My favorite biking gear I’ve tested this year, from locks to helmets and more
At Electrek, we cover plenty of new electric cars and other EVs as part of an overarching goal of shifting transportation towards a more sustainable future. But it’s important to keep in mind that electric cars aren’t the only answer – sometimes a vehicle much smaller than a car is an even better tool for the job.
But to use that tool to its fullest, it can help to have a few other tools along the way. As someone who gets around almost entirely on two-wheels, here’s my list of the coolest gear I’ve tested on my e-bikes so far this year.
As a point of housekeeping, let me note that some of this gear was purchased and some was given to my by companies hoping I’d say something nice about their product. Throughout the year several things show up on my desk that never make it to these lists because frankly they aren’t good enough. So in summary, if I say I bought something here, I bought it. Anything else was given to me as a media sample and was truly good enough for me to want to honestly write about it.
Woowind electric bike pump
I’ve used a few electric pumps over the years, but this is one I bought a few months ago to have as a spare and I’ve been super happy with it.
It claims to go up to 120 PSI, though I never run my tires that high so I’ve only used it up to around 40 PSI. But I can confirm that the battery lasts a long time, it feels well made with an aluminum case, and it’s even bright red so it doesn’t get lost in a pile of black bike gear.
I’ve never actually run it empty, but I tend to charge it every ten uses or so and it’s never made me feel like it was about to run out of battery.
It came with a bunch of attachments I’ve since lost, but I only ever use the Schraeder valve anyway so I don’t worry too much about the Presta adapter or the sports-ball tips.
At $42, it’s not cheap. But it’s also infinitely nicer than using a manual hand pump. And as a bonus, its battery lasts long enough that you can use it to top up car and motorcycle tires too!
Cycplus mini electric pump
While the pump above is great for having a larger battery, the Cycplus mini electric pump is incredible for being so tiny. I can literally carry it around in my pocket and forget that it’s there. As an emergency pump to carry on your bike, you’ll never notice the few extra grams and it won’t take up much space in your limited on-bike storage.
It gets quite hot while you use it, but it has a silicone condom thing for it that I assume is there to prevent you from burning your fingers. It also probably helps protect the unit in case you drop it.
The main downsides are that there’s no screen to let you know how much pressure you’re at, and the small pump only has enough battery for two tires. But I can just pinch the tire to get a feel for pressure (this is more of an emergency pump anyway) and two tires is exactly how many tires I have on my bike, so it’s perfect!
It’s a bit pricey at $89. But like many things, the best pump is the one you have with you. And a pump this tiny is easy to bring it along.
XNITO helmet
I’ve tested a lot of helmets over the years, but the XNITO helmet impressed me as one that is quite comfortable while still feeling like it gives me good wraparound protection.
It doesn’t look like a big egg on my head, it doesn’t feel too nerdy and it doesn’t look like I’m qualifying for the olympic cycling team. It just looks like a nice urban helmet, which is what I’m going for.
The quick-release clasp is also great for one handed removal, and it’s hard to go back to a normal two-handed buckle systems when I’m not wearing the XNITO.
The integrated front and rear LED lights are key, and it they’re especially important if you’re on a bike, scooter or skateboard that doesn’t already have integrated lighting. But even on my e-bikes that do have lights, I like knowing I’ve got one more bright red light up high to make me extra visible to distracted car drivers coming up on my six.
The forward-facing light isn’t really bright enough to light up your way like a headlamp, but it’s perfect for being seen. When you roll up to an intersection, drivers will definitely see your bright white spot on top of your forehead.
For $120, I’d have loved to see a MIPS safety lining, but otherwise I’m very happy with this helmet. It looks good, feels good, works well – what’s not to like?!
Foldylock Forever
I know this is going to be a bold statement, but I think I’ve found the best folding lock in the world. The Forever from Foldylock is a veritable BEAST of a lock. I used to think ABUS was the name to beat for folding locks, but having tried both theirs and Foldylock’s, the Foldylock Forever is definitely top of its class.
