Introducing Backtracker

[Backtracker]

Hi Guys

 

We are up and running on www.backtracker.io

 

Please check FAQ on crowd.backtracker.io

 

Do ask, posit, argue.

 

We are in Technopark, Stellenbosch, and happy for anyone to pop around to try a demo unit - come by bike!

[Skylark]

Price is a bit over the limit of your average cyclists, nice product though.

Can't you make a budget one that is just a light/lights at the back/side that starts flashing more aggressively/more lights flashing the closer a car comes or when it comes within a certain predetermined range - a nice feedback warning to car drivers that they are getting dangerously close, will probably make them sit up and concentrate, you can make led tail lights ridiculously bright these days!

 

You could link that to a single led on the riders bars that starts flashing in tandem when the extra rear lights are triggered, so the cyclists perhaps has the chance to take evasive action if needed, or at least knows a car is approaching. So not as sophisticated as the main product but still able to give interactive feedback to drivers and the rider, sensing distance will be much shorter and engineering/electronics less expensive/cheaper to manufacturer

[GroenHoender]

I also think the price is a bit too high for the average road biker but on the other hand, one's life is worth far more than the price of a BackTracker.

 

I like the gadget but would like to see more features before I can justify paying a lot of money for a mere "bike radar" (for road bicycling alone).

 

For off-road purposes, it is useless. But out in the wild, on dirt roads, one get other problems, such as hijacking, or robbery, or an accident that has the rider unconscious. So, why not add additional features to it, for example, putting a GPS into the BackTracker, linked to a cell phone, allowing the biker's wife or husband at home to see on their cellphone Google map where biker are currently at? (similiar to what Apple's iPhone or MacBook tracking software offers in terms of theft, allowing their owners, together with the SAPS, to track and retrive the stolen unit.

 

The benefit of having a BackTracker (radar) with a tracking GPS is to keep someone updated on one's movement and/or location, aside of having the sure knowledge that something is coming up from behind.

 

I am sure that other Hubbers can offer other ideas they want to see combined with the BackTracker but the point is: have some extra features (radar + something else) and people will flock to buy it.

 

These days one rides with a lot of gadgets on one's body and/or bike which adds to lots of money. Now if something is added to that BackTracker that one does not get with other gadgets, it would be inisiative enough to buy the BackTracker.

 

Please understand: I am not dismissing the BackTracker at all. I actually think it is an awesome product, which was the end-result of about 3 years work, right? But we need more innovative combined ideas, and less gadgets on a bike ;-)

[Backtracker]

Thanks for the comments, and interest. In which price bracket would you have liked to see the current model, and the suggested downscaled version, @skylark?

 

Thanks to you too @groenhoender - we know you are close-by - would you like to a chance to try a unit out?

[Skylark]

The current unit is maybe a fair price considering the technology but to get the market interested and onto bikes so people can see them/get exposure, if you can afford to maybe be more in the R2000 area or keep somewhere in the the current price but add some value maybe with gps tracking etc as Groend honder mentioned, maybe some kind of strava type integration. People already have their bars clutters with Garmin mounts/lights/batteries and other gps devices so you might as well integrate more into one unit. If the product is standalone it's also another battery to charge

 

Down scaled version needs to be under or around R1000, a good Blackburn LED taillight is R250 so thats your competition.

 

Whatever you make it must be foolproof and easy to use, despite the benefits nobody wants another fiddly device on their bike, it must just work, not add to the load/schlep of making a plan to be on the road and cycling.

[Slowbee]

Oi Dont you live in somerset west ?

 

The unit looks amazing !!

[GroenHoender]

 

Thanks to you too @groenhoender - we know you are close-by - would you like to a chance to try a unit out?

 

@Backtracker:

 

I know Technopark, having worked there for at least 10 years. Would like to come over and have a chat and a look at the devices. What day / time should be the best?

 

Keep in mind, I am more of a MTB rider than a "roadie" but due to my disability, I can see its benefits.

Regards,

Thys

[Backtracker]

Hi Thys,

 

Call us at the office for a slot - speak to anyone there....details on www.ikubu.com

[Backtracker]

Are you riding the Cradle this weekend? Backtracker will be at Something Country in Muldersdrift this Sunday 27th July between 07h30 and 12h00.

[paul_ct]

I saw an article on your device here http://mybroadband.co.za/news/gadgets/106912-backtracker-sa-cycling-gadget-hits-dragon-innovation.html. Interesting idea when on the road. Now we need something for the motorists to notice cyclists!

[openmind]

I had one of the prototype Backtracker units to try for the weekend. Spent about five hours on the bike with it. It works flawlessly, exactly as advertised. Within an hour or so I found myself trusting it to the extent that I would ride to the right of the yellow line where the road was smoother and glass-free until the green light on the Backtracker display went yellow, indicating an approaching car. I quickly learned to gauge how close the cars were based on where the dot was on the display (have a look at the videos on the site to see what I mean). Once the last car had passed and I had a green light again, I would move right, knowing that the next car was at least 150m away.

 

The device does not replace your road sense, but compliments it. It would detect a car before I could hear it, which was reassuring. I was a little more relaxed than normal having more information at my disposal about the traffic than usual.

 

The main benefit of the device is that the rear LED is interactive, i.e. it gets brighter and flashes more quickly the closer the car is. And it gets really bright. As far as I could tell, the cars on my regular route were giving me a little more space than usual, but that is subjective, perhaps it was just because it was a quiet Sunday afternoon

 

I like the simplicity of the device - it has not been over-engineered. It does one job very well. Personally I would like the display unit to be out on a stalk in front of my handlebars rather than on top of them - this would place it closer to my peripheral vision, meaning I would not have to look down as much to see it. There is a danger of becoming fixated on the display and not watching the road ahead. Another small issue is that the rear unit is rather wide and the way in which it mounts to the seat post made my thighs touch it when I was pushed back in the saddle (e.g. on a climb). It should perhaps be mounted differently so that it is positioned further back from the seat post.

