Polar announces new cycling computer: the M450
Already known for its innovative wearable tech, Polar is about to change the fitness and training game for cyclists -- again.
What makes Polar so successful isn’t just its high-tech, wearable line of products that help athletes of all fitness levels fully refine their training. Notably, it’s the simplicity, ease of use, and focus on the marriage between physiology and electronics of those products that makes them so popular — an accessible approach to technology that has kept the company at the top of the industry since 1977.
“Listening to your body is one thing,” its website says. “Understanding what it is telling you is an altogether different story. Polar helps you get under the skin of your training.”
It’s a clever way of phrasing the company’s overall pitch, really. Getting under your skin is literally what Polar products do, helping to improve athletic performance by introducing dynamic, effective ways of measuring everything from a runner’s heart rate to a cyclist’s breathing. Other products do the same of course — many have been on the market for years — but again, it’s that pared-down way of making something so sophisticated easy to use, and not to mention a little easy on the eyes, that has kept athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike using Polar products for four decades.
Today, Polar announced the pending release of the latest product in that line: the M450, specifically for cyclists.
Packaged in an attractive, compact design, the M450 looks like a small GPS unit or an even smaller cellphone. GPS is part of its bouquet of capabilities, in fact, as well as a “smart coaching” feature, altitude-measuring functions, a state-of-the-art sensor system that reads heart rate, bike speed in the case of indoor training, and overall bike power, and even safety features that augment a rider’s visibility on the road.
Designed to be easily mountable on a bike’s handlebars, like earlier cycling computers that Polar has released, the front of the device also includes an LED light and an integrated warning bell — a brand new feature. It also comes with a built-in barometer and what Polar calls the Flow app, which instantly analyses your training plan and fitness targets.
The specifications of the M450 go beyond that, of course, but that gives you an idea of how Polar’s wearable, intuitive approach to training tech is giving cyclists a new boost. The M450 officially comes available next month.
