SeaSucker racks attach to your vehicle using nothing but rubber vacuum cups

If you’ve ever tried to install a rooftop or rear-end bike rack on your car, then you’ll know what a hassle it can be. You have to put the thing together, carefully line everything up, run the hooks under your roofline or hatch, then try to tighten it all down simultaneously so everything doesn’t get pulled to one side. According to the folks at SeaSucker, however, their racks attach and come off in seconds, thanks to an attachment system that involves nothing but rubber cups.

The bike racks are a spin-off of SeaSucker’s marine products, which are used for attaching things such as rod holders and diving racks to boats. The company is quick to point out that their system uses vacuum cups, as opposed to suction cups. What’s the difference? Suction cups are the generally-unreliable little things that are used for sticking aquarium heaters to glass, translucent decorations to windows, and things like that. Vacuum cups, on the other hand, attach themselves to smooth surfaces using a built-in pump with enough force to allow people to climb up the sides of buildings.

To use the racks, you moisten the underside of each cup, put it in place, then click on the pump button to suck it down. To remove it, you just lift a tab to release the air. The pump button also has a red line which will start to become visible if the cup loses pressure after being attached for a while.

The racks are available in rooftop, hatchback, trunk, or pick-up bed configurations, and hold one to three bikes, depending on the rack model. The company also offers a rather clever work stand, that consists of a traditional bicycle frame clamp attached to a mount that sucks onto the wall.

SeaSucker bike racks are available from the company website, at prices ranging from US$146.99 to $629.99.

The Bikamper replaces tent poles with the user’s bicycle 

Camping, especially when it’s not car-supported camping, is all about reducing what you have to carry with you. If someone comes along with a tent that doesn’t require poles, then that’s definitely welcome news. As its name implies, however, what Topeak’s Bikamper does require instead is a bicycle – probably a little bulkier to carry with you than tent poles, but presumably the folks at Topeak are assuming that you would have the bike with you already.

The one-person, three-season tent is made from water-resistant urethane-coated 45D ripstop nylon, with a waterproof fly. Your 26-inch or 700C front wheel slides vertically into the foot of the tent, to give it structure, while the rest of your bike is parked nose-in at the head. There, loops at the top of the canopy attach to your handlebars, while the fly proceeds to hook around the back of your seat. Adjustable-length tie-downs keep everything from blowing away.

The arrangement does look a little unstable as pictured, but what you can’t see are the fork anchors that slide into the front dropouts, then stake down into the ground. The whole thing weighs in at 1.63 kg (3.59 lbs), and stuffs down into a small pack that can be strapped to your handlebars or rack.

It definitely looks like a neat idea for bicycle tourists, so long as you keep in mind that once you’ve got your tent set up, you won’t be riding your bike again until the next morning. If you were staying at the same campsite for multiple days, this would mean that you’d have to set up and tear down your tent every day, even though you weren’t relocating.

Road bike riders should also note that they would be required to turn their dropped handlebars drops-up (yuck!) when using their bike to hold up the tent.

The Bikamper is available at various retailers, for around US$150-$200.

An entry at Seoul Cycle Design Competition 2010, the “Sideways Bike” by Irish designer Michael Killian is an innovative steering bicycle that moves on independently steerable wheels to travels sideways like a snowboard. Essentially a two wheel steering bicycle, the sideways bicycle becomes a snowboard trainer, as it positions the rider in regular stance and requires the hand-body-eye coordination while pedaling the bike on the road. Presenting a unique and distinct motion, reminiscent of the motion of a snowboard, the bike adds fun to your ride while enhancing your snowboarding skills on the road. Check out the video to see the bike in motion after the jump.