APS, the cranks move independently, adapting to the rider’s muscle power. In the neutral position, both of the rider’s feet are down, one forward and one back. When they start a pedal stroke, the back foot moves forward and lifts slightly, as in a jogging gait, while the front foot slides back.

Not only is this system said to minimize the body-weight-bobbing drawback of pedaling while standing, but it also reportedly eliminates the “dead zone” in the conventional pedaling set up – a point in the pedal revolution at which it has been claimed that neither leg is delivering optimum power to the bicycle. This zone was addressed in the 80s with Shimano’s oval Biopace chainring, the wisdom of which is still debated to this day.

Gobillard asserts that the standing position combined with APS will mean riders can generate more torque with less effort, will have less knee problems, and greater control. If any mechanical engineers out there have an opinion on these claims, we’d love to hear from you.

The Dreamslide is just hitting stores in Europe this year, and is also available through the company website for €1,250 (US$1,682).

Nikon's 16.2MP D7000 digital SLR revealed

Nikon has announced a feature-rich addition to its digital SLR camera family, the 16.2 megapixel D7000. In addition to a new image processing engine and 3D Matrix metering system, the camera also offers full HD video recording with autofocus, twin media card slots, over a thousand shots between battery charges and up to six frames per second burst shooting. Its low-light-friendly too – with sensitivity expansion to ISO25600, noise reduction and shake reduction all promising to help grab the best shot in the most testing conditions. The D7000 is among the many photographic treats we're checking out at Photokina in Cologne this week.
Built around a magnesium-alloy chassis, the new Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera body has been dust and moisture sealed and features a 16.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, the company's own 39-point Multi-CAM 4800DX autofocus sensor module with TTL phase detection and a new EXPEED 2 image processing engine. The smooth, fast focusing system allows for dynamic or single-point autofocus and nine center cross-type sensors plus 3D tracking follow moving subjects and highlight the activated AF point in the eye-level glass pentaprism optical viewfinder.

As well as taking care of the camera's nippy six frames-per-second continuous shooting at full resolution and managing the 50-millisecond shutter response and autofocus capabilities, the new EXPEED 2 engine works with 14-bit analog/digital conversion to bring what Nikon describes as "a new level of even tonal gradations while managing color, contrast, exposure, and noise resulting in brilliant image quality."

Using the 2,016 pixel RGB 3D Matrix Metering System, the Scene Recognition System accesses a database of over 30,000 images to choose optimum focus, exposure and white balance. Low light, flash-free photography gets high sensitivity assist thanks to the standard ISO100 to ISO6400 range – with expansion up to ISO25600 – Vibration Reduction (VR) II and low noise technology.

Live View functionality on the D7000's 3-inch, 921,000 dot resolution LCD display gives the user another option when framing shots or shooting video. The camera offers full 1080p high definition movie recording at 24 frames per second with full-time autofocus, face and subject tracking and on-the-fly exposure adjustment. In addition to a built-in mono microphone there's a stereo mic input and basic movie editing can be done on the camera itself. A HDMI-out port allows for viewing of images or videos on a big screen TV.

Nikon has redesigned the mode dial atop the 5.2 x 4.1 x 3-inch (132 x 103 x 77mm) D7000. Gone are the familiar scene choices in favor of advanced manual functions and a couple of user-defined settings. Other highlights include in-camera image retouching, including direct processing of RAW images and side-by-side image comparison, a virtual horizon indicator helps ensure that your camera is always level if you need it to be, twin media card slots with SDXC support and a new EN-EL15 Li-ion battery that's said to give 1050 shots between charges.

Compatible with numerous NIKKOR lenses courtesy of Nikon's F mount, the D7000 digital SLR will be available from mid-October for a recommended retail of US$1200 for the body-only and US$1500 for a kit which includes the body and AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens.

Sikorsky’s X2 demonstrator sets unofficial world record speed of 250 knots

Sikorsky Aircraft’s coaxial X2 Technology demonstrator has achieved the 250-knot (287.69 mph) milestone that was established as the goal of the craft from its inception. The speed, which was achieved in level flight during a 1.1-hour flight on Wednesday, September 15, is an unofficial speed record for a helicopter, easily beating the current official world record that stands at 216.46 knots (249.1 mph) set by the British built Westland Lynx ZB-500 in 1986.