When exploring a city by foot, most of us know which general direction we need to head and work our way there as opposed to following a prescribed route. So why not do the same on the bike? The BeeLine bike navigator harnesses the power of your phone’s GPS to tell you nothing more than in which general direction you need to go.
At the core of BeeLine is the stripped back concept of fuzzy navigation–BeeLine simply points you in the general direction to your destination and tells you the distance to go without any instructions on where and when to turn. The idea is that it cuts down on stress because you can never take a wrong turn or miss a turn and you can choose which streets look safe and interesting to ride.
For the occasions where you have to go via a specific point, like over the Golden Gate Bridge, you can add intermediate way points to your journey to ensure you never get stuck wandering around the wrong side.
To set BeeLine up, simply snap the device onto your bike, select a destination in the free app and off you go. BeeLine fits onto any bike using a flexible strap, and the display can be rotated to work whether attached to the handlebar or stem.
The bike navigator’s backlit e-paper screen is visible under any conditions and the device is weatherproof. BeeLine will last for 1-3 months of use between charges, based on 20-60 minutes of use every day.
While this sounds awesome in practice, I am really curious to see how it works in theory. I personally want to know exactly where I am going on a bike ride or at least which streets are bike friendly, have bike paths, are dead ends, etc. But perhaps if I was on a city bike in a different city such as Paris, New York, or London, it would be more fun to just ride wherever. As long as the device didn’t allow me to ride straight through Piccadilly Circus, Times Square, or down the Champs Élysées.
For around $55 over on Kickstarter, you can be one of the first to own BeeLine. The bike navigator will start shipping in August 2016.