Bikes are definitely our vehicles of choice for summer time rides. Commuting to the office, stopping by the farmer’s market and escaping to the beach is a breeze by bike. Add a bike basket (we’ve got the Topeak Rear Bicycle Basket, but have been pining for the Carrie Bicycle Basket… ), secure your iced latte in your Origin8 Joe-2-Go Drink Holder (this really is the coolest thing ever and has replaced by jury-rigged old school car cup-holder…) , strap on your bike helmet and you are ready for some serious summer cruisin’!

The PUBLIC C3 by PUBLIC Bikes in powder blue, white or orange $650 (Click to see how to get $50 off!)

The Nevis by Puma in white, black or multi $725

Strida LT Folding Bike by STRiDA in neon green, silver, black or red $599

Cargo Bike by Madsen in powder blue, cream, or black $1,485

Breukelen Bike by Bowery Lane hand-crafted in NYC, sustainable cork grips $645

City Bike 700C by Biria handcrafted in Somerville, MA $500

Roadster Sport by Linus Bikes in green, black or cream $395

Allant by Trek in olive $569.99

Escape City W by Giant in black or light blue $420-$560

Network 7 Hybrid Bike by Schwinn in maroon $269.99

Simple 8 City Bikeby Gary Fisher for Trek or the Escape City W $969.99 or $420-$560

Loring I-Motion 9 Speed by Civia Cycles in green or black $875-$1395

Another cool one from Monocle, the Skeppshult V-Bike £ 750.00. The unisex design also includes a detachable shopping basket, Abus lock, and bell. Available in army green.

Spring is in the air, which means more biking! And of course, one must look stylish while cruising around town. Here are our top 5 picks for chic head gear:

1. Giro Surface Multi-Sport Helmet – $59.95 at Amazon; 2. Yakkay Helmet in Herringbone – $175 at the Bicycle Muse; 3. Sawako Furuno Helmets – $115 at icargobike; 4. Bern Berkeley Summer Helmet – $34.95-$74.95 at Altrec; 5. Nutcase Drippy Bike Helmet – $60 at Amazon.

Who: grove – Portland, Oregon

What: Grove + MapleXO Skateboard iPhone 4 Case

Where: eBay – Bids start at $200, 0-4 are being auctioned off right now. Cases 5-9 will be auctioned off on eBay starting March 8th.

Why We Love It: The colors are just brilliant in each case – hard to decide which color combination is our favorite and just amazed that a polished final product like this was created from beat up old skateboards.

Because of the labor intensiveness of the project, they did a limited run of 50 cases. Each case is meticulously handcrafted in Portland. The colorful ‘plywood’ was assembled by Lindsay Holmes of MapleXO by slicing 300 old skateboards into narrow strips, laying them on their sides, gluing them back together making each case completely unique. Grove then took the material and carved out the cases for the final product.

The first lot sold out fast, there are four up for bid now and four more set to launch on March 8th,so if you’d like to get your hands on this one of a kind case, be sure to get your eBay bid in. 50% of the proceeds from each auction will go to the Oregon Humane Society.

Who: YogaForce – Encinitas, CA

What: YogaForce A-line Yoga Mat

Where: YogaForce – $79

Why We Love It: We are yoga fanatics, we love love love it! And are constantly encouraging friends and husbands (hint, hint) to try it. Often the feedback is that people are too afraid of doing it wrong or don’t think it’s a good enough workout (go ahead and tell that to our aching shoulders…) Well, the Yoga Force A-line mat can certainly help with the former (the latter will be resolved once you try your first class!). The A-line mat has built-in alignment guides to make sure your positioning is on track. This is great for novice and veteran yogis as always good to have a gentle reminder. Click to continue »

Who: Grain Surfboards – York, ME

What: Grain Surfboard Kits

Where: Grain Surfboards – $520-$820, 9 models available in DIY kits

Why We Love ‘Em: Hurricane Earl is on his way, and you know what that means? Surf is up! Great time to get out there (okay, not if you are directly in the eye of the storm and you know how to circumvent a rip tide – just take a breath relax and swim parallel to shore…) and hit the waves. The waves up in York have been awesome and what better way to catch some waves than with a more eco-friendly surfboard. Click to continue »

