Refactor Fitness RF-1 GPS cycling computer integrates lights, camera & Android action

Written by Tyler Benedict May 16, 2018 9:01 p.m. ET

ReFactor Fitness RF-1 GPS cycling computer with HD action cam and integrated lights

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We all want that sleek out-front look for our GPS cycling computers, but by the time we add a headlight, and possibly an action cam, those aero aesthetics get thrown out the window. Refactor Fitness fixes that by combining an HD video camera and LED lights into a thin, full featured GPS cycling computer. It’s called the RF-1, and it runs on Android 7.0 so you can customize and update it over time. Here’s the scoop:

The main exterior features are the twin 60 lumen LED lights (120 lumen total output) and 1080p HD camera that records at 30fps. It acts as a dash cam, too, saving the last 20 minutes of your ride on a loop in case you crash and need evidence. Behind the 3″ color touchscreen, which they say is visible in bright sunlight, lives ANT+, Bluetooth LE and WiFi connectivity, plus the usual GPS cycling computer features. Run it all and you’ll find the only tradeoff – battery life. It’s rated at 12+ hours, though, so should be good for 3-4 normal rides at least.

Cool features include GPS routing and mapping, iOS compatibility, and virtual power estimation. That last one is possible thanks to the built in accelerometer, altimeter, and barometer. They say the accelerometer determines the gradient faster than an altimeter, while the barometer measures the air density. Combined, the RF-1 is able to produce an accurate estimate of your power output. All packed into a IP67 waterproof case. Finish the ride and it syncs to your Google Drive cloud account to save routes, ride data and video.

Full specs are:

Advanced GPS Maps: Better GPS mapping functionality than standard cycling computers with pinch to zoom multitouch, and GPS and GLONASS reception.
HD Camera: 1080p Camera that records at 30fps with an alternate function to record at 720p at 60fps. Record the whole ride, or set one of the buttons to act as your start/stop to record only what you want, or turn on…
Dash Cam Mode: Alternate camera mode that continuously records the last 20 minutes of your ride to ensure nothing is ever missed while saving space.
Android 7.0 Software: Responsive software with fast, detailed maps, continuous video recording, assignable buttons and screen areas, accident notification and third-party upload integration (with more partners coming soon).
Dual 60 Lumen (120 total) Ultra-Efficient LEDs: High power ultra-efficient LED lights that illuminate the way for cyclists while allowing drivers and others to see them from a distance.
32GB Of Storage: 32GBs of flash storage provides all the room you’ll need to record rides, download directions and more.
ANT+ and BTLE: Connect any ANT+ or BTLE sensors to the RF-1 system to display your heart rate, cadence, speed, and power.
1.2 GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM: A 1.2 GHz processor with 2GB of ram lets you access anything and everything with ease.

Eventual retail price will be a little over $400, but early bird specials start at $289 for a head unit and mount. Delivery is slated for March 2019.

RefactorFitness.com

Tyler Benedict

11,203 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Robin

5 years ago

I see some people having issues with the competing interests of computer tilt vs camera field of view and illumination of road surface. I also have hard time believing that 12hr battery life figure. Maybe that it is the case for the lowest energy settings while using minimum features.

I don’t see 120 lumens being enough in poorly lit areas at night.

Power estimation? I don’t know if they have any calibration for that tool, but they are missing one important thing that iBike had: the ability to measure wind speed. iBike wasn’t exactly an accurate power meter, so lacking the ability to measure windspeed would seem to put a big dent in the accuracy of the virtual power meter, at least on windy days.

D-con

5 years ago

Reply to Robin

While 120lm is not as much as I’d want to see with, if the flash pattern is decent it’ll be enough to be seen with, which is more important for the bulk of my riding.

Collin S

5 years ago

Agree with Robin on pretty much everything. Power estimation is a joke. Without measuring a torque, the power number might as well be supplied by a random number generator.

