Apple Bike May Be on the Way

It looks like Apple may be getting into the bike business. The company has filed a patent for a bicycle computer system, similar to the Nike + that would keep track of information about a bicycler's speed, elevation, heart rate, and more.

One really cool feature of the proposed Apple bike system is GPS routing. The feature would allow you to look at a bike route, suggest changes to a proposed route, and keep track of a particular group of riders at the same time. This could be amazing for small groups of riders who might be traveling a distance apart from each other along the same path. The way it is set up, someone in front could notify the others about potential hazards, as well as suggest changes to the original path.

Not necessarily for amateurs, the patent describes the "Smart Bike" system as able to measure "speed, distance, time, altitude, elevation, incline, decline, heart rate, power, derailleur setting, cadence, wind speed, path completed, expected future path, heart rate, power, and pace." It goes on to call the patent "extraordinarily detailed and packed with interesting twists that the sporting cyclist will really appreciate".

The patent doesn't really let on whether the Smart Bike will be an application that works alongside some of Apple's existing technology such as the iPhone or iPod Touch, or if it will be a new device all on its own.

I'm personally an avid user of the Nike + system. If you're not familiar with it the idea is in many ways similar to the Bike. I have a sensor in my shoes, that connects to my iPhone. Whenever I go for a run I let the sensor know I'm off, and it keeps track of how far I've gone, how many calories I've burned, and what my average speed of travel was- pretty amazing. As someone who is fairly "results oriented" I really love being able to look back on a particular workout without being concerned with it while it's going on. The Nike + system also tracks everything I do online, so I could literally pull up a spreadsheet of every run that I have done this year as well as tell you how many miles I've gone overall and how many calories I've burned.

I think being able to do all that (and more) on a bike would be amazing. What do you think about the idea of an Apple-branded Smart Bike. Would you use it?