DIY

Based on a Wright R-975 Whirlwind radial engine, the Hackel-Wright Chopper is unlike any motorcycle you've seen before. It borrows components from Harley and Toyota and is built by a guy named Al Hackel.

As we noted back in 2018, monowheels are "kind of ridiculous, largely pointless and far from a practical way to get around." So would our minds be changed if crazy builders Make It Extreme swapped out an 1100cc engine for electric drive?

Why carry a bunch of cumbersome tools around with you when one small gadget has everything you need? That's the thinking behind the OmniPro Tool, a pocket-friendly titanium wrench with a multi-tool personality.

A bicycle-towed electric street sweeper may soon be clearing gravel, broken glass, bits of metal and other debris off a bike lane near you. Known as the Bike Lane Sweeper, the device is being trialled at multiple locations in Canada and the US.

If there had been ebikes in Tron, it's possible that they would have looked something like Blue Steel. The futuristic creation boasts hubless wheels, full suspension and a single-sided front swingarm, although it has the soul of an old Schwinn.

For the last couple of years, Omid Sadeghpour has been working on a fold-out solar array for his Tesla Model Y, which he reckons can get him up to 20 miles of range per day without plugging in. Now he's moving to an improved Beta2 version.

Although their advantages over conventional bikes are debatable, hubless-wheel ebikes do look futuristic. Penny farthings, on the other hand, do not. It only makes sense, then, that Christopher Terpstra would combine the two in his penn-E-farthing.

Though still not used in mainstream manufacturing, we've seen bike builders make use of bamboo for a number of years. My Boo tapped bamboo and flax for a cargo ebike back in May, and now the Bamboo Bicycle Club is working on a pedal-assist cargo trike.

The 16-inch version of the customizable, repairable and upgradeable laptop announced by California tech startup Framework back in March has now gone up for pre-order, with Ryzen silicon and Radeon graphics leading the component charge.

Back in 2017, HyVibe launched an Indiegogo for a hybrid acoustic with built-in digital smarts. This was followed by a kit to give such superpowers to any acoustic. Now the company is back with an Essential system that players can install themselves.

Chinese architectural firm Partyfriendship Studio has constructed a unique workshop space using CNC panels, where the individuals can freely design and build their own furniture creations without the need for traditional tools, nails, or adhesives.

Back in early 2021, a Californian startup revealed plans to launch a 13-inch laptop that users could upgrade, repair and customize. Now the company is about to launch the Framework Laptop 16, which will allow users to upgrade discrete graphics.