[idank]

Yes exactly. This device is a mini exercise bicycle, it has half a dozen buttons and LEDs with a UART enabled chip that orchestrates everything. I'd like to make it controllable via Bluetooth (e.g. on/off, set speed) and have it send stats like current speed, etc.

Would something like circuitpython not be easier to work with?

[EmbeddedHash]

I would suggest using either an Arduino w/ BLE shield or a raspberry pi pico w. Both platforms have great SDKs and a lot of online support/community. Raspberry Pi pico supports circuitpython if that is the route you want to go (i.e. if you are more familiar with python). But most embedded software is written in C/C++.