WARNING cycle computers & your LBS

[Piemaster]

I've got the 260 model in the link. It will log each ride when you turn it on/off or you could simply press 'pause' on the train.
The on/off could be a minor pain as you can download it to the pc software app that comes with it but it would then show it as separate rides - pausing would be better.
Not really separate trip functions, but you can select which rides to download from the unit and get mileages/stats that way, or d/l everything then play around in the pc software - its fairly flexible.

It doesn't do mapping, as in overlaying a route you want to follow over a OS map, but will provide a 'breadcrumb trail' type route, which with actually looking where you're going and and the odd road sign I've found good enough.

 

[Crackle]

GPS, its the future.

Easy transfer between different bikes, different wheel sizes, no pickups to mess around with.

Even view it in google maps if you want (with some depressingly slow stats)

I've got a GPS one as well, a Garmin, so I'm double proofed. None of these useless wireless ones though

 

[Norm]

I've got the 260 model in the link. It will log each ride when you turn it on/off or you could simply press 'pause' on the train.
The on/off could be a minor pain as you can download it to the pc software app that comes with it but it would then show it as separate rides - pausing would be better.
Not really separate trip functions, but you can select which rides to download from the unit and get mileages/stats that way, or d/l everything then play around in the pc software - its fairly flexible.

TBH, I think I prefer a wireless one. Needing to access a PC to know how many miles a bike has travelled or choosing which rides to download sounds like considerably more effort than I can be bothered expending to know what mileage each bike has done.

I think GPS has a place, for logging total mileage cycled or for training to see your speed at a specific point in your route, for instance, but I don't (yet!) agree that it's a one-stop logging solution which you can switch between bikes.

 

[Beebo]

how long do the gps units take to lock on to a signal?

i had a garmin 305 running gps watch, i loved the features but it took about 3 mins to lock on to a signal.

are they quicker now? i dont have 3 mins to waste on the morning commute.

 

[HLaB]

how long do the gps units take to lock on to a signal?

i had a garmin 305 running gps watch, i loved the features but it took about 3 mins to lock on to a signal.

are they quicker now? i dont have 3 mins to waste on the morning commute.

With the edge 305 it varies, from second to depressingly minutes (it seems to be related to when you last used it and/or how clear the sky is) it was a big bugbear of the earlier gps I believe, hopefully its been addressed in newer models.

 

[byegad]

My wireless computer often has me doing 109.2mph. STOOD STILL! At traffic lights.

 

[chillyuk]

My wireless computer often has me doing 109.2mph. STOOD STILL! At traffic lights.

I had a Lidl wireless one use to do that. Also when I had it off the bike and near the computer movements of my wireless mouse caused it to register some great speeds!

 

[thedatastream]

My understanding is that most cycle computers use a magnet strapped to the front wheel and a sensor attached to the front fork that the magnet passes by.

It sounds very likely that a shop security detector could affect it as they most often use a low frequency mangetic field to detect the passing of the security tags and this signal would be in the input range of the cycle computer detector.

Traffic lights most often detect the presence of a metallic object using the same method, again having the potential to affect the detector.

Are wireless sensors more susceptible to interference? A lot will depend on the protocol used to communicate between sensor and computer as well as any signal processing that goes on either in the sensor or computer. YMMV.

Has anyone noted this occuring with wired sensors?

 

[jamin100]

Dont any of you use apps on your phone?
I use runkeeper (it does cycling) and works pretty well.

Tells me my distance, average speed, Time, Average mile time and also displays a map of my route.

 

[jonny jeez]

My understanding is that most cycle computers use a magnet strapped to the front wheel and a sensor attached to the front fork that the magnet passes by.

It sounds very likely that a shop security detector could affect it as they most often use a low frequency mangetic field to detect the passing of the security tags and this signal would be in the input range of the cycle computer detector.

Traffic lights most often detect the presence of a metallic object using the same method, again having the potential to affect the detector.

Are wireless sensors more susceptible to interference? A lot will depend on the protocol used to communicate between sensor and computer as well as any signal processing that goes on either in the sensor or computer. YMMV.

Has anyone noted this occuring with wired sensors?

its not the collection of data to the sensor its the transfer of data from the sensor to the comp that is effected by radio waves, micro waves, demi waves, tidal waves, mexican...etc

 

[thedatastream]

its not the collection of data to the sensor its the transfer of data from the sensor to the comp that is effected by radio waves, micro waves, demi waves, tidal waves, mexican...etc

Interesting.

From looking at the Cateye website my guess is the sensor that straps to the frame retransmits the pulse to the computer in a very basic fashion rather than using any kind of wireless protocol like Zigbee of Bluetooth. This means the reciever inside the computer would have to be made sensitive enough to detect these pulses from a relatively large distance hence it's susceptibility to external fields and the like.

It would also explain why wired sensors seem to be more immune.

The product instructions (for the Velo Wireless+ http://202.215.251.86/images/manual/CC-VT210W_ENG_v2.pdf) do say that it is susceptible to interference from such things. I guess the manufacturers aren't too worried about it, it doesn't form any kind of safety hazard and because they state that there could be interference they would be complying with EU directives on such things.

J


p.s. electromagnetic interference is my field of work so I'm taking a geeky interest 8-)

 

[3tyretrackterry]

i use a quest car satnav and i also have a streetpilot satnav if i stop for a period of time then it starts recording another track so if i got on the train for example as long as i knew approx what time i got on the train then i could ignore the 95mph run. easy to swap from bike to bike if you spend some time setting up the brackets. recharges on the mains lasts for 20hrs i cant fault mine oh the best thing cost me £50 on ebay compared to the garmin edge ot mapsat systems at £300+

 

[Zoof]

Interesting.

From looking at the Cateye website my guess is the sensor that straps to the frame retransmits the pulse to the computer in a very basic fashion rather than using any kind of wireless protocol like Zigbee of Bluetooth. This means the reciever inside the computer would have to be made sensitive enough to detect these pulses from a relatively large distance hence it's susceptibility to external fields and the like.

It would also explain why wired sensors seem to be more immune.

The product instructions (for the Velo Wireless+ http://202.215.251.8...210W_ENG_v2.pdf) do say that it is susceptible to interference from such things. I guess the manufacturers aren't too worried about it, it doesn't form any kind of safety hazard and because they state that there could be interference they would be complying with EU directives on such things.

p.s. electromagnetic interference is my field of work so I'm taking a geeky interest 8-)

I disagree with that: “it doesn't form any kind of safety hazard”

I got one of the first wireless computers out; some years ago. The sender was a big block, a simple pulse generator. But the range was bad, I had to have the unit low down. So, I tweak it a bit, which greatly improved it's range. The down side was that as I rode by; one or two of the old guys going for their pension, suddenly started running.

Cheers Zoof.