Introducing smrtGRiPS, the world’s first smart handlebar grips + video

Canadian company Boréal Bikes is seeking crowd funding to launch its smrtGRiPS handlebar grips that provide eyes-free navigation, feedback via vibration, and a bike tracking device.

Following the Connected Cycle smart pedal we told you about last week, it’s starting to look like 2015 is going to be a year of high-tech innovation in cycling components.

smrtGRiPS comprise two outer grips that fit to a flat handlebar, and two 150mm (6in) long aluminium tubes that house all the cleverness. These weigh 95g each and they slot inside the ends of the handlebar. You then pair them up to a smartphone (either Android or iPhone) via Bluetooth.

The smrtGRiPS app helps you find your bike if you’ve parked it among a crowd of others. Tap the ‘ring your ride’ button on your phone screen and the smrtGRiPS will signal its location.

You can get turn-by-turn directions to a particular destination through a navigation app like Google Maps or smrtGRiPS Connect, the instructions being communicated to you via what smrtGRiPS call ‘haptic feedback’.

Of course, we immediately knew exactly what ‘haptic’ means without the need to look it up (ahem!), but for those of you who don’t, it relates to touch. In this case, the relevant grip will vibrate to tell you when you need to turn in a particular direction, so you don’t need to take your eyes off the road to look at a display.

Boréal Bikes say that the grips will also vibrate to tell you about road hazards or traffic issues that coule lie ahead.

“Highly audible rings – that you can hear even through heavy traffic noise – add a layer of communication that tells you just what to look out for,” they say.

The smrtGRiPS also provide ‘separation alerts’. If you’re out riding with someone else – a child, for instance – and the distance between you grows large, the smrtGRiPS will let you know, again via vibration.

If your bike is stolen, smrtGRiPS will notify the crowd GPS network to look out for it. As soon as another smrtGRiPS user comes close to your missing bike (the video says within 100ft, although the literature says that they have a 100m/300ft range), you’ll be notified immediately of its location so you can set about retrieving it.

The designers claim the smrtGRiPS are waterproof up to 10m and have a life of three months between battery recharges, based on 2hrs although we don’t know what level of usage that is based on.

smrtGRiPS are looking for crowd funding on www.indiegogo.com right now. The campaign began on Sunday and runs until 12 March. As with Kickstarter, you get different rewards depending on the amount you pledge.

An ‘Early Bird Special’ gets you a pair of grips and smrtGRiPS devices and a charger for US$59 plus US$25 international shipping.

The full retail price is US$119, which is about £79 at today’s exchange rate.