Its link joints are so tight that there’s no room to get a tool in anywhere. Its pivot where the lock connects back into its housing actually wraps around 360 for the most freedom when locking, unlike other leading brands that only bend up around 90 degrees. It’s also weirdly quiet. I’m used to the many links in a folding lock resulting in lots of rattling. But the Forever has such tight tolerances that it doesn’t move around or rattle. Even the bike holder keeps it secure from moving and making noise.
The only bummer is its a bit short at just 90cm, though the company is apparently going to be releasing a longer version soon, which I’ll probably want to upgrade to.
For just over $100, it’s not even that expensive compared to most high-security bike locks. And ever since I had a $3,000 e-bike stolen, I’ve rethought just how much it’s worth it to buy high quality locks.
Folding bike travel bag
I recently bought a CamGo travel bag for a 16″ folding bike that I wanted to bring with me on an international flight. I didn’t want to pay extra for “sports equipment” or have an oversize bag fee, so I was looking for a folding bike bag that didn’t look very bike-ish. This one was perfect.
And at $26, you can’t beat the price.
The bag has absolutely zero protection built into it, unlike other big bike travel bags I’ve tested, and so just be sure to toss a bunch of styrofoam or other protection around the bike. I saved a few styrofoam sheets from the last e-bike box I opened. Even some sheets of cardboard from some amazon boxes will at least spread out the impact from any big bumps along the way.
It’s not a fancy bag, but for a cheap price it worked great!
JackRabbit travel bag
This travel bag is very specific since it will only fit the JackRabbit micro e-bike, but their Air Land Sea travel bag is a pretty awesome addition to their bike.
I used it on a trip that covered around 5 or 6 cities by plane, and it meant I always had a small yet capable little e-bike (technically scooter) to ride around.
It has some minimal protective plates built in, and the fact that the bag is specifically designed for that bike means they can put the protection in only the places where it’s needed. That makes the bag super small and lightweight, yet effective.
I was even able to put a week’s worth of laundry in the bag at the end of the trip, which helped serve as even more padding around the bike.
Dynaplug tubeless repair tool
Last year I was surprised to see this Dynaplug tool show up in my mailbox. It’s a nifty little repair kit for tubeless tires.
It’s about the size of a space pen, which itself is around half the size of a typical ballpoint pen. Basically, it’s tiny.
The only problem is that I’m not fancy enough to own any tubeless bikes. So I gave it to a lycra friend of mine and forgot all about it. Fast forward nearly a year or so and I received this text message from him recently:
Hey, so a while back you gave me a tire plug in a small stainless steel pen shaped tube. On my way home this evening I’m barreling down the trail, pssssssss, tire sealant goes everywhere…I have one hand stopping the air from coming out of the tire, the other hand reaches to the bottom of my saddle bag, as if placed by an angel from heaven your tire plug contraption falls out as I am fumbling around to see what’s in the bag. I untwist the sucker with my mouth, stab the it into the hole in the tire, pull it out aaand I hear the trees swaying into the wind, the train rattle by and my tire sealed.
I guess it works pretty well.
CyMoto GPS locator
Airtags are nice for a bit of peace of mind if your bike gets stolen, but they have their limitations. For true pinpoint accuracy of location regardless of whether or not there are iPhone users nearby, you want a real GPS location device. And that’s exactly what the Cycloop is.
It’s a bit bulky, but it’s designed to be tamper-resistant as it attaches onto your bike’s frame to give you a GPS tracker that works directly from your phone.
The downside is you have to pay for the service ($49 per year on top of the $99 device price), but if you’ve got a several thousand dollar e-bike then that might not sound too bad.
A neat little added bonus is that it has LED lighting built into the unit to give you a little more visibility when riding at night.
More to come!
If there’s one thing I love more than riding e-bikes, it’s testing gear to go along with them.
Actually, that’s not true. I don’t know why I said that. The riding is the best part.
But gear is fun too. And I’m exciting to keep exploring to find the next batch of cool bits and pieces that I’ll be carrying with me in the future.
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The French are saying “non, merci” to Tesla, as sales crashed to just 700 units in May – a level not seen in more than three years.
The Model Y changeover was clearly not the problem.
Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that the company has “no demand problem” and that even though Europe is its weakest market, “everyone is struggling in Europe, there’s no exception.”
