Most exciting cycling technology and riding technique
Coverage of the buyer Electronics Show often focuses on new TVs, Internet of Things gadgets, and a special kind of two-wheeled vehicle. except for the cyclists in Las Vegas in the week or keeping tabs on the CES news from afar, there are some techy developments that are bound to intrigue. Take a glance below at what’s grabbed our attention and what these products could mean for the longer term of cycling. Learn more b icycle rider knowledge Colorado-based Leomo is getting to help cyclists and runners improve their form with its Type-S. The kit comes with a central unit, which you mount on the handlebar, and two motion sensors. Photos on the page for Leomo’s successfully funded Kickstarter campaign show them attached to the front of a cyclist’s thighs. From there, the sensors take readings on pedaling smoothness,
what proportion your heels move up and down, what proportion your thighs move up and down, and pelvic angle, rock, and rotation.
The device then gives you real-time feedback on the central unit’s three-inch display (which, as a bonus, can function as your daily phone because of a SIM card and Android OS). I hope my readers are familiar with the phenomenon of s pecialized fat bikes. If not, then in a nutshell – this bike is by no means for fat people But propriety can mean various things for various riders; one cycling writer found that, by initially trying to correct his pedal stroke on his own supported feedback from the Type-S, he tousled his back and knee. So a be-all, end-all, the Type-S likely isn’t. Yet
the biomechanics info it provides is effective and will be beneficial when evaluated by a knowledgeable trainer (something Leomo offers as well). The two-sensor version is out there now for $449, but the Type-S Pro with five sensors will run you $799. Withings has made its name on fitness trackers that don’t appear as if fitness trackers. And in the week it debuted the ScanWatch, which isn’t different therein regard. But within the announcement, company CEO Mathieu Letombe called it a medical tracker—the brand claims it’s the primary watch with ECG and apnea detection. When the ScanWatch detects an irregular heartbeat, it’ll let the wearer know via a notification on the screen within the larger dial. Then the wearer can perform an ECG through the watch’s three built-in electrodes. to measure possible apnea , the ScanWatch measures oxygen levels in blood vessels—by passing light through them with a fanatical sensor—noting once they dip thanks to a possible interruption in breathing.
And in any case that's activity and workout tracking, delivers smartphone notifications, and measures VO2 Max. Now, that’s tons of functionality to vow , and therefore the ScanWatch remains pending FDA approval, but Withings expects to start out selling in Q2 for $249. If it lives up to the claims, the watch might be a useful all-around timepiece.
RealDesignTech’s UR2A-Va Ult Racer gives us a glimpse of where virtual cycling might be headed. This device, touting both hardware (rollers) and software (a virtual cycling platform) attempts to tackle one among the most important problems with riding inside: Your bike must be fixed in situ. Trainer manufacturers have attempted to make a more natural ride feel by building some
side-to-side movement into their trainers, and a few rollers or trainer platforms even rock forward and back. But without forwarding momentum, it’s still a reasonably unnatural riding experience. Rollers allow more freedom to maneuver within the most natural way possible without actually going anywhere, but they require an honest amount of skill to use effectively. The UR2A-Va Ultiracer system utilizes a modified roller with vertical support that holds your bike in situ (by attaching to the highest and down tubes) while allowing you to steer left and right also as lean the bike from side to side. It’s promising because anyone who can pedal can hop on and safely ride on this device. What’s unclear is whether or not or not these rollers are going to be compatible with third-party platforms. For the nonce, cyclists will need to make do with Ultiracer’s proprietary one, which, rather than attempting to recreate world courses during a digital environment, looks more like an Atari computer game powered by your pedaling. The worth and launch date are still TBD.