Sometimes, less is more. This bike gadget doesn’t tell you which turn to take, but instead points you in the general direction and lets you find your own way.
It’s called BeeLine. The makers refer to this vague direction pointing as ‘fuzzy navigation’, and describe BeeLine as a digital compass, rather than a satnav. But instead of pointing north, it points at your destination.
The idea is that regular bike computers are too prescribed in their thinking, and require you to have your head down looking for the right turn.
But it’s not completely open-ended. If you need to go a certain way to reach a bridge over a river, say, you can set it as a waypoint, and it’ll point you there first. That way you can have all the fun of exploring without getting lost.
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Now, the actual hardware. It fits any bike using its flexible strap, and the display can rotate, so it’s visible from the handlebars or stem. It has an e-ink screen that’s readable even in bright sun. And because it’s low power, it will last for ages – one month if you’re using it for an hour a day, and three months with 20 minutes’ daily use. So you won’t have to charge it every night.
It comes with a range of colourful straps too, and only costs £30 on an early bird. It’s about halfway to its £60,000 funding goal, and should ship in August.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
