A Smart Pedal that Tracks Activity And Protects your Bike
Once in a while, I come across fitness gadget ideas which are truly awesome. The smart pedal from Connected Cycle is one of them, and if it works as promised, I think it should be on every bike out there as standard equipment.
So you haven’t heard about the high-tech smart-pedal? Not to worry – you’ll get all the info you need right here.
The product is invented by the French guys Christian Kravanja and the designer Jean-Louis Frechin, who established Connected Cycle in 2013. They managed to get the funding they needed through Indiegogo after huge interest in the product. Watch the interview with the designer further down.
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They probably thought: Why not have a permanently attached bike GPS tracker on your bike with the possibility to protect your bike at the same time? I’ll come back to the protection part further down. And why not make it as a part that can easily be installed on both new and existing bikes?
The pedal was the design choice, and it can transform even your old bike to be a smart-bike.
Smart Pedal Design
The Connected Cycle pedal is nicely designed with aluminum casing and comes in five different colors – black, red, green, yellow and blue. It’s not really much else to say, but it looks like a cooler version of an ordinary pedal. On the front and back are reflectors.
Connected Cycle Smart Pedals
They claim that it is easy to mount on your bike, and no mechanical skills are needed. If you are a cyclist, you have probably changed out pedals once in a while before anyway. You need a special key to remove it again, so it’s not an easy task to just remove it for thieves.
It looks like they have thought of everything.
The gadget never needs to be charged since it produces its own energy, probably with some kind of dynamo-technology.
Bike GPS Tracker Features
The activity tracker constantly tracks your speed, route, distance, calories burned, terrain incline with its internal sensors. Since it is a pedal, it can record cadence too, which you normally need special sensory devices for if you are used to wearing sports watches during cycling. Cadence is how many revolutions the crank does in a minute.
With built-in GPS tracker, you can easily keep track of where you have parked your bike, which is a cool feature in itself. The gadget utilizes its own SIM card to stay online and upload the data to a cloud. There is no need to actually bring a smart-phone or other activity trackers with you when riding your bike, and the data will be synced even if your phone is elsewhere.
The fitness tracker statistics are available via Connected Cycle app on smart phones and tablets.
Connected Cycle App
Theft Protection
As mentioned above the pedal can be used to protect your bike, which I think is pretty great. Where I live stolen bikes are a huge problem, and probably where you live too. If your bike is stolen and moved you will get notified on your smartphone right away, and you will even be able to see where your bike is located and how much time it takes to get to it.
A Couple of Cool Videos
Here’s an interview with the designer:
Also, check out this video from CNET called ‘Connected Cycle is like a fitness tracker for your bike‘ where the pedal is presented at CES 2015.
Conclusion and Price
The clever idea and simplicity of the product appeal to me. Even if you are a private person or managing a whole fleet of bicycles in a town, this product will keep your bike safe and track how much distance the bike has covered. The smart pedals are at the moment only available to pre-order on Indiegogo, so go and take a look there.
Also, remember to check out my list with 25 Cool Bike Gadgets.
If you have any first thoughts on the idea, have any questions or concerns, please leave a comment below.
The smart pedal is a great idea. And the price seems fair for all that it does, it seems they have thought of everything. I currently am unable to purchase one, but will surely keep it in mind when I am able to afford it. I enjoy riding my bicycle and this would be a great additional feature to have.
Thanks for the comment Dave. I haven’t been able to try the product myself yet, but I’m looking forward to give it a go. 🙂 This smart pedal is such a great idea.
Wow! This is an awesome idea! I ride my bike to the gym practically every day and I always fear that someone is going to decide they want it more than I do while I’m working out. It’s not very difficult to cut a cheap lock. The extra security on my bike would be nice! And those pedals look like they are top of the line when it comes to durability!
Thanks for the recommendation! I had no idea these existed!
Hi, Jay! I ride my bike a lot too and never feel that locks are secure enough. With the possibility to get alerted and track down where my bike is on my phone might give me more peace of mind. I agree with you that the pedal look like they are built with durability in mind.
Whoa! Are you kidding me? This is pretty sick. So it tracks how many miles? So then you can set goals and it would be cool to see how many miles exactly. It would be cool if the pedals played music and massaged your toes ahha that will probably be the next thing.
Yes, it’s awesome and creative! It tracks your mileage even if you have your phone with you or not. Love your extra ideas. Maybe they come in the next version.;)
Saw a headline of this the other day and thought it was such a cool gadget. Had to check into it myself. I think the price is a little on the steep side but where I live it might just be the right investment, so I don’t have to buy a new bike twice a year.
When will it be available?
Yes it might be cheaper than getting your bike stolen. 🙂 I agree on that. Stolen bikes are a huge problem where I live as well.
It is still under development, but it looks like they are ready to ship in April 2016. They have a timeline at the bottom here.
Andreas
This is a genius idea! And to just replace the bike pedals many people won’t even realize what it is. I live in an area of town where bikes are stolen all the time, cars are broken into, houses are broken into and I keep everything locked up tight. If my bike ever were to be stolen though I’d have no way to get it back ever. This is a great solution for everyone 🙂 Great post!
Hello, Andreas!
You’ve written a very informative and exciting article about that smart pedal. The features you have outlined are interesting, the most appealings are the protection (theft protection) and the statistics you can see on tour smartphone.
I shared your article on Twitter because I liked so much the review of that pedal.
Cristina
The Smart pedal is an awesome product. Thanks for sharing. :
This is definitely a pretty cool gadget for cyclists. It’s like a Fitbit for bike riders, Everyone wants to track their calories burnt and various other health habits these days, so I can really see this smart pedal becoming something huge.
Bike rentals are also pretty popular these days, and I can see owners of these services using pedals like these to track miles and other metrics, almost like cars. This way, they know exactly when it’s time to replace tires and other parts. Pretty cool stuff.
hello there , very interesting site:)
i really enjoyed it
I use myself an app . S health that counts your steps , your heart rate , calories , everything and is very good.
I can see here other nice gadgets and I WANT ALL OF THEM :)))
It is a satisfaction when you see , the end of the day for example that you have done 12 km :))) walking
Thanks for information 🙂 I will keep looking for new stuff:))) as your site develop.
have a nice day
Cristina
Thank you! Apps, gadgets and trackers are great for motivation and monitoring your movement. 🙂 Keep and eye out for more new gadget stuff. New articles and reviews are coming soon.
Andreas
Hey Andreas,
This product looks amazing to put on your bike. You say that it is easy to put on so that is cool. Some other products that I have bought are really complicated to mount on and they do not even work.
I like that it tracks your speed and that it has a GPS.
Is the app compatable with android phones?
Hi! Yes, the app work for Android phones too. 🙂