You know when you were a kid, and you thought it was a great idea to show off how fast you could run. So you cranked up the treadmill to full speed–waiting until the belt whirled angrily in front of you–ignored the tiny bit of common sense you had at the time, got a running start, and leapt onto the machine. The moment your face contacted the deck, you remembered with no small amount of chagrin that you neglected to attach the little red emergency clip to your person.
Well, now you can make up for that slight lapse in judgment all those years ago (or in my case, last August) with the Ridersmate. Operating on something of the same principle as a treadmill’s emergency stopper, the Ridersmate clips to you and your bike to notify up to three numbers that you’ve crashed.
This isn’t exactly a new idea these days, think Icedot or even the Road ID app, but it comes with some serious potential. The unique design of the Ridersmate allows for super easy attachment no matter what equipment you’re riding. No special mounts or phone needed to use this one. The unit simply clips to your belt loop or jacket, then to your bike via a stretchy cord (that’s the technical term). When you fall off, the cord detaches and stays with the bike, while the unit sticks with you.
Once you’re on the ground, Ridersmate can text up to 3 of your loved ones with the exact speed at which you went down. So, if you’re just suffering from those new clipless pedals, your spouse can see that you crashed at zero mph, and probably not worry too much. Plus, you can simply just plug the clip back in if you’re only suffering from some bruised pride. If you are seriously injured, and maybe stuck, the unit has an SOS button that will immediately alert your contacts of your emergency, and tell them where to pick you up.
To further add to the coolness factor, this also tracks your ride data and allows you to view and share it online. Oh, and if your bike takes off without you (maybe because someone’s riding it away?), it will also tell you where the lousy thief is headed. Awesome, right?
And here’s where I see the serious potential of the Ridersmate. I think this spells a step forward toward an all-in-one machine that can track your data, offer crash notification, and tell you where to find your bike in the event that its stolen. That’s something to get stoked on.
Check out the Ridersmate Kickstarter campaign to get your own unit, which has a scheduled release date of Feb 9th. Fair warning, it’s UK-based, so everything is in pounds. You can also watch the official Ridersmate video to see this thing in action:
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