The uniquely shaped and textured Michelin Protek Max bicycle inner tube is said to compress punctures closed, instead of blowing them open

Michelin has released a product that takes the concept a step further. The company’s Protek Max tube not only contains a sealant, but is designed to compress when punctured to assist the self-sealing process.

The two things you’ll notice about the Protek is that it has a square cross-section, and funny little bumps on its surface. The square shape helps align it within the tire casing and against the rim well, which Michelin says eases mounting and eliminates the twisting problems that can occur with traditional sausage-shaped tubes.

When the tube is fully inflated within the tire, its textured surface causes the rubber to compress instead of expand when under pressure. This means that the internal air pressure actually closes holes off, giving the sealant a better chance at taking care of them for good.

The tubes also are claimed to hold air longer – when tested against Michelin’s self-sealing AIRSTOP tube, the Protek was said to maintain proper pressure for twice the amount of time.

Commuters and mountain bikers, but not road racers, can get a Protek MaxBicycles to fit their tire. It is available in sizes of 700 x 35-47c (200 grams) and 26 x 1.4-2.125 inches (260 grams), with Presta or Shrader valves, for a suggested retail price of US$8.99.

When we think of the term hybrid, we tend to conjure up images of cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. The "hybrid" part of these machines is their dual powertrains, most often consisting of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor and battery.
Really, though, a hybrid could be any vehicle that gets its motive force through multiple sources… no matter what those sources may be. Hence, Lexus’ newest hybrid concept proudly carries its moniker despite the complete lack of an engine. It does, however, have a 240-Watt electric motor powered by a 25.9-volt lithium battery pack, along with… pedals?
That’s right. Though it managed to escape our attention up to this point, Lexus actually displayed a duo of hybrid electric bicycles at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, and the Japanese automaker is now touting the bike as part of its sponsorship of the Great British Bike Ride.
According to Lexus, the frame is constructed of carbon fiber (the same composite that makes up Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP bike, gushes Lexus) and uses an eight-speed internal gear system sourced from Shimano, in reference to the LS 600h’s eight-speed automatic. There are no plans to put the bike into production.

Just 15 minutes of cycling can produce 10 watt-hours of electricity, and earn you a free meal

Generator Bikes I can almost taste that $36 food voucher Crowne Plaza Hotel

Bored guests at a certain Crowne Plaza hotel can now skip the pricey mini-bar and hop on an exercise bike, generate some electricity, and earn some meal vouchers. The hotel in Copenhagen started the free meal idea as a way to boost guests’ fitness and shrink their carbon footprint, according to the BBC.

The bikes are hooked up to generators that require guests of average fitness to pedal for about 15 minutes to create 10 watt-hours of electricity. iPhones attached to the handlebars display the amount of power being generated.

Hitting the 15-minute mark earns lucky exercisers a $36 meal voucher, and that’s presumably on a repeatable reward system. But a hotel spokeswoman said that she doubted people would exploit the initiative for free meals. Oh, Denmark … not that we’re frowning on the highly generous offer.

This hardly represents a shocking development for a nation that just can’t stop polishing its green credentials after hosting the international climate summit this past winter. About 36 percent of Copenhagen residents bike to work each day, and MIT even brought its pimped-out smart bike to Copenhagen during the summit.