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Ask HN: Smartphone as a Bike Computer Replacement?
This really surprised me... cyclists will _regularly_ spend $400+ on a cycling "head unit" that is just a dumbed down smartphone to give them turn-by-turn directions, record data from sensors, and work as a HUD.
The only advantage of a head unit is they have an ANT+ radio, which is a superior protocol than BLE for data gathering. Nowadays, nearly every sensor has dual mode BLE/ANT+.
Shimano has ETube Ride, which is about the closest thing I can find to a replacement, but it lacks a critical feature to be able to import a route. It does connect to BLE speed/candence/DI2 transmission however, but does not connect to a BLE heart rate monitor ironically.
Other apps like Strava will do routing, but only connect to BLE HeartRate sensors, and don't connect to speed/cadence/DI2 (electronic bike transmission).
It seems like nobody has the whole package. Am I missing something? Just seems like an obvious hole in the ecosystem a startup should have filled by now.
- warrenm 5y ago"Serious" cyclists already own some kind of mid-to-high-end smartphone (because with billions of smartphones out there, the odds that serious cyclists don't own one are practically nil) They probably already have "nice" bluetooth earbuds/headphones (whether AirPods, AfterShokz, or something else) And they probably have a "good" smartwatch - Apple Watch, Fitbit, Garmin, etc Why would they also buy a "dedicated" cycling device? That makes absolutely no sense to me A bike-countable cell phone holder is under $20 Maybe there's a really good reason to have yet another dedicated device ... but I'm at a loss to figure out what it is :)
- 999900000999 5y agoThose cyclists have tons of disposable income. If these bike computers make things even 10% easier, why not. I have an iPad, it does nothing my iPhone can't do. Still , I use it so much it's more than paid for itself.
- warrenm 5y agoA "dedicated" cycling computer, though, is about the same size as an iPhone Your iPad (even if it's the mini) is notably larger, and really comes-in at a point closer to laptop - but more portable :)
- exabrial 5y agoThat's exactly what I was thinking when I posted this! Honestly if Etube Ride had an "import gpx" feature it'd do nearly everything, and if it could display heartrate it'd be a complete package.