Strollometer: Pick up the pace

So you're a new mom, struggling to come to terms with your postpartum body, but you don't have the time or energy to brush your teeth -- let alone hit the gym.  Your main source of exercise has become daily walks with the baby, but its hard to feel like you're really accomplishing much of anything as you stroll aimlessly around the neighborhood.  Sound familiar? 

The good news is that all that strolling really does work, over time.  And the even better news is that there's a device available that will motivate you to pick up the pace, to go the distance, to turn those leisurely walks into a full-blown, sweat-inducing workout...The Strollometer!  This nifty little award-winning wireless pedometer allows you to keep track of how far, how fast and how long you've strolled -- all with ease. 

Owner Adi Weber created the Strollometer (MSRP $45.95) after the birth of her third child.  Winner of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) Innovation Award, the Strollometer works by attaching a magnet (via adhesive backing) to the wheel of your stroller.  A bendable sensor is attached to the leg or fork above the wheel, and reads every pass of the magnet as you move, sending data wirelessly to a console you attach to your stroller's handles. By toggling a button, you can scroll through a number of readouts, including:

• Speed (mph/kmh)
• Maximum speed
• Average Speed
• Trip distance
• Trip time
• Daily Mileage
• Temperature (F/C)
• Clock Time

We tested the Strollometer on, all told, three strollers:  A Quinny Zapp, a Zooper Disco and a Kelty Speedster (see photo at left).  The good news is that the Strollometer -- eventually -- worked great with each stroller; The only downside was that some strollers were much easier to configure than others.

The Strollometer comes with an alcohol pad to clean the metal part of the wheel where your magnet will be placed.  A vertical placement is best, but if the wheel well won't allow it you can also place the magnet horizontally.  Simply clean the spot, allow it to air dry for a minute, then remove the adhesive backing from the magnet and stick it to the wheel well, press and hold for 40 seconds.  Before you do this, you'll want to figure out whether the bendable arm of the sensor will be on the inside or the outside of your wheel.  Much of that depends on the set-up of your stroller. To see optimum placements for a variety of popular strollers, click here.    

We use the Zapp primarily at the mall, and other quick trips where the stroller will be gliding on a smooth surface.  The console was easy to set up on the Zapp, but I did run into some problems with the bendable sensor arm.  Because of the close proximity to the foot break for the Zapp I couldn't seem to find a decent spot to place the sensor on the inside of the wheel, and that meant that I'd have to maneuver the arm to the outside.  I was able to do this, but it took me over an hour to find a really good fit.

For the Disco and the Kelty, which have a much less cluttered undercarriage, configuration was much easier because I was able to set up the sensor to read the magnet on the inside of the wheel.  The only problem I ran into with these strollers was that when they are folded, the sensor ends up being bumped out of position somewhat.  But when I unfold them, it takes me just a second or two to get them back in their correct position of (no more than) 1.5 cm from the magnet (see photo at right).  Just be sure that you're bending the arm, and not twisting the sensor itself where it attaches to the arm. 

Programming the Strollometer was a breeze.  Once the sensor and magnet are in place (spin the wheel -- if the green light on the sensor flashes with each pass of the magnet, you know you've done it correctly), you just attach the console (see photo at left) and follow the instructions for how to get going.  You'll need to measure your wheels in centimeters first and feed that information into the console, to ensure that you're getting accurate readouts during use with regard to speed, distance, etc. etc.  And, obviously, this means that if you're using the Strollometer with multiple strollers you'll need to program it each time you switch off, unless the wheels on your strollers all happen to be the same diameter (unlikely).  But honestly, once you get used to the programming and set-up of the sensor the process takes less and less time -- my initial set up with the Zapp, as I stated, took me an hour.  Now I can swap out my Strollometer from stroller to stroller and calibrate the console in less than 3 minutes.      

I really enjoy the Strollometer -- It's a great idea and it's implemented perfectly by Adi and her team.  Although some strollers seem to be better equipped for the device than others, they're all ultimately Strollometer-ready -- you might just need to work a little harder at set-up depending on your model.  Also, customer service is fantastic!  You can email Adi directly if you run into any problems, and she'll help you troubleshoot and get you strolling in no time. 

The Strollometer is available at Amazon.com and Target.  To view a list of all retailers who sell the Strollometer, click here.   

Comments

[Debbie]

This is a great product! I use mine on my BOB and I LOVE it!

[Beth]

This is a FANTASTIC product! I've been using the Strollometer for almost a year now. I'm hooked on this thing. It certainly is a must-have for anyone using a jogger!