As the WTshow at BIKE EXPO is coming closer we took a look at all kinds of Wearable Technologies cycling products currently available on the market.
WT products celebrated their first great successes in the field of sports. Especially those sports that use specialized equipment and outfitting quickly adapted to the integrated electronic technologies. Cycling is a great example of this. It is an important market for Wearable Technologies, and certainly in Germany where, according to the Society for Consumer Research GfK, cycling is the most regularly practiced sport.
The range of wearable technologies products for cyclists is wide. Popular wearable technologies for cyclists include action cameras, on which we reported in our June newsletter. Since then, another great new camera for cyclists has been released by Maptaq. The company offers an HD camera integrated within a pair of sunglasses.
Wearable technologies that measure heart rate and performance are also beloved by the cycling community. These days, many manufacturers offer solutions customized for the needs of cyclists. Most of these involve a chest-strap and a watch that communicate with a device on the bicycle. These include the CS500+ bicycle computer by Polar, the Bike Pod by Suunto, the Ironman system by Timex , the ROX 9.0 Bike System by SIGMA, the bicycle computer Z3 by VDO cyclecomputing and Garmin’s Edge 800.
The Garmin product listed above stands out because of its integrated navigation system. An attractive innovation for cyclists, navigations systems on the market now include those by TomTom, Falk, o_synce, Oregon Scientific and SatMap. Smartphones with special mountings can be used for this too, but the athletes aren’t all too eager to stuff their handlebars full of technical gear.
Another interesting development along these lines is the head up display. These wirelessly communicate with the cyclist’s data storage device and display the most important data in his/her line of vision. O_synce‘s data4vision cap features a head up display integrated into a cap for runners. Though the technology would also work well for cyclists, it would need to be able to be combined with, or integrated into, a helmet. Recon Instruments, developer of the revolutionary Transced GPS Ski Goggles, is now working on integrating a head up display into sunglasses for cyclists.
Safety is also an important product theme for the cycling community. Nathan offers a luminous vest for cyclists with integrated LEDs that improve visibility in darkness and bad weather. For those cyclists who want the added safety but want a more stylish alternative to the warning vest, designer Angella Mackey offers a chic black coat with integrated LEDs.
Silva offers a variety of headlamps that will particularly appeal to action cycling enthusiasts. Bicygnals’ “Angel” is a cycling helmet with integrated, 360-degree illuminated around the brim. Another illuminated helmet on the market comes courtesy of Seoul Cycle Design Competition winner, Giovanni Doci. The designer’s creation, the “Blink” helmet (link not found), features integrated blinkers to spare cyclists the annoying trouble of repeatedly having to raise an arm to signal turns.
The wearable technologies industry also offers solutions to prepare cyclists for a possible crash. The “personal crash impact sensor” by Bluetooth Innovation World Cup winner Biju Thomas automatically calls for help when a crash occurs. For the safety of notorious helmet haters, design students Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin conceived the “airbag collar”, a neck and head-covering inflatable that opens within seconds of a crash. Those who don’t mind the helmet will still want to be sure they have adequate protection. Though not visible to the naked eye, helmets that have already been in an accident are likely damaged to the point they will be useless in any future crash. The Shok-SpotR™ was created to address just that: The small, calibrated sensor you attach to your helmet warns you of a significant impact to your helmet. When activated, Shok-SpotR™ alerts you to stop using your helmet.
