Gear: Accessories and tech devices for your workout

There’s a new entry in the “quantified self” arena: A device that measures your muscle.

Safer — and faster?

Camera shutters clicked. Techno music throbbed.

Nothing’s scarier than being invisible on a bike, and that can happen too often with the sun still setting before 6 p.m.

The L.A.

Wheeled devices can turn a workout into an exhilarating ride. Some of the latest include Sk8pole, Fliker Free Style Rider, Kimatek SkiMotion and Inventist Orbitwheel.

Power Press, Halo Balance Bell, GoFit Plyobox and Core Stix help build strength through full-body workouts.

From the Swingtip golf coach to Pivothead sunglasses that take photos and shoot video, the coolest new athletic technology. One for you, one for a gift.

For the last five years, this column has avoided covering one of the hottest youth-culture urban crazes in the bike world: the fixie — a minimalist, single-speed bike with a fixed gear and no brakes.

Nothing would seem to be more “green” than exercise, which gives off sweat and smell but not pollution.

Ever since two Ohio bike shop owners named Wright changed the world, tinkerers have been using the bicycle as a launching pad for new ideas.

In bike racing and triathlons, aerodynamics can become an obsession.

Sure, you’re fit. But are you functionally fit?

Fitness stores sell a variety of spinal decompression/traction devices -- inversion tables and ankle boots that hang you upside down and stretch out your back -- on the promise that they help relieve back pain, enhance general back fitness, provide deep relaxation and maybe even slow age-related height shrinkage.

Five years ago, a serious man named Pavel Tsatsouline, a lean, muscular Russian who listed his former occupation as a physical trainer for Soviet special forces (which I assumed meant KGB), took me through a workout with an odd, low-tech device I’d never seen before called a kettlebell, a dense cast-iron weight, with a handle, that looks like a solid tea pot.

Reviewed: Birdy II Monocoque, SwissBike XO, Dahon Mu Uno, Abio Penza

Reviewed: Hoopalicious Storm Hooper, Hoopnotica Fitness TravelHoop, the Original Hula Hoop by Wham-O, Canyon Weighted Hula Hoop.

The 24 Hours of Adrenalin Solo World Championship is often a grueling showcase for the world’s toughest bikes and riders, but the July event in Canmore, Canada, was something special.

When times get tough, people go hiking.

Reviewed: RealRyder ABF8, StarTrac eSpinner, CycleOps Pro 300PT, Keiser M3

“I can’t do that,” said the 36-year-old woman to my right as I leaned down and touched my toes in a yoga class.

Big, burly bodybuilders generally don’t do them. Neither do little old blue-haired ladies.

Review tests Hobie Mirage Revolution, C4 Holoholo SUP, Ocean Kayak Peekaboo and ULI inflatable stand-up paddle board.

Reviewed: Innova Valkyrie golf disc; Hyperflite Jawz dog disc; Aerobie Pro, the Astonishing Flying Ring; Wham-O Frisbee Pro-Classic

Buying an expensive, all-body elliptical machine -- even cutting-edge models that push the technology envelope like the novel sit-down and multi-mode models tested here -- might seem a bit counterintuitive in the midst of tough economic times.

Reviewed: Zoot Ultra Race running shoes, Oomph!

Surf or go snowboarding on the street with the Big Stick, Carveboard, Flowboard and Wave.

“How to get the kids off the computer?”

Reviews of Body Bugg armband sensor, Coheso CalorieSmart calorie counter, Timex Ironman Triathlon and New Balance VIA Motion activity monitor.

Reviewed: Giant Defy/Avail Advanced 1, Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL 2, Calfee design bamboo bike, Trek 1.2

Reviewed: BOB Ibex trailer, Ortlieb Back-Roller pannier, Old Man Mountain Cold Springs rack, Arkel OverDesigns handlebar bag.

Reviews of Inov-8 Race Pro 18, Osprey Atmos 35, Gregory Z-30 and High Sierra Sentinel 65.

What to buy the biker/runner/swimmer/backpacker/kayaker/skier who already has all the sport-specific toys he/she will ever need?

Do Lowa Jannu Mid, Scarpa Zen, Five Ten Camp 4 and Oboz Yellowstone stand up to the hiker’s challenge?

These four light mountain bikes will go the extra inch or two

Reviewed: Workout 180, the Woggler, Bosu 3D Body Sculpting, TP Stability Pods.

Go on vacation and come back in better shape than when you left?

Mild weather might make Southern California one of the best places in the country for winter cycling, but the short days and the occasional monsoon blowing in from Alaska mean you still need an indoor trainer.

Innovative and functional, these weights inject some fun into strength training.

Love monitoring your heart rate, but hate wearing the tight, uncomfortable transmitter chest strap?

Brands experiment with shock absorbers that don’t compress and harden over time.