Suunto Universal Bike POD
The Suunto Mountain Bike POD mounts on any bike fork and transmits speed and distance data to your heart rate monitor watch as you ride. Compatible with the Suunto t3, t4, and t6, the Bike POD tells you your current and average speed, and total distance traveled. You can combine this info with heart-rate data during your post-workout analysis. It even includes a distance alarm for interval training. Suunto also included a mount to attach your watch to your handlebars.
Product Features
- Material: Plastic
- Compatibility: Suunto t3, t4, and t6 watches
- Warranty: 2 Years
- Country of Origin: China
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Suunto Universal Bike Pod wireless Transmitter
The Suunto bike pod is easy to install in a few minutes, and worked, as advertised, paired with the Suunto T3, Training Effects/Heart Rate monitor. Unlike other wireless cycling computers used in the past, the Suunto bike pod does not require micro positioning on the bike and continues to send reliable signals to the Suunto T3, even in bad weather and over rough terrain. Although bike pod includes provisions for mounting the Suunto T3 on the handle bars, this configuration is not required for use. The Suunto T3 is a wrist-worn training effects and heart rate monitor, and works fine when worn on either the left or right wrist, receiving wireless signals from the bike pod as well as the Suunto heart rate transmitter worn around the chest.
1 Stars 3 months and still not working
I bought this product in January but did not try to use it right away. I waited until I bought a new bike then began my unsuccessful attempts to use this product. If you buy this product, be aware it is tricky to pair. I followed the instructions, but never saw the “paired” message that indicated it was successful. After several attempts to contact their “24hr” service phone (which is NOT open after 5pm EST Friday until Monday), I talked to someone there who told me it was seemingly paired because I was able to get the Speed/Distance mode on my T3 to display. I thought Great! but when I went to try to test it out, it does not actually read any speed/distance data. So it was back to the phones (after waiting *another* weekend). This time it there were no answers and I was told I had to go online and create a service request (and register the product for warranty). So I am attempting to do so, but the product warranty registration requires a serial number which is not labeled on the product (though I have tried some 20 odd combinations of the numbers/letters that are printed on the POD, all unsuccessfully). So I am going to have to try to call again. I won’t even mention the “ask a question” I filled out some 3 weeks ago on their website which has not been responded to. I’ll update this review if I *ever* get a working product.
4 Stars it works and is flexible for various bikes
The main advantage of this over other units that work with Suunto is that this is the only one that will actually work with all bicycles because it simply zip ties to the front fork. The other two units that work with Suunto are more elegant but do not work with all bike set ups.
The only concern is that the plastic looks brittle, but I have it on a mountain bike and have not had a problem with durability yet.
1 Stars Nice concept, poor execution
This device works as intended but as another user noted - it is not easy to pair. The first time is easy enough - you’ve got the bike pod in your hand, a year or so later, when the battery needs to be replaced, the Bike Pod is now zip tied to your bike. Changing the battery and then getting it to pair again is not an easy thing do to. Frankly, I love my Suunto T6 but this device should have had an external “reset” pin to allow for easier pairing. For now, I have a useless piece of plastic attached to the fork of my bike….
4 Stars works as expected
Pairing the pod is a little tricky. I tried using a magnet from my old speedometer, and it did not work. The problem is that you’ll need to activate the pod before you can pair it to the watch (by simply turning the weel), and there is no indication whether that indeed worked. Documentation is a little brief. I choose to mount it on my rear wheel, and I mounted it upside down so the pod was closer to the magnet. I have no clue if these are the best choices, but it works now and since it is connected to the bike with tie-wraps I am not going to change it. Despite this, the setup was actually pretty quick, and it worked without problem for the few rides I did after installing it.
A “Wristop Computer Bike Adaptor” is included, this is a piece of plastic that fits around the handlebars, and you can mount the wristwatch on this piece of plastic. Simple but effective, except that this design was not made for oversized handlebars (31.8 clamp size), that are found on newer and/or higher end bikes. It still works, but it does not look pretty.
The screen of the T3 that I use gets a little crowded, and the numbers are small. You could buy a separate bike computer for less money, and have bigger numbers for easier readout. However, I like this bikepod, because there is very little stuff attached to the bike. Another advantage is that the stats are included on the wristwatch.
Filed under: Mountain Bike Reviews