Bicycles

BP100 tracks rides and keeps tabs on bikes, no phoney help required

BP100 tracks rides and keeps tabs on bikes, no phoney help required
The WI-MM BP100 – that's it, beneath the bottle cage on the down tube
The WI-MM BP100 – that's it, beneath the bottle cage on the down tube
View 4 Images
The WI-MM BP100 – that's it, beneath the bottle cage on the down tube
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The WI-MM BP100 – that's it, beneath the bottle cage on the down tube
The BP100 is available now in black or grey, for US$199
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The BP100 is available now in black or grey, for US$199
Because the BP100's data is uploaded in real time, people such as managers of bicycle-sharing services can also continuously track the current locations of all their bikes
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Because the BP100's data is uploaded in real time, people such as managers of bicycle-sharing services can also continuously track the current locations of all their bikes
All the BP100's data can be accessed using an accompanying free app, or a web portal
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All the BP100's data can be accessed using an accompanying free app, or a web portal
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There are already a number of devices that allow cyclists to do things such as tracking their rides. Most of those products, however, must be paired with an accompanying smartphone that's taken along for the ride. By contrast, WI-MM's GPS- and Wi-Fi-equipped BP100 works all on its own, and stays on the bike full-time.

The waterproof BP100 mounts on the frame's water bottle cage bosses, while still allowing a cage to be mounted on top of it. One charge of its battery should be good for about 10 hours of use.

Although it can communicate with a phone via Bluetooth for added functionality, it also has its own Verizon cellular modem. Among other things, this allows it to access online maps of the local area, upon which it can plot the routes ridden by the cyclist. Those ride maps are augmented with analytics including the riding speed at any one location, calories burned, and total distance travelled.

All the data can be accessed using an accompanying free app, or a web portal. Because the data is uploaded in real time, people such as managers of bicycle-sharing services can also continuously track the current locations of all their bikes.

The BP100 is available now in black or grey, for US$199
The BP100 is available now in black or grey, for US$199

Additionally, if the bike is stolen, the device will transmit its present location to the user's phone – of course, the thief might just remove the BP100 when stealing the bike. Another one of its antitheft measures is an audible alarm that's triggered by a built-in motion detector if the bicycle is moved while left unattended. That motion detector also automatically turns the BP100 on when a ride starts, and turns it off when it's over.

Finally, if a sudden accident-like movement is detected during a ride, the device can automatically send out emergency notifications to people preselected by the user. In that way, it's not unlike ICEdot's Crash Sensor.

The BP100 is available now in black or grey, for US$199. The cellular charge is $4.99 per month.

Source: WI-MM

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2 comments
2 comments
Bob Flint
So "probably" lasting 10 hours may cover a large market, but that still means;
1. Having to be able to easily remove to charge every day.(proprietary tools)otherwise theft is far too easy.
2. $200 bucks + $5 bucks a month + User may not always have full cell coverage.
3. 3 seconds, & little tin foil & a handful of mud will block the signal, & audio alarm...
D[]
This is actually affordable (While I won't be getting one plenty of cyclists routinely drop a few hundred bucks for junk of less value than this). A proprietary locking screw would not be unreasonable. Higher end bikes are often kept in the home or garage anyway so could be charged on the bike.
I wish someone would just develop a similar but fully integrated system that was part of the bike frame and not easily removed or hidden within the tubing/stem/post so that a thief would not recognize its presence.
But, if it fully tracks speed, distance, mapping, etc., and then downloads once home that would be awesome. Could limit the size of the computer on the handlebars to just time and speed.