Turning MTB big moments into clear rider insight
ShredMate is a fork-mounted motion sensor paired with a smartphone app that tracks mountain bike - specific moments like jumps (airtime + landing g), peak g-forces, and rough trail segments, visualised on a map after your ride.
The Challenge
Traditional bike computers are designed for the road.
ShredMate needed to be designed for the chaos of mountain biking: harsh terrain, suspension chatter, mud and unpredictable rider input.
Key requirements for ShredMate included:
Detecting the MTB events riders actually cared about.
Work reliably in mud, spray, vibration and impacts.
Stay compact, low-power and robust.
Show results clearly: where, what, and how it compare.
The Approach
After defining the product brief, we explored concepts ranging from a standalone bike computer with an integrated display to a compact sensor paired with a mobile app.
We rapidly prototyped and tested with users. Feedback showed an on-bike screen added little value for mountain bikers: review happens after the ride as rough terrain makes a display hard to check. The screen also added cost and complexity due to high-spec electronics and a rechargeable battery.
We therefore pivoted to a compact, fork-mounted device with a mobile app. This reduced complexity and cost by using a low-power Bluetooth microcontroller and accelerometer, enabling up to a year of operation on a button-cell battery. Removing on-device buttons also avoided mechanical complexity and the challenge of preventing water ingress.
For durability, the enclosure was ultrasonically welded for a robust seal, while the battery stayed user-replaceable via a quarter-turn hatch.
To validate real-world performance, we captured hundreds of rides of accelerometer data with a custom logger across a wide range of riders and styles. We iteratively developed the jump detection algorithm offline in MATLAB, then translated the final model into embedded firmware for the device.
The Outcome
Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, ShredMate progressed from prototype to production and was delivered on time, on budget and to specification. The companion apps maintain ratings above 4.2★, reflecting a strong and reliable day-to-day user experience.
What we did
Industrial design
Mechanical design
UX design
Test rigs
Iterative prototype and test builds
Prototype & production electronics
Sensor algorithm
Embedded firmware
Mobile app development.
Contract manufacturer management
Production support