We have already produced a report to demonstrate that this is not true, but we are now receiving more data from May, which highlights Tesla’s growing problems in Europe.
France has just released its car registration data for May, confirming that the auto market is down 12%. However, Tesla’s sales were down even more than the rest of the market.
Tesla delivered only 721 vehicles in France in May – down 67% compared to the same period last year.
In Q1, Tesla blamed its poor performance on the lack of Model Y availability due to the design changeover, but it doesn’t have this excuse in Q2, which is now tracking below Q1 in Europe.
May was Tesla’s worst month of deliveries it has had in the last three years. It’s also even worse than any month of deliveries in the first quarter, despite the new Model Y now being in full production in Gigafactory Berlin and available in France.
Electrek’s Take
I’ll write a more comprehensive post about Tesla’s sales in Europe once we have data from more countries in May, but it’s not looking good.
Tesla blamed its terrible performance in Q1 on the Model Y changeover, but we are past that in Q2. Yet, April was worse than January, and now, it looks like May is going to be below February in the whole of Europe.
The only positive market so far is Norway, and that’s probably due to some of its large existing base of owners in the country updating to the new Model Y, but it will be interesting to see if it’s sustainable through out the rest of the year. I doubt it. Tesla benefited from the Model Y changeover, but I expect the brand damage will also be felt in the popular EV market.
This result in France in May is particularly interesting because it is even worse than April. I literally have to go back to Q2 2022 to find a quarter when Tesla had a worse second month of a quarter in France.
It is starting to look like demand collapse.
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Tesla still has no plan to make things right for millions of car owners with its ‘HW3’ system, more than four months after it finally admitted that the hardware won’t support self-driving.
At this point, the automaker is just hoping they buy new cars.
We are approaching the 10th anniversary of Tesla’s promise and sale of self-driving capability that still doesn’t exist.
The Tesla FSD Timeline
In 2016, Tesla announced that all vehicles produced thereafter would become capable of “Full Self-Driving” with future software updates.
At that time, Tesla was producing its vehicles with a new self-driving hardware suite called “HW2.5” – consisting of cameras, a radar, and a self-driving computer.
CEO Elon Musk warned at the time that the system might need an eventual computer upgrade to achieve full self-driving capability, which he said Tesla would provide for free.
In March 2019, Tesla began building cars with a new “HW3” computer and started upgrading HW2.5 cars to the new system.
In early 2023, Tesla still hadn’t delivered on its self-driving promises, but it started producing new cars with a new HW4 suite, which included a much more powerful computer and new cameras.
At the time, the automaker claimed that this new hardware suite would just enable Tesla to push self-driving capabilities further and that HW3 vehicles would still achieve “unsupervised self-driving capabilities” with upcoming software updates.
Tesla HW3 reaching its limit
A year later, we started to report that Tesla appeared to be reaching the limits of the HW3 computer.
It took almost another year before Musk finally admitted that HW3 will not be able to support full self-driving capabilities and that Tesla will need to upgrade the computers.
Musk said on January 29th:
I mean, I think the honest answer is that we’re going to have to upgrade people’s Hardware 3 computer for those that have bought full self-driving, and that is the honest answer and that’s going to be painful and difficult but we’ll get it done. Now I’m kind of glad that not that many people bought the FSD package.
We are now more than four months after this statement, and Tesla has yet to reveal a plan to make things right for HW3 owners, some of whom paid up to $15,000 for the FSD package, and some purchased it as long as nine years ago.
As we previously reported, the HW4 computer, as it exists, can’t be installed in HW3 vehicles. It doesn’t have the same camera connectors and overall format.
Tesla has previously talked about a new HW5 computer to be used in the Cybercab unveiled in October 2024, but it’s unclear if that new computer will be able to be retrofitted inside HW3 vehicles.
Electrek’s Take
I think that if Tesla had deployed FSD without selling it as “full self-driving” and promising capabilities, it would be a celebrated leading ADAS system.
Instead, it’s becoming one of the most significant liabilities ever.
Tesla has delivered millions of vehicles with HW3, which it said would all be capable of self-driving, and hundreds of thousands of those vehicle owners bought the FSD package.
