Now here’s a neat concept. Build a device that is cheap to run, mounts easily to your bike and syncs with your iPhone to monitor your cycling activity. The Wahoo RFLKT reflects (get it?) the data from your iPhone onto the RFLKT’s screen so that you don’t have to find a mount for your iPhone for your bicycle or worry about damaging your iPhone during a ride. Through the device, you can view ride summaries and statistics and even control the app on your iPhone from the RFLKT.
On launch, however, the RKFLT will only be able to pair with two cycling apps: Wahoo’s own App for Cycling and Cyclemeter (one of the top rated cycling apps). The RFLKT will apparently run for over a year on it’s coin cell battery, which is a big selling point for this product. Another big selling point is that it is weather and shock proof (IPX7 to be exact).
Here’s a video of the RFLKT in action:
But, do you really need to spend $130 on this device? So you want to keep your iPhone out of harms way. I get it. A replacement iPhone is only $230 on eBay (and you should be properly backing up your iPhone anyway). A less expensive alternative would be to purchase a Lifeproof case and just put your phone in that to use. You get a better screen quality (using your iPhone versus a liquid crystal display).
I think that Wahoo’s intentions were good here, they just overshot the mark. I think that people are really interested in having a low cost, durable cycling unit that displays information from their phone onto a cheap screen. I think that a device in the neighborhood of $50-$75 would be a better selling point. Also, the inclusion of some dust protection would be nice. Instead of IPX7, shoot for an IP57.
For more information, check out the product page.
UPDATE:
Wahoo has released version 3 of their Wahoo Fitness App and is available in the App Store now. More details here.
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