MOUNT LOOKOUT - A little company is taking a big risk on a lightweight device that it hopes tens of thousands of bicyclists will buy.
Cambiatta shipped its first product last week - a device cyclists can use to track their heart rates, speed and pedaling while racing and then download to their computer. The data gives cyclists a better understanding of how well they ride and what parts of their ride were their best, thus improving their training.
Sounds like the Specialized "P-Brain", a device that is no longer made, I believe. There just don't seem to be enough cycle-geeks in the world to support a market. This is a good thing, I think.
Uh... hate to burst your bubble here, but my Polar S720 has done everything you list, and has been in use for two years now. Various other Polar units do very similar things. They work very well, they're distributed internationally, and they have a well established sales and service organization.
Instead of "three cigarette lighter sized devices", the Polar is all integrated into a wrist watch, which can be worn or mounted on the handlebars.
Timex and Garmin have similar units with GPS integrated as well.
Comparing oranges and tangerines (similar, but different) Polar 720i - $289 (sale price @ performance).
This thingy - $189
The idea here is to find someone who has already dropped $70 on a Polar base model, wants to have more data points (and the ability to track them), but doesn't want to chuck their existing stuff. And after looking @ the website, two of the "three cigarette lighter sized devices" are sensors for the front wheel and crank magnets.
Comparing oranges and tangerines (similar, but different) Polar 720i - $289 (sale price @ performance).
This thingy - $189
The idea here is to find someone who has already dropped $70 on a Polar base model, wants to have more data points (and the ability to track them), but doesn't want to chuck their existing stuff. And after looking @ the website, two of the "three cigarette lighter sized devices" are sensors for the front wheel and crank magnets.
That would seem like a pretty small niche. If they start to do any reasonable volume at all, word is going to get out that you want to buy the top of the line Polar model instead of the lower model, and the niche disappears.
BTW, what about cheap Polar owners just waiting until their battery dies, and they have to replace it anyway?
The S520 probably appeals to the triathlete/multisport users who want to use it for running as well as one the bike, unless Polar come up with a wrist-strap type thing for the CS200, like the HAC4.
Stuart -- OTAG Technologies Ltd Publishers of iSMARTtrain, Polar HRM Software for Mac OS X http://www.ismarttrain.com
The S520 probably appeals to the triathlete/multisport users who want to use it for running as well as one the bike, unless Polar come up with a wrist-strap type thing for the CS200, like the HAC4.
Stuart -- OTAG Technologies Ltd Publishers of iSMARTtrain, Polar HRM Software for Mac OS X http://www.ismarttrain.com
The differences between the two computers seem to reflect the newness of the 200 as much as anything else. One anomaly is that while the 200 does downloads, it apparently isn't compatible with Polar Precision Performance.
So since my new iBook arrives within 12 days, now is a good time to ask you: will iSMARTtrain work with the CS200?
Hmmm... Interesting - looks like Polar is driving people towards it's web service.
We hope to support the CS200 - it's not available in the UK until August, but, if it's not too different to the other SonicLink devices, we should be able to support it.
Stuart -- OTAG Technologies Ltd Publishers of iSMARTtrain, Polar HRM Software for Mac OS X http://www.ismarttrain.com