Who: PUMA & Biomega

What: Nevis Commuter Bike

Where: PUMA – $649; See also the Pico

Why We Love ‘Em: Fall is our favorite season for biking and as always nice to have a little extra storage along in case you happen upon an apple orchard, fresh baked goods or a flea market gem. And now you can do it in complete ‘hipster’ style with this uber hip bike from PUMA, the result of a power collaboration between PUMA and legendary Denmark bike innovators, Biomega.

The PUMA Bike line is designed for urban mobility, durability, drivability and visibility. Where typical front loading carriers throw off the balance of the frame the lightweight integrated front carrier maintains maneuverability thanks to premium design and a lightweight aluminum frame. It is designed so that you can ride in a laid-back style with a reclined seat and cruiser style handling.

And it’s got the looks too. Splashed with bright hyacinth, violet and wild lime as an ode to the vibrant culture of Modern day Africa.

Stay tuned for spring 2011 when PUMA & Biomega releases their latest collaboration – the Mopion Commuter Bike with an extended frame for a super-sized front load cargo hold for serious grocery carting with out the drag. Available in in white, black and a color combination of magenta/blue/lime.

Who: Vanmoof – Amsterdam, The Netherlands

What: Vanmoof No. 3

Where: econscious market – $600 with $24 donated to the charity of your choice.

Why We Love It: This slick bike by Areaware & Vammoof would be the answer to one of our biggest frustrastions – losing our bike lights (literally just replaced my front light for the second time and the rear light for the third, and thinking I’ll give up on it all together before I buy a fourth!) some to the universe and others, unfortunately, to ‘sticky fingers’…. The Vanmoof Bike has a solar powered LED light system built right into the frame which can be charged by sunlight or for cloudier climes, with a micro USB cable used with phone. How cool is that??? Click to continue »

Who: Kaiku – Palo Alto, CA

What: Zen Wagon

Where: Kaiku – $319 w/free shipping

Why We Love It: The little red wagon gets a modern update with this hip design by husband and wife designers Scot and Amy Herbst. The updated design features ergonomically designed seats with a dip in the base for feet making rides to the market and to the playground more enjoyable and making the wagon a viable alternative to a stroller. Just chuck kids and gear in the wagon and you are ready to go. Ideal for beach trips! Click to continue »

Who: Specialty Bottle – Seattle, WA

What: Clear Top Tin Containers

Where: Specialty Bottle -  Round Tins, Square Tins & Rectangular Tins – $0.63 – $1.25/each! (Bulk discounts available too!)

Why We Love It: Ever since reading Time Magazines “The  Perils of Plastics“, and learning more and more about the dangers of the unregulated chemicals and toxins found in plastics – seriously, it’s frightening – we’ve been on a mission to cut down on the amount of plastic in our lives, particularly in the kitchen. We’ve weaned ourselves off of plastic water bottles, plastic baggies, ziplok bags, but the last thing to go has been our plastic tupperware containers. We’ve been using empty salsa and pasta sauce jars for leftover soups, but we just haven’t found a viable or affordable alternative for the rest of  our leftovers. We’ve found a majority of the glass or stainless steel containers run around $10 each, so we’d easily be spending $100 and still not have enough containers to get us through the week… Click to continue »

Who: Monkey Bed – Newton, MA

What: Urban Blanket Bags

Where: Monkey Bed – The Esplanade $135 (see also the smaller Seaside $79) (These bags just went public today, so there may be a few kinks to work out with the online store)

Why We Love It: As fellow Bostonians, we know that when you catch a glimpse of sunshine, you’ve got to get out and take advantage of it. Optimizing that precious park time generally involves cramming water bottles, snacks, frisbees, books, electronics and a bulky blanket into a cumbersome bag so, that by the time you get out the front door, that is if the sun is still out, you look like you are going on a camping trip instead of a casual jaunt to the park… Click to continue »