We can’t all afford to buy a brand new bike every summer, and most of us probably aren’t as skilled as the guy who made this awesome party bike (he’s from Portland — shocking!). But that doesn’t mean you have to be stuck riding around a lame bike all summer long. Here are ten easy, mostly inexpensive ways you can add some fresh style, comfort and most importantly, fun to your ride.

1. Fresh bar tape

Obviously, your bike is going to need to look cool. Replacing the bar tape or grips is probably the cheapest and easiest way to make this happen. You can find bar tape in pretty much any color you can think of, probably for less than $15. Here’s a good video tutorial on replacing the bar tape on your bike.

2. New pedals

For summer, go with some plastic bmx pedals. They’re cheap ($10 to $30), come in fun colors, and they’re big, so they work well with flip flops — perfect for biking to and from the beach.

3. Upgraded saddle

I could go on and on about the different types of bike saddles, but here’s the bottom line: get a Brooks. They are expensive (around $100), but well worth the investment. It’s like the difference between sitting on La-Z Boy and a pile of rocks.

4. Speakers

Some of the greatest moments of my life involve biking around at 3AM, singing along to horrible Fall Out Boy songs with my friends. If you want to experience the greatness that is biking while jamming, you can buy speakers for your bike for under $30. Or follow this tutorial and make your own solar-powered milk crate bike stereo.

5. Multi-use bottle cage

Summer biking means you’ll need a bottle holder that can handle everything from a fancy water bottle, to a beer can, to a coffee cup, and everything in between. This Bontrager cage has flexible arms and will fit a better variety of shapes than your traditional metal cage. Or there’s also this one, which just holds a flask.

 6. Some sun protection

Avoid unsightly farmer’s tans by buying one of these ridiculous Uber Hood bike umbrellas ($59). Or you could probably make one yourself with an old umbrella and some duct tape.

7. Racks and Baskets

It can get really hot and sweaty riding around with a backpack in the summer. That’s why you should get yourself a bike rack and/or bike basket to haul your stuff around in. You can buy a decent rack for under $25, or fashion one yourself using things around your house. Also, here’s a good video tutorial for a DIY front basket.

8. A bike camera

Take it from me and don’t attempt to Instagram while biking. Instead, get a bike camera ($75 to $100) or camera mount (under $10) to capture those moments you don’t want to forget. Or here’s a way to make a sweet bike cam yourself.

9. A unique helmet

I still remember my dad trying to convince me that wearing a helmet was “cool” by buying me one that was designed to look like a baseball cap (sorry pops, I saw right through that one!). But there are actually some really fun options out there these days. Take this DIY R2D2 helmet, for example.

 10. A reliable lock

If you’re gonna spend all this time/money making your bike awesome, you need to make sure someone else doesn’t ride away with it when you’re not looking. Get a U-lock (OnGuard or Kryptonite brands are both great choices) and give yourself some peace of mind.

10 Ways to Pimp your (Bike) Ride

When we were kids, we loved Terminator 2… but the movie lost a little of its appeal when it started happening for real. When manufacturing robots came out, everyone was like, “oh, great, this giant metal arm can build a lot more cars than my flabby, normal-sized arms.” The People rejoiced…Well, except for the humans who worked on the factory floor, because they were now the obsolete models.

But then came calculating robots, humanoid robots, and dancing robots… how far off before they make robots that roam the streets taking the lives of anyone unlucky enough to be out after curfew… Then we’ll long for the days when the only thing the robots took were our jobs!

So, we invoke the old adage, “if you can’t beat them, buy an early model and program it to protect you against its mechanized brethren.” (Shakespeare said that.)

And that’s why we’re featuring the latest robot design from one of our favorite toy designers SkyNet WowWee. Their RoboMe promises to be a popular toy this holiday season, with technology so advanced, it makes Tickle Me Elmo seem like an abacus.

For starters, it connects to your iPhone or iPod Touch (the website uses the word “fusion,” which doesn’t help our accusations that they’re creating killer robots). This unholy union gives the RoboMe capabilities other toy androids can only dream about, along with electric sheep. With the iDevice as its head, it gives users the option of customizing the face displayed on the screen… keeping in mind it might just be the last thing you ever see.

The added functionality also lets you choose a personality for the RoboMe… meaning you get to choose what facial expressions it makes, what it does with its body, and even what it says. For example, you can make it dance after it shakes hands, or you can make it run away when you shout, “John Connor’s coming!”

And talk about self-aware, RoboMe’s extensive sensor network lets it navigate a room without bumping into everything. It’s more graceful than our clumsy human sister! And if you want it to bump into things (because you’re less into a robot-butler and more into a robot-slave), you can always override his free will with the included remote control.

But our favorite gizmo our future master offers is its telepresence. If you have access to a second iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, you can connect to RoboMe to see and hear what it does – and still command it. We’re talking actual avatar/spy tech/nanny cam technology here!

This is one gadget that everyone’s going to want this year! The only technology it doesn’t have is the ability to time-travel… not yet, anyway…

Shut Up and Take My Money: WowWee RoboMe