Cycle Computers

[TonyEnjoyD]

I have a £6 wireless one I got from Tesco 4 years ago, on it's second battery now. Simple to use and set up.
Actually upgrading to a Cateye Strada Mini £33 but a mate is selling two for £20 each, buying just because I want more info on screen.
I had a Garmin edge 500 which was brill apart from breaking down twice and had to go back to Garmin due to a design fault.
It was a great gadget but did I really need it? No, so I sold it for £100 and went back to my Tesco one!

The wired ones by the way, look a mees on the lean lines of your bike.

 

[Boris Bajic]

I use a wired Cateye Strada Cadence on various bikes, as do my children.

Aesthetics mean little to me, so I have no issues with the wires.

When commuting, I found the availability of basic data during the ride kept me less bored than I might have been, which is a good thing.

The cadence read-out is good and it can help with building an ability to spin for longer distances.

I usually like to have some sort of figures in front of me, but for a while I ran my fixie sans-ordinateur and found it quite liberating.

Tragically, I now have a cadence computer on the fixie and refer to it frequently, even though I can work it out from my speed with little difficulty.

 

[Scrappy]

I was at Halfords to day (buying car parts) and there was a three for two offer on, and with cycle computers on my mind after the replies on this thread I couldn’t resist. I got the 10 function one.

Now it’s time to get it fitted ready for my morning cycle tomorrow

Thanks again for the advice and information

 

[Peteaud]

LIDL £5,

does the job but the sensor nut is crap.

 

[Electric_Andy]

They're handy for keeping track of how far you have gone, and for what the average speed was for a trip. Also top speed can be cool to know, just so you can try and beat it! Just be careful not to stare at it for too long otherwise you may take a tumble.

 

[Scrappy]

Just be careful not to stare at it for too long otherwise you may take a tumble.

I've nearly done that a few times already looking around, I have a strange habit of turning in the direction I look which usually leads to arrrrrrrrrggggggg then a bit of zig zags

 

[sabian92]

I did that yesterday and brushed a brick wall, skinned all my knuckles on my left hand Dangerous things, these computer things!

 

[defy-one]

Interesting, I’m considering getting a cheap one from Halfords I think they’re around £10, just to see what they’re like. I have never used one before.

That's what I have - gives me odometer, trip distance and speed. It's basic and doesn't tell me my average speed, cadence etc, but I'm mainly interested distance on my MTB

 

[daSmirnov]

I've got a Garmin Edge 800, data gets uploaded to Endomondo/Strava/Garmin Connect for funky graphs... I use it so I can keep an eye on my averages/distance, which is a pretty good motivator for me.

Plus I use it for navigation. If I decide I wanna just go somewhere, plot a route in Bikehike or something, dump it on the Garmin, then follow it. Or download other people's rides and beat 'em/try and beat 'em.

A Garmin is probably a bit expensive for a first bike computer, my first was a cheapo £5 jobby from Lidl, that kept distance/speed etc.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

I have a Garmin forerunner 405 for longer runs that I want to record.
Last year, hurtling down a hill (between Hawes and Leyburn in Yorkshire) in excess of 35mph I tried to look at what speed I was at, stupidly it was on my wrist as I couldn't find my bike mount, and I went into a speed wobble nearly losing it!.

Never do that again...

 

[MrJamie]

I used http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=14292 which for £15 is nice to have cadence. Quite tricky to line everything up for it though. Theres a non-cadence version for a tenner too.

Its quite annoying that not many seem to bother with lights so you can use it in the dark.

 

[slowmotion]

Cateye Strada Wireless. I've had it for three years. When I started, I got all obsessive about my mileage and punched the numbers into a spread-sheet every day. After two years, I gave up on that. I'm still fascinated by max. speed though. Not on the flat, just going down hills. It is quite fun to test your bottle. I always fail the fear test.... never made more than 34.5 mph on a 17 kilo ancient MTB, helmetless in Canada. The tyre rumble was quite spectacular.

Now I use it mainly to tell the time.

 

[mr_hippo]

What's wrong with -

No batteries or complicated wiring but you do have to put up with the clicking - downhill, it is like a machine gun but uphill it just reminds you of how slow you are!

On a serious note; I often advise new users to cover it up with aa opaque plastic bag to prevent cpmputer fixation and then start removing the bag at increasing distances from destination.

Sent from my iPhone home using Tapatalk a homing pigeon

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I've used my Holux GPSport 245 for a couple of years, it's gps based, pretty much waterproof and has a battery life of about a week.

You can find them for around the £40 sometimes, which I think it a proper bargain.

I also use the Endomondo app on my Android phone, which is better than the Holux in many ways but isn't handlebar mounted.

 

[smokeysmoo]

What's wrong with -

Wowsers, I'd forgotten al about those little gems. I haven't seen one of them for years, and yes, I do remember the clicky torment now you mention it