The other thing to note about the camera quality is look how smooth that road is. Throw this thing on a mountain bike or even worse, some michigan roads and lets see how it looks.

Lastly, why do all kick starters have some boring house music?

Ted

5 years ago

Sounds good on paper but I will wait for the 2nd or 3rd gen of this if it ever arrives.

Tony

5 years ago

@Collin, Power estimation on climbs can be fairly accurate due to a number of known base lines like weight, time and elevation gain. I’ve been a power use for 5+ years and find the Strava estimated numbers to be fairly accurate on climbs. On the flip side, it’s absolutely worthless on the flats and in a group.

https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216917107-How-Strava-Calculates-Power

Fred Gravelly

5 years ago

Reply to Tony

“can be fairly accurate”… love this! Lol

Crash Bandicoot

5 years ago

I like the concept but I doubt the battery life #’s are accurate. Here is what I’d love to see, radar sensor in/near tail of the bike that picks up fast moving/close traffic and triggers 4k 60fps footage to be recorded and saved + an accelerometer to keep the camera filming until the battery dies and the card is full if it senses there is an impact along with marking GPS location. My understanding is a lot of this tech lies in different places e.g. varia, Gopro/Fly 6, Head unit. It would be nice if they could talk to each other.

I really want a tail mount camera, but find my gopro cannot record my long rides fully and the fly6 has to be recharged too frequently that compliance decreases

Refactor Fitness

5 years ago

We’d like to address some points made here.

1) Battery life. As Robin said, 12 hours + is with just your typical cycling GPS features enabled (GPS, ANT+/BTLE sensors, screen in daylight). If you were to run the camera and lights and bluetooth tethering all at the same time, the runtime is shorter. While we’ve done everything we can to optimize runtime, it does become an issue of how big a battery you want to carry. You can always carry an external battery and charge the device while you ride, should you want to do a very long ride with all features enabled. We view this as a better compromise than forcing someone on a typical 2-4 hour ride to carry a 6000mAh battery.

Just for rough numbers, with the camera running you would be looking at 6-7 hours of battery life. We are looking into improving this for production.

2) Lights. Watch the video, those are the real lights on the road. We hope to exceed that level in production, but we do not have firm numbers and will not make promises on output which we cannot guarantee. It’s not a 600 lumen light, no, but you also cannot make a 600 lumen light that small. Again, we’ve gotten all the output we can out of the space and power limitations of a reasonably sized unit.

3) Power estimation. As Tony stated, this is really down to use case. If you are 10 wheels deep in a pack at 25mph, it’s not going to be accurate. If you are solo going up a 5% grade for 10 minutes, it’s surprisingly good. That’s why we call it virtual power or an estimation, in no way do we imply that it’s a replacement for a direct force measurement power meter. We also do some things with the estimation to make it more accurate than what Strava and others do. Is having a more accurate, real time version of Strava’s power estimation on your bike a bad thing? It is a neat piece of data for people who don’t own power meters, and it costs no extra money.

4) Video smoothness. That road is not unusually smooth. The video has been stabilized in post, which pretty much all video from a bike must be in order for it to look good. If it’s not stabilized in post, then the camera usually does a (lesser) version of the same thing onboard.

We understand not everyone wants to take a chance on something with an unproven track record, but hopefully this shows that we have put thought into all of these issues. We are happy to address any questions from the community.

Bob W>

5 years ago

Very interesting Refactor Fitness! A couple of things I like: Hardware Studio (Avnet & Dragon). Avnet is a $17B Global Semiconductor/Components Distributor (former employee here from the Enterprise side) and they have fantastic resources to help spin up your manufacturing.
Concerns: A 3″ screen – I had a Hammerhead Karoo and it’s kinda huge. Like too big. Also one of their biggest mistakes was no speaker. Will the RF-1 have a speaker? It’s highly critical when you’re navigating poorly marked gravel roads and relying upon your device to assist.