There are more fancy cycling-specific gadgets than you can shake a selfie stick at nowadays, so we’ve cut through the less promising ones and rounded up what we think are some of the most interesting cycling gadgets around right now. From lights and crash sensors aimed at enhancing safety, to body temperature and hydration sensors designed to improve performance… whatever you want or need, there’s probably a gadget for it.
Road cycling can require a significant investment, particularly considering the wide variety of cycling tech you might be lured in to buying. While some of these items listed might remain mere aspirations, others could prove genuinely beneficial.
> Where cycling products go to die: bright bike tech that has failed to catch on
Even if some of these innovations are currently in their infancy and/or very expensive, we’ve picked based on what we think could actually stand the test of time, in its current form or with updates and trickle-down tech in years to come. Do let us know what you think of our suggestions in the comments, of course…
A hydration sensor? Doesn’t your body already have one of those built-in? Flowbio says it’s more complicated than that and the S1 hydration sensor is aimed at those who’d like to wave goodbye to cramps and guesswork about their sweat rates.
The device clips onto your heart rate monitor – and is compatible with most optical monitors, including those worn on your arm – and by analysing a little bit of your sweat, it is said to provide data on your real-time sweat loss.
You get detailed info on your sweat and sodium rates, and Flowbio says the app’s patented algorithms can also predict your hydration needs in upcoming sessions and provide recommendations on what you should be drinking before, during and after each session and race.
Drones have developed from high-tech gimmicks to functional devices, and while this one isn’t perfect (ours suffered significant water damage), it’s a good example of where drones might be going in the future as it doesn’t require a controller.
The HOVERAir X1 is a pocket-sized self-flying camera that can shoot video as you ride. It has a claimed weight of 125g and when folded, it can fit in your pocket or bag so you can take it anywhere.
“Hover X1 comes with a selection of pre-programmed flight paths and you can even customise whether you want to take photos or video clips, as well as adjust the height, distance, and angle,” says the brand. The Follow mode, for example, can track you from the front or back at up to 20km/h (12.5mph), and keep you centred in the frame.
Apple’s Find My technology has found its way into the realm of cycling, and power meters, courtesy of 4iiii. “Find My”, previously “Find My iPhone”, is familiar to many of us, provided by Apple to allow users to locate their Apple devices and friends who have shared their location.
You can now check up on your power meters (and therefore bike) with 4iiii’s Precision 3+ power meter, which has Apple’s Find My technology directly built-in. While this might seem like an odd place to put a tracker, it’s unlikely a thief would think to look for one there, so actually a really smart place to put it. Until the thieves figure it out, anyway…
Measuring the electrical activity of your heart is not a novel concept, but conventional ECGs often require bulky and heavy devices that don’t work well for daily activities and exercise. The Fourth Frontier Frontier X2 Smart Heart Monitor is claimed to be the first heart rate monitor that performs a continuous ECG, or electrocardiogram.
The Frontier X2 will be of most benefit to people who are worried about their heart health, but it could also be useful to any sportsperson to help them understand their heart’s response during training and racing.
An aero sensor or live drag meter such as the ‘Aerosensor’ (above) or the Body Rocket system, claims to measure your CdA (Coefficient of drag) in real-time. It’s tech that has previously been used on planes and F1 cars, but now teams like Lidl-Trek are using it in an attempt to make cyclists faster.
Competitive cyclists often emphasise the importance of aerodynamics but why do we need to focus on it? Drag is, in nearly all cases, by far the biggest force impeding our forward motion.
By integrating data from an ANT+ speed sensor and power meter, along with altitude and wind measurements, the Aerosensor calculates CdA, helping you assess the impact of changes in body position or equipment on aerodynamics, without the need for a wind tunnel.
Recently, Canyon sparked some conversations about the future of cycling helmets with its unreleased lid that throws the conventional helmet straps out the window. The new helmet strap system is called HighBar and it aims to reduce brain injuries with new tech designed to make helmets easy to adjust and wear correctly, the brand says.
It’s a helmet strap system comprising a curved arm on each side of the helmet, connected together by an undetachable strap under the chin. The side arms are integrated into the helmet shell and connected by a retention system that also runs inside the helmet’s internal shell.
How do you get the helmet on, then? Well, the chin bar pivots up to just below the front area for putting the helmet on and off, and once you’re ready to go, you just tighten the ‘bar’ below the chin.
