Computer

es330

I'm keen to invest in a computer (£40-£70 range) and need some advice.

I ride a trek 2.3c and have a round commute of 12 miles. I also enjoy the odd weekend rummaging up to 30 miles (I think). Hoping to do a few sportives around spring time.

Should I go for a wireless one and will a get a decent one for my price range? Cateye appear to have good reviews...

Should I look into one with a cadence facility? Will I find it more helpful than simple ave kph?

Two serious bike nut colleagues recommends Blackburn and Knog.

Help :?

rake

just read the title and first line and my initial thought was omg, thats not much for a pc. im not fully awake yet.

brettjmcc

I bought a Wireless Sigma 1609STS with a cadence sensor as well. Came to £60 all in. Works well and has good functions.

Reason I bought it. I have a Decthlon store 2 miles from my house and I was wandering round and saw it. Basic computer without the cadence sensor is 39.99

es330

brettjmcc wrote:

I bought a Wireless Sigma 1609STS with a cadence sensor as well. Came to £60 all in. Works well and has good functions.

Reason I bought it. I have a Decthlon store 2 miles from my house and I was wandering round and saw it. Basic computer without the cadence sensor is 39.99

Haven't read much into cadence. Do you use it? My colleague says it's most important feature.

johnnyL

Whatever one you go for it's worth investing in one that measures Cadence.

You may not use it much for commuting or easy weekend rides, but if you plan to do any training at a later date it's very usefull indeed.

antikythera

It useful to know what you want out of a computer? Nowadays I don't bother with one on most of my bikes (particularly the commuter). - what for?

But if you do have a plan for training or testing yourself then its good to have an idea of what you want.

1/ Cadence, yeah useful for some training techniques. But arguing that everyone should target X rpm's is b*llocks, there's no magic formula that works for all.

2/Wireless or not? Some are only wireless (but not in your price bracket). Just another source of batteries that need to be replaced. Its not difficult to wire a bike in a clean way. The best reason for wireless IMO, is for mountain biking where there's a chance of getting wires caught in branches and the like.

3/Speed sensor: get one that measures the rear wheel, that will give you more options later (indoor trainer etc).


At your price range most computers are pretty much the same. The useful differences are things like "amount of info per screen" and "ease of use" etc...

For my indoor trainer I have an echowell F1 (rear speed sensor). Not easy to get here - but cheap and cheerful. For long distance training (and sportifs) I have an edge 705 (without speed or cadence).

es330

antikythera wrote:

2/Wireless or not? Some are only wireless (but not in your price bracket). Just another source of batteries that need to be replaced. Its not difficult to wire a bike in a clean way. The best reason for wireless IMO, is for mountain biking where there's a chance of getting wires caught in branches and the like.

3/Speed sensor: get one that measures the rear wheel, that will give you more options later (indoor trainer etc).

Sound advice. I take it that when attaching to the rear part of the frame you simply just keep the wire close to the underside of the frame (attaching using masking tape)?

CiB

The Topeak Comp 140 is about £30 and includes cadence. You don't have to live by it; it's just another metric that you can judge your progress by.

Wiring the cadence sensor is easy; like you suggest run the wire up the bottom side of the down tube using black electrical tape to secure it, and from where it joins the front wheel sensor cable wind it round the brake cable in a spiral to lose all the slack. Leave enough to allow full rotation on the forks though for when you fall off, or if the bike topples over unexpectedly.

antikythera

es330 wrote:

Sound advice. I take it that when attaching to the rear part of the frame you simply just keep the wire close to the underside of the frame (attaching using masking tape)?

I use clear contact and cut it into strips for places like the down tube and chain stays. Then tape any wiring down with it. Its a cheap and cheerful solution but does need to be revisited every few years. You could use mylar or chopper tape depending on your budget, these seem to last longer without fraying at the edges.

brettjmcc

es330 wrote:

Haven't read much into cadence. Do you use it? My colleague says it's most important feature.

Yes I do use it, but as others say, its another metric that you can use. Normally I have MPH up and cadence on the screen. I then generally flick the cadence round to distance time and average cadence.

Mostly though for me I use it for doing assessments at the end, or checking how I am doing on a hill.

Yes, you will need batteries with wireless CR2032s to be exact. The same most comuter BIOS run on. I chose the wireless, as I din't want to figure out running wires round my bike.

Suffolkwheels

I'm no gypsy but I bought this for under £11 and its top banana: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 3D1&_rdc=1

OK so it doesnt record cadence but at that price you could hire a small northern lad to run alongside you and manually count your cadence. Or you could forget cadence altogether and donate your remaining budget to me.