The concept of strapping a small electric motor to a bicycle has been around for quite some time now. You usually see these home made electric bikes with a long haired hippy at the helm looking like it’s been cross country. So… it’s quite refreshing to see major manufacturers building these purpose made electric bikes. With sleek designs and compact power units, get ready to start seeing more and more of these very cool bikes.

You will have to skip to 1:09 for the e-bike to show up.

(Source: Autoblog)

Mini Cooper has always been a bit funky with their style. From having the Union Jack roof as an option on their cars to a bike that fits in the trunk, they do some cool stuff. The newest product from the Mini Lifestyle Collection is a dope set of sneakers. An attempt to bridge the gap between sneaker collectors and car lovers, they have come out with a pair of shoes that I personally love. A clean high top using navy blue canvas, the Union Jack as an accent and 2 small mini logos make them a set of shoes you can wear out anywhere. As we do with cars, these shoes were unveiled at the Sneakerness convention in Cologne, Germany and will be shown at the other major shoe shows (say that ten times fast) later this year. The shoes will go on sale in September and will be available at select Mini dealers. Their internet shop can be found here.

(Source: Autoblog)

It seems that everyone has been investing in bikes: Audi, McLaren, BMW and now Mini. What’s cool is that all these bikes fit a different audience, McLaren went high tech, BMW was conventional, Audi went green, and now Mini is going, well mini. This bike is for the rare times when the Mini Cooper is just too big. I wasn’t aware this happened, but I’ll go with it. Weighing only 24 pounds, this little bike will fold up and fit into the back of a Cooper for easy transport. Although condensed in size, this is a full featured bike with eight gears that will get you where your Mini can’t, no problem. Coming in at 499 Euros (728 Dollars American) the Mini bike is a bit pricey, but having a bike designed to fit in your car may be a lot easier than dealing with a conventional rack.

(Source: Renovo)

While McLaren is going high-tech, it seems Audi is going natural with a new line of hardwood Bicycles. In a partnership with Renovo (a bike company that makes strictly wooden-framed bikes), Audi decided to make a green statement to go along with their energy conscious stance. There are three different styles of hand-made bikes that will be produced during the limited run, the duoCity, duoSport, and duoRoad priced at $6,530, $7,350, and $7,460 respectively. Apparently, a wood frame is 75% lighter than aluminum used in comparable bikes, and is able to maintain the same level of durability. The wood selected for the bikes is the same as the wood used in the dashboards of the cars for a little cross product action. These hand-made hardwood bicycles are a magnificent mixture of new bike technology and classic Audi styling.

(Source: Autoblog)

Aston Martin and Mobiado have teamed up to make a phone that any driver would love to have. A pioneer in alternative car keys for years, Aston Martin was the first to use push button start. They also created a line of Jaeger-LeCoutre watches which will lock, unlock, and enable the push button start on their cars. Now, a partnership with Mobiado; makers of super high-end cellphones, allowed the automaker to now come out with a phone that acts as car keys. On top of lock, unlock, and start it will interface the car with Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare updating your friends on where your at. Don’t worry it will also make calls and texts too. It wouldn’t be a Mobiado phone without a super over-the-top body, the shell is made out of two platinium bars which hold the battery, SIM card, and the electronic bits. In between the bars sits the transparent touchscreen made out of sapphire crystal. Although still a working prototype, Aston Martin and Mobiado’s project raises an interesting question: Will we even need car keys a few years from now? Making us all feel a little bit more like James Bond.

(Source: Specialized)

It seems that every euro-car company has made their version of a road bike, and now McLaren has stepped up. Partnered with Specialized Bikes these guys worked together to implement the latest and greatest in bike and carbon fiber technologies to create the Venge. Being one of the leaders in the industry, Specialized covered the bike components as you would expect. What McLaren brought to the table was weight saving technology from their racing research. Through a new method of cutting the carbon fiber sheets, McLaren was able to produce a frame that weighs only 2.09 lbs which is 15% lighter than other top road bikes. No word on the cost yet but I’m sure the best in the industry does not come cheap. Not only is it a technical masterpiece but its also beautiful. The black and red frame and smooth lines give the Venge an elegant look.  Who knows maybe they’ll throw in this McLaren Road Bike when you buy a new SLR, that would be cool.

It’s here, the third trailer for the upcoming Five Fast movie. I can’t wait to see this next and supposedly final movie.  Although, there saying it’s the last one something tells me if it does well enough at the box office, we’ll see Vin Diesel and Paul Walker come back for a sixth. A few new things were shown in this trailer including the signature bikini clad girls at crazy midnight street race parties. Just in case you thought they forgot. Also some of new the high profile cars include a LFA and Ford GT. With only 50 days until the movie comes out on April 29th this new Five Fast trailer has got me genuinely excited.

(Source: AOL Autos)

A report from AOL Autos says that it is possible to avoid a traffic ticket with your smartphone. Sahas Katta was ticked for doing 40 in a 25 mph zone but was sure that he was doing the speed limit. So, he checked the app Google MyTracks running on his phone which tracks your route as well as your speed. The app showed he never went over 25 mph where he was ticketed. When Katta went to fight the ticket, it had been discovered that there were problems with the radar gun and the officer had not gone through required radar training recently. Long story short he got out of the ticket. So, if you have an Iphone, Android or other Smartphone, you should definitetly look into running a GPS app to avoid getting a ticket.