Not every product that makes the cut for nomination as Dumbest Product of the Week is completely idiotic in its original intent. Some products are truly trying to solve a problem but get lost on the way to market and never make it back out of the woods. This week’s product is such a product.
The DryBike has both klem met vleugelmoer and verstel knop.
With Hurricane Ike bearing down on Texas, it was fortuitous that the good folks at RocBike.com alerted us to the DryBike system of umbrella attachments for your bike. This product is made for the Dutch market, and their entire website is in Dutch. While I did serve in Suriname (formerly Dutch Guiana) in the Peace Corps, I never got around to learning Dutch so I had to review this product with only pictures. What I can gather is that the DryBike does have klem met vleugelmoer AND verstel knop. I really would hate to have klem met vleugelmoer and not verstel knop.
Now, at first glance this product has a serious Fred factor going for it and not in a cool, ironic way. Fredness (Fredishness? Fredocity?) is not enough to earn our weekly award. That is why you will never see helmet mirrors receive this award. While they do nothing to endear cyclists to fashionistas, mirrors do help you avoid dying which is nearly always out of fashion.
No, the reason the DryBike received our nomination this week is that it looks very dorky while not accomplishing my imagination of its stated purpose translated from Dutch: to keep you dry. I’ve ridden a lot in the rain, and I can’t think of a time when the rain was considerate enough of me to fall directly downward in relation to my forward movement. On the flip side, umbrellas aren’t the best thing to be holding at 15 MPH or more. They either become a huge parachute (only in Mary Poppins, not from the roof of my childhood home) or more likely turn inside out negating their water protecting properties.
AustinBikeBlog's dynamo driven force field will protect you from all of the element.
I’m afraid unless we can come up with some sort of dynamo driven force field, we cyclists are just going to have to face the fact that when it rains, we are going to get wet. While not always the most pleasant experience, getting wet is not fatal or damaging to the human body. Cyclists, though not always apparent, are a hearty bunch. Once you embrace this, your life becomes a lot easier. You simply choose to get wet, put on your best Captain Ahab outfit, or have a cup of coffee and wait for the rain to pass. No need for silly Dutch umbrella holders (verstel knop not withstanding.)
Enjoy your weekend, and get out and ride your bike.
on Sep 12th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I think that this product may have a limited application. Your typical Dutch urban cyclist is cycling very slowly through crowded city streets. Also, because of its position on the North Sea, while it seldom rains hard in the Netherlands, it frequently drizzles. In such a situation this product would, I think, be helpful. But not if one were cycling at any great speed or if it were raining hard.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I can’t say I like it either or see great use for it, whether it’s for slow cycling and/or drizzles or with just the slightest of winds. First thought, however: I’d feel 30 years older.
When you just hold an umbrella in your hand, tilted in the riding direction, you can easily adjust to the ‘feel’ and direction of the wind and save it (and your face) from collapsing (it’s quite an art form
). I also agree is that people should just stop whining about riding in the rain. You get wet. ‘Commuters’ (we don’t know the word) here just basically want to keep the rain out of their face, accept that your pants get either wet or soaked. Occasional heavy pours force some people to wear ponchos or a full extra layer of plastic rain gear. Personally, I just accept the fact that most showers come and go in bursts. I time leaving the house based on my view of the city sky line. Or remind myself what my parents used to say: “So what, it’s not like you were made out of sugar, you’ll dry up again.” I still like that one.
(Ps, I do ride at speeds that even mountain bikers would consider fast while riding through urban Amsterdam, and I can vouch that at least half of cyclists don’t mess about when going from A to B here do too, at least 15 mph, 1- or 3-speed Dutch bikes are perfect for that, upright and all.)
on Dec 24th, 2008 at 10:54 am
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on Jan 9th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
[...] they show the produce being worn by a cyclists recalling a previous Dumbest Product winner, the DryBike. Not content with a quaint Dutch design attaching an umbrella to your bike, the Numbrella is the [...]
on Jan 12th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
It’s funny that I actually can see the utility in almost every one of the “Dumbest Product[s] of the Week” that you present. I definitely also see and agree with most of the points you make about them too. At moderate speed, an umbrella is totally usable though. I’ve even seen my friend Juan use an attached umbrella as a parasol during the blazing sunny summer months in Austin.
I’ve wanted to develop a force field system for a bike too. I’ve conceived of their highest utility coming from biking winding mountain roads or other rural roads where sight lines are limited. Alternative to a force field would be to have a small flying buddy that flies several hundred feet behind to warn approaching motorists of your presence.
I’ve also thought of the “force field” concept to block rain. I have one plausible novel concept, but like any such idea for a contraption, it has the potential to be so cumbersome as to preclude the simplicity of the bicycling experience itself.
on Jan 27th, 2009 at 3:05 am
In China they use a special rain poncho that clips to the handlebars. it seems quite effective even at higher speeds, the e-bike users use them also. some of the models are rather aerodynamically styled.
-dan-
on Jan 29th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
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on Oct 7th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Here´s a fairly interesting alternative
VELTOP
http://www.veltop.eu/index.php?produit_veltop_en
on Sep 26th, 2010 at 3:39 am
Enjoyed reading Dumbest Product comments especially Elliott’s about Dutch “DryBike” umbrella. As a Peace Corp volunteer (from Texas) now serving in Romania, riding daily to work and in need of rain-protection, I ask: Would a bike umbrella design that stores and is bike-structure-supported behind the seat…in lieu of current handlebar types…, has an aerodynamic, non-wind-resisting shape and provides rain and sun protection, be feasible to further develop?