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I use my bike mostly for getting around town. First I used smartphone gps apps to record my trips, but I often forgot to start or stop recording. Then I used a bicycle computer, but I didn't like it too, because I had to remove it from the handlebar every time I locked my bike on the street.

The ideal device I am looking for is similar to any bluetooth speed sensor, but can record my speed (or at least total distance) without my phone, has decent battery life, has bluetooth 4.0 connectivity to download recorded data once in a while, and I can leave it on the bike.

I do not need wires, screens, just a small smart sensor, which can record data on its own. Is there anything like that on the market?

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  • Why does it need bluetooth if u need to download its data once in a while? Shouldnt a cable do the job?
    – Nhân Lê
    Commented Feb 19, 2016 at 11:49
  • There's no real need to attach the bike GPS to the handlebar. It works fine from a pocket or a backpack.
    – Carel
    Commented Feb 19, 2016 at 12:18
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    A decent app should be able to start/stop automatically. If you're on Android I believe ipbike will do it. It's free to try for long enough to get the hang of it. I finally got round to paying for it recently even though I use about 1/4 of the features (no sensors on my bike, no interest in strava etc.)
    – Chris H
    Commented Feb 19, 2016 at 14:30
  • "I forgot to..." Nothing much helps a bad memory, we've all been there in some way. IME strava app on a budget cellphone is "good enough" for my purposes. If you want to do sensors get a phone with Bluetooth Low Energy or ANT+ and buy sensors to suit.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Feb 19, 2016 at 20:00

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I am not aware that anyone makes such sensor and can't see much use for one. The reason to have wheel sensor is to have accurate and quickly responding speed measurement. For tracking total mileage, there are mobile apps that can detect automatically that you are riding a bike and track mileage and speed using GPS.

As a down side, such sensor would require persistent memory to store the mileage data and some extra software to synchronize it and as result, end up costing more to manufacture. You can compare the price of a Suunto smart HR belt that does store few hours' worth of HR data to one that does not.

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Garmin Speed Sensor 2. Stores up to 300 hrs of ride data locally and then uploads then next time it pairs with a device.

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I have used cheap bike computers for several years on three different bikes. These are the simplest solution for tracking mileage. I never remove them from the handlebars when I park and none ever got stolen; I don't think they are very attractive to thieves. (If you are worried about theft, note that your fancy Bluetooth-enabled speed sensor might also get stolen...)

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  • This might be the best solution if there isn't an existing speed sensor that can store data and save it to your computer. If you don't need the screen, you can even hide the head unit under the seat or on the underside of the stem to make it less obvious to thieves.
    – Kibbee
    Commented Feb 19, 2016 at 19:53

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