Musk claims that Tesla only needs to replace the computers in the vehicles of those who bought FSD. That’s not true as Tesla promised that all vehicles delivered since 2016 would be capable of achieving full self-driving, and now that this is not true, it negatively affects the value.
Either way, even for those who bought FSD, Tesla has no plan for the retrofit yet. It’s a mess.
There are already several lawsuits related to Tesla’s self-driving claims that now include this situation with HW3, in addition to lawsuits specifically about the issue.
I think we are going to see billions of dollars in settlements over this, but it is going to take years. In the meantime, I doubt we can count on Tesla to do the right thing.
HW3 vehicles are barely getting any FSD updates now, and the current version is light years away from what was promised: unsupervised self-driving. Making things right should be Tesla’s top priority, but instead, Tesla is shifting its focus from delivering its promised capabilities in consumer vehicles to an internal fleet providing a ride-hailing service in a geo-fenced area with teleoperation support.
At this point, it is becoming ridiculous to believe that Tesla will deliver self-driving capabilities in almost 10-year-old vehicles, with or without hardware retrofit. It appears that Tesla is hoping that HW3 owners will change vehicles.
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Zhengzhou Nissan has launched a new, plug-in pickup in the Chinese market called the Z9. It’s the same size as the Nissan Frontier Pro, offers over 35 miles of all-electric range, and pricing starts at just $16,600.
* in China.
Positioned as the electrified sibling of the domestically-built Nissan Frontier Pro, the Zhengzhou Nissan Z9 is essentially a Chinese-market version the Frontier Pro, and it’s spec’ed and priced accordingly, with the as-yet undisclosed price of the Frontier Pro expected to come in a bit higher than the Z9.
That’s less interesting. What’s more interesting is that the Z9 offers 35 miles (60 km) of range on the base, 17 kWh battery, at a price that significantly undercuts even the Slate EV’s $28,000 pre-$7,500 incentive price tag – and that incentive is far from a sure thing.
What’s more, if you feel like spending a bit more, you can get a Zhengzhou Nissan Z9 equipped with a 32.85 kWh battery that’s good for almost 85 miles (135 km) of all-electric range. And even that extended-range model, at ¥168,900 (about $23,400) is still price-competitive with the Jeff Bezos-backed Slate EV.
In short, it’s bound to be a winner.
It’ll sell, but it won’t sell here
With excitement surrounding the Kia Tasman, Slate, and other, similarly affordable light-duty pickups building on the success of the Ford Maverick hybrid, it should come as no surprise that Nissan has international ambitions for its newest electrified pickup.
“In alignment with our ‘In China, For China, Toward the World’ strategy for electrification and smart transformation, Nissan will fully support ZNA’s ‘off-road strategy,’” explained Stephen Ma, Chairman of Nissan (China) Management Committee and President of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. “We are working to strengthen our research and manufacturing capabilities, further advancing our presence in the core markets of pickups and off-road vehicles, with the ultimate goal of achieving global expansion.”
It’s exciting stuff, but with all the recent troubles it’s been experiencing, it’s doubtful that Nissan will bring either of its new, Chinese-built mid-size pickups to the US (electrified or otherwise).
“The mission of the new generation of Chinese automotive professionals is clear – to ensure that made-in-China cars are driven across the world. ZNA will utilize its dual-brand and dual-channel advantages to expand its global footprint,” Mr. Mao Limin, Executive Vice President of ZNA, at the Z9’s launch. “We aim to be one of the top exporters of pickups within three years and to reach a sales milestone of 100,000 units.”
That said, Nissan Hardbody fans shouldn’t lose hope quite yet. If Nissan is able to find a new savior in Toyota, a Taco-based BEV pickup with a new LEAF/Ariya-type front fascia might make more sense than you think.
Electrek’s Take
I’ve already written out my own comeback plans for Nissan, and this new Chinese truck doesn’t really fit into them. Like many of you, I’m of the belief that a PHEV isn’t an EV – but I do see their value as “lilypad” cars, and the two Lightning owners I know? Their last F-150s were hybrids.
SOURCES: Zhengzhou Nissan; side-by-side image via Carscoops.
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