CatEye have unveiled the Bluetooth Smart-enabled Strada Smart bike computer, which pulls information from your mobile phone and presents it on a small handlebar-mounted unit.
Bluetooth Smart is a powerful and efficient protocol which transmits data wirelessly. It’s a rival to the Ant+ protocol, owned and licensed by Garmin, used by almost every wireless cycling device, though Bluetooth Smart is an increasingly popular alternative.
“You already have the most powerful cycle computer you’ll ever need in your pocket,” say CatEye. “So use it!”
The Strada Smart links with any Bluetooth Smart-enabled phone (that’s anything from the iPhone 4S and above, and Android 4.3 and above) via the CatEye app and pulls GPS data – including speed, mileage, time and altitude – and displays it on a wireless unit. In essence it closes the gap between smartphone apps and GPS computers.
All ride data is also stored on the app itself and can be uploaded directly to CatEye Atlas, Training Peaks and, more likely for most riders, Strava.
The Strada Smart can also be used without a smart phone with CatEye’s speed/cadence and heart rate sensors, which can also be synced with your phone to display and record training data. Phone and messaging icons will also appear directly on the unit, useful if you’re expecting a call or text message, and it saves digging around in your jersey pocket to see if that’s the case.
The unit itself it tiny and will sit inconspicuously on any handlebar or stem. There’s only one button, which scrolls through three pages of data.
The Strada Smart will be available in the UK from April, priced at £69.99 for the computer, £114.99 for the computer and speed/cadence sensor, and £169.99 for the computer, speed/cadence sensor and heart rate monitor. The speed/cadence sensor and heart rate monitor can also be bought separately for £59.99 and £49.99.
