Tech round up: Hammerhead partners with Suunto, Mycle launches sub £2k cargo e-bike, Schwalbe UK goes carbon natural and DMT unveils Giro D’Italia Shoe

But it’s a broad mix this week with Hammerhead adding yet more functionality to its Karoo 2 head units, while e-bike brand Mycle is launching an cargo model at a significantly lower price point than most. 

Not quite a release although still big news for the brand, Schwalbe UK has now gone carbon neutral - making a grab for the title of most environmentally friendly bike tyre brand. First up though, let's get started with that Hammerhead development.

Hammerhead partners with Suunto to improve training and route building tools

Hammerhead, the tech start up responsible for the Karoo 2 bike computer, has just announced its partnership with Suunto, a Finnish multi-sport smartwatch brand with - crucially - its own digital ecosystem. 

The upshot of this partnership is that Hammerhead users will now be able to sync up their accounts with Suunto’s platform, providing access to training and performance analysis tools and Suunto’s heatmap database.

Users will be able to plot routes based on the popularity of the roads and trails with other riders on the platform - a feature which is an highly useful part of Strava’s own route building tool.

In addition to this update, Hammerhead, Sunnto and Komoot have invited all multisport athletes across the globe to participate in the #SeeTheAdventureAhead Earth Challenge.  

For eligible activities shared to Instagram, Facebook, and/or Komoot between April 22 - May 11, 2022, Hammerhead, Suunto, and Komoot will commit to planting 10,000 trees with the Tree Nation Charity. You can find out more about the initiative here.

Mycle launches sub £2k cargo e-bike

E-bike specialist Mycle has expanded its urban utility range to now include a £1,899 cargo e-bike, opening up the opportunity to further minimise the use of cars for a greater range of people. Most cargo e-bikes come in at a significantly higher price point.

Mycle offers a range of accessories to help riders customise the bike to better suit their particular needs and requirements. There’s the option of a cargo basket for carrying big loads, or seat pads and a caboose for securely carrying kids.

A 250w motor is combined with seven-speed Shimano gearing, while the 15Ah battery give an estimated range of 60km. If you live in a particularly hilly area - or if 60km isn’t far enough for your cargo carrying intentions - there’s the option to double the range to 120km with the installation of a second battery pack.

The availability is listed as “soon” and there'll be a choice of two colours. A low stand over height and the adjustable handlebar means that Mycle reckons one size should fit most. Finishing off the builds are integrated front and rear lights and 3 inch puncture resistant tyres, for cushioning and convenience.  

Schwalbe UK goes carbon natural

Schwalbe is striving to be the most sustainable bicycle tyre manufacturer in the world, starting work with PlanetZero in 2021 to first measure the brand’s operation carbon footprint.

This was calculated to be 70.46tCO2e, and so by purchasing 210tCO2e of verified carbon credits, Schwalbe has rebalanced the organisation’s net greenhouse gas emissions to be carbon neutral for 2021/2022.

The physical results of this is that Schwalbe has now helped protect 28,752 hectares of forest as a habitat for high conservation value species. 

In addition the the PlanetZero initiative, Schwalbe has also invested £136,000 in renewable energy solar panels, over recent years. Together with the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Schwalbe has been able to cut the emissions from its vehicle fleet - of which nearly 50 per cent is now fully electric. 

DMT unveils Giro D’Italia Shoe

In the lead up to the 2022 Giro D’Italia this May, DMT Shoes has released a head turning commemorative shoe to mark the event. Pink and black flashes are offset by silver Boa dials in a stylish combination that manages to be striking, yet not overbearing.

As sponsor to Team UAE Emirates, these limited edition DMT KR0 shoes will be worn by the team through this year’s Giro. 

If you fancy grabbing a set of DMT’s flagship knit road shoes for yourself, there will be a wait until early May before the stock comes in. You can find out more about the shoes at the distributor’s website, chickencyclekit.co.uk.

That's all for this week, we hope you have a great weekend of riding ahead!