With the humble helmet strap one of the few things in cycling that hasn’t changed much over the last couple of decades, we’re quietly confident this new take on it could make a real impact (on cycling helmet strap designs, not an impact with the ground just so we’re clear), and have applications way beyond road racing.
Gravaa R-40/44 wheels (€4,299/£3,700)
Gravaa KAPS (Kinetic Air Pressure System) technology was first used by Team Visma Lease a Bike during the classics last year, allowing riders to regulate their tyre pressure while riding via a pump that’s integrated into the hubs.
While this might not be useful for everyone, if you’ve ever ridden on cobbles, you’ll know that they can knock you about all over the place. Riders want higher tyre pressures on the tarmac and lower pressures for increased comfort and control across the cobbled sectors, but getting a single set-up that can deliver both hasn’t been possible until very recently.
The Gravaa R-40/44 wheels have been designed in an attempt to solve this, resulting from a partnership with Reserve Wheels and DT Swiss.
Tiny electric pumps are gaining in popularity and they are great thing to have out on a ride as they can easily fit in your back pocket or saddle bag. Numerous offerings are appearing on the market, like this one from Cycplus, as well as brands such as Rockbros.
The Cycplus is compatible with both Presta and Schrader valves and is a pretty simple bit of kit. There’s a battery inside running a pump, and a button on the outside to turn it on, and Cycplus says that you can inflate two tyres up to 100PSI on a single charge.
The Garmin Varia combines a rear light with radar technology, providing an effective early warning for ‘objects’ overtaking. You might initially question its necessity, but the Varia alerts you to approaching objects before you can see or hear them.
Garmin isn’t the only one to sell a product like this. Trek has launched its own CarBack bike radar, warning you of vehicles approaching from behind at a distance of up to 240m, as well as offering a daytime-visible rear light. It’s also identically priced to the Garmin Varia RTL515.
We’ve been reporting on glasses with head-up displays for years – where you get data shown in your field of vision so there’s no need to glance down at a bike computer. They look like regular cycling glasses, yet they offer real-time information in your field of vision, such as how fast you’re going or how far it is to the next cafe.
A good example of how this has become reality is the Engo 2 Sport Smartglasses from Engo Eyewear which work either with its associated app or your Garmin, Apple, Sunnto or Android device.
Will these finally be the smart shades that break through? They certainly look a whole lot better than head-up display glasses of years gone by… anyone recall the Recon Jet?
These days you can measure pretty much any metric while riding, such as heart rate, power, cadence, and glycogen levels. Now, you can measure core body temperature too.
Measuring core body temperature is not a novel concept, but monitoring it continuously typically requires invasive methods such as thermometers, probes and pills, often in a controlled environment.
So, why should you measure core temperature? Just as altitude training stimulates your body to produce more blood cells, heat stress stimulates your body to produce more blood plasma, and with this sensor, you can safely increase the intensity of your sessions in the heat based on how your core temperature is coping.
Crash detection systems can add some peace of mind on solo rides by utilising onboard sensors to detect the impact from a crash, then syncing with a smartphone via Bluetooth to notify emergency contacts.
Specialized’s ANGi is one example of this system. It’s small and unobtrusive and mounts to the back of almost any cycling helmet. If ANGi detects a crash during a ride, the Ride app gives you an incident countdown alert on your phone and an alarm sounds. You have between 15 and 90 seconds to cancel, depending on your app settings, before ANGI alerts your emergency contacts via text and/or email, sending them your most recently uploaded GPS position.
Cycliq’s Fly6 combines a rear light with an integrated video camera, so you can film while you’re riding. Why might you want to film what’s behind you? The inventors came at the idea from a safety angle, and reckon other road users behave differently if they know they’re being filmed.
It’s a neat unit weighing 77g and measuring 71x35x40mm. The Fly6 can record in two settings: FHD (1080p at 30fps) and HD (720p at 60fps), and can capture footage sufficient to see the detail you’d need in the case of an incident.
And that concludes this round-up! We’ll probably check in when we next get our crystal balls out in a few years’ time, but if you can’t wait, you can always check out the last time we did this nearly a decade ago to see if any of the gadgets we touted stood the test of time (spoiler alert: it’s safe to say the Copenhagen wheel e-bike conversion thing pictured above didn’t really catch on, and was discontinued in 2020).
What are your favourite cycling gadgets? Let us know in the comments section below…