Beeline Velo 2: a cycling computer for easy navigation
Alex Hughes goes for a spin with Beeline Velo ➤, a simple and streamlined bike GPS
Unlike the black cab drivers of London, who know every street, turn and dead-end in their own city, I have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to navigation, second-guessing how on Earth to get around the city I live in.
To remedy this, I have utilised the tried-and-tested method of strapping my smartphone to my bike and booting up a map app. Sure, it works, but not only am I scared for the safety of the device, it is also surprisingly unintuitive, sending me up huge hills, or down roads that are simply not made for bikes.
While there are plenty of dedicated sat-navs for bikes, one that particularly caught my eye was the Beeline Velo, which costs £99.99. Simple, easy-touse and supposedly packed with smart features, could this bike tracker be the tool that would finally make me a successful city navigator?
DESIGN AND FEATURES
The Beeline Velo 2 is simple in design and structure. The device itself features a rounded screen similar to a smartwatch, with four switches on the back. This then clicks into the handlebar mount with a simple twist, and it stays secure until you twist it back out. You then attach this to your bike with the included rubber bands. The bands are sturdy and I was never concerned about the device falling off, but it isn’t exactly the most premium method out there, when similar devices will attach to your bike using some sort of a grip or screw method.
Once the device is turned on, you can set a route via the app. The route will then appear on the Beeline. This can be either as a road map, highlighting the road you’re on and when to turn, or simply a compass pointing you in the general direction of your destination for the more adventurous. You can apply pressure on the top, bottom, left and right of the Beeline to access different settings and navigate through the device. Via these buttons you can see your device’s battery life, stats about your journey, arrival times, average speeds and more.
USING THE DEVICE
Once the device was set up (which did not take long at all), I used the app to set my first destination. I rode a fairly simple three-kilometre journey, heading to a nearby shop that I didn’t know the route to.
There is an easy ‘plan ride’ option on the app. Through this, you are given a map that feels similar to Google or Apple Maps. Enter your end destination and the route pops up on the Beeline.
I first used the ‘route tracker’ option. On the device, this showed a more traditional map with the road I was travelling on and where my turnings were. This was the more useful mode, offering exact turns, distances and a view of the upcoming route.
Helpfully, the Velo makes a beep when you approach turnings to gently remind you when you need to change roads. But
when I did make wrong turns the tracker could take a long time to recalibrate, especially if I made a few turns before it had decided my new route.
Thankfully, I was able to stick to the route the majority of the time. However, when I did go wrong, I got to use the ‘compass mode’, which I was a big fan of. In this mode, the device shows a spinning arrow pointing you to your end destination. This allows you to take any road without losing track of where your end destination is.
Whichever navigation mode you use, the map is relying on your smartphone to process the route. For the most part, this is absolutely fine, but if you lose signal and go off the designated route, the Beeline won’t be able to recalibrate. This left me a bit stuck when I once hit a route with a deadend of roadworks in an area with no signal.
On most of the rides I took, whether within the city centre or on the outskirts, I was given direct and easy routes without any major problems, even when I took a slight detour and needed to wait for a recalibration.
One of the Beeline’s more interesting features is its rating system. When you take a route, you can rate a section of it as either good or bad. These ratings are then fed into the company’s mapping algorithm which, in theory, will give better routes for users as time goes on.
For instance, when I took a ride into work, I came across a tight road up a hill which was not logical for bikes. After down-rating it, the route had been changed next time I took it.
While I mostly used the device for navigation, I also found it handy for quickly checking stats, such as arrival times, how long I had been riding and my average distances.
VERDICT
The Beeline Velo 2 ticks a lot of boxes. It is fairly affordable, easy-to-use, non-invasive when you’re riding and packed with plenty of features.
Whether I was following the compass or a more direct route on the map, I was consistently happy with its performance, and rarely found myself experiencing any major issues.
While it isn’t perfect and its heavy reliance on a smartphone and mobile signal might put off some users, for the average commuter or hobby cyclist, the Beeline Velo 2 is an excellent choice.
“WHETHER WITHIN THE CITY CENTRE OR ON THE OUTSKIRTS, I WAS GIVEN DIRECT AND EASY ROUTES”