 

Anyway, I liked it enough to order one! Good luck iKubu, I hope they fly off the shelves!

[King_Crispy]

I also think the price is a bit too high for the average road biker but on the other hand, one's life is worth far more than the price of a BackTracker.

 

I like the gadget but would like to see more features before I can justify paying a lot of money for a mere "bike radar" (for road bicycling alone).

 

For off-road purposes, it is useless. But out in the wild, on dirt roads, one get other problems, such as hijacking, or robbery, or an accident that has the rider unconscious. So, why not add additional features to it, for example, putting a GPS into the BackTracker, linked to a cell phone, allowing the biker's wife or husband at home to see on their cellphone Google map where biker are currently at? (similiar to what Apple's iPhone or MacBook tracking software offers in terms of theft, allowing their owners, together with the SAPS, to track and retrive the stolen unit.

 

The benefit of having a BackTracker (radar) with a tracking GPS is to keep someone updated on one's movement and/or location, aside of having the sure knowledge that something is coming up from behind.

 

I am sure that other Hubbers can offer other ideas they want to see combined with the BackTracker but the point is: have some extra features (radar + something else) and people will flock to buy it.

 

These days one rides with a lot of gadgets on one's body and/or bike which adds to lots of money. Now if something is added to that BackTracker that one does not get with other gadgets, it would be inisiative enough to buy the BackTracker.

 

Please understand: I am not dismissing the BackTracker at all. I actually think it is an awesome product, which was the end-result of about 3 years work, right? But we need more innovative combined ideas, and less gadgets on a bike ;-)

GH, with all the stuff you are proposing, someone first needs to develop a trailer that one can tow a car battery to power everything

[maddox]

I had one of the prototype Backtracker units to try for the weekend. Spent about five hours on the bike with it. It works flawlessly, exactly as advertised. Within an hour or so I found myself trusting it to the extent that I would ride to the right of the yellow line where the road was smoother and glass-free until the green light on the Backtracker display went yellow, indicating an approaching car. I quickly learned to gauge how close the cars were based on where the dot was on the display (have a look at the videos on the site to see what I mean). Once the last car had passed and I had a green light again, I would move right, knowing that the next car was at least 150m away.

 

The device does not replace your road sense, but compliments it. It would detect a car before I could hear it, which was reassuring. I was a little more relaxed than normal having more information at my disposal about the traffic than usual.

 

The main benefit of the device is that the rear LED is interactive, i.e. it gets brighter and flashes more quickly the closer the car is. And it gets really bright. As far as I could tell, the cars on my regular route were giving me a little more space than usual, but that is subjective, perhaps it was just because it was a quiet Sunday afternoon

 

I like the simplicity of the device - it has not been over-engineered. It does one job very well. Personally I would like the display unit to be out on a stalk in front of my handlebars rather than on top of them - this would place it closer to my peripheral vision, meaning I would not have to look down as much to see it. There is a danger of becoming fixated on the display and not watching the road ahead. Another small issue is that the rear unit is rather wide and the way in which it mounts to the seat post made my thighs touch it when I was pushed back in the saddle (e.g. on a climb). It should perhaps be mounted differently so that it is positioned further back from the seat post.

 

Anyway, I liked it enough to order one! Good luck iKubu, I hope they fly off the shelves!

 

I'm interested to understand how this device performs when riding with other people. I know the FAQ says performance will be degraded but would like to understand by how much. If you have 1 person behind you does it 'think' that person is a car? If so then that would probably make me very anxious constantly worrying about false positives..

[GroenHoender]

GH, with all the stuff you are proposing, someone first needs to develop a trailer that one can tow a car battery to power everything

 

Quite the opposite, King_Crispy :-)

 

All one need is a cellphone with proper 3G coverage, connected to a well-written app, as well as linked to Google Map. And just throw in a panic button to remotedly activate it when someone steal your bike + cellphone.

 

For example, look at this - this was already discussed and tested on the Wannabees club (Helderberg / Somerset-Wes area):

 

http://datadot.co.za...for_bicycle.php

 

 

I cannot see how difficult it would be to combine the features of Datadot with the BackTracker - both safety, tracking as well as warning system all into one - that I will definitely buy.

 

 

/edit:

One can also try other options such as cellphone app linked to a GPS unit (eg, Garmin 500 / 800) and track someone's riding somewhere, and in cases of theft, track your bike to a location.

 

 

Just my 2c's...

[openmind]

I'm interested to understand how this device performs when riding with other people. I know the FAQ says performance will be degraded but would like to understand by how much. If you have 1 person behind you does it 'think' that person is a car? If so then that would probably make me very anxious constantly worrying about false positives..

I used it on Saturday when I was a marshal at the Freedom ride - it "sees" through people just fine. And trees, gazebos and other stuff too - I was showing it to people at the start and it would reliably pick up approaching cars through the melee. On the ride as well it would see cars through the group behind me. I had no false positives where the unit mistook another rider for a car. I imagine that the range would be reduced in a large group (people absorb radar signals a little) but I was not able to test this conclusively.

[maddox]

@Backtracker - since you guys are local I'll back you! I'm trying to register on iKubu but it wants to charge me international shipping.. How do I avoid this?