bar mounted timing device?

bluechair84

Aye up, I'm after a little stopwatch I can tape to my stem with a trigger near the shifters, is there such a thing out there that isn't aimed at the pros?
In the unlikely event of me finding a cheap n cheerfull one, I shall buy and hack open a stopwatch and wire up the button to somewhere on the shifter.

Raymondavalon

Buy a cheap Casio F-91W watch and attach that to your bars. They cost under £10 on FleaBay and are also the official timepiece of Al Qaeda

bluechair84

I'd have to cross the imaginary finish line on a no-hander to operate it though. I can barely ride one handed...

cooldad

You may be taking things too seriously.

bluechair84

Hmm, missed the part where ray suggested straping to the bars. It's a good idea.

Torres

I remember reading about something like this in dirt a while back... the display mounted instead of a top cap and IIRC you got a joplin/reverb style remote for it.

bartimaeus

I time myself with my GPS logger. It is accurate to within 30 seconds / 10 m cep / 50m vertical which is pretty similar to my riding, so that's good enough for me. The other big advantage is that I have no idea how slow I was, where I've been, or what time it is until after I get home - so I can't take it too seriously.

bluechair84

a GPS logger could be interesting, I could use my phone and viewranger possibly. But it's a very short DH circuit I'll be doing lots of runs over. There's a local DH race in October which will be my first so I thought I'd time a few runs before the race and try to see where I can make up a bit more time. So waiting until I got home wouldn't work for me.

an_original_name

why not get a cheap bike computer and just reset it at the start of every run. it would auto start when you start and auto stop when you stop so no need to take hands of bars etc.

bluechair84

an_original_name wrote:

why not get a cheap bike computer and just reset it at the start of every run. it would auto start when you start and auto stop when you stop so no need to take hands of bars etc.

Didn't know they did this. could work, but I'd have to stop after the finish line before it would register a time which wouldn't be accurate to actually crossing the line. It's such a short circuit that tenths of seconds will make a big difference. The top times will probably be under a minute. Raymonds watch strapped around the bars could work if I could wrap a finger around the button.
In the mean time (no pun intended), I've ordered a stopwatch to strip down and wire up the botton to the back of one of the brake lever.

Anonymous

cooldad wrote:

You may be taking things too seriously.

^^ This man speaketh the truth.

bluechair84

Why? I have a serious question posted in 'general', not 'crudcatcher'. Was my response to Raymond too serious or that I want to measure my time over a short circuit in preperation for a race next month?

Anonymous

Because a simple bike computer would give you enough indication of how well you're doing.
And besides - you can only go as fast as you can, why even bother timing your run down a DH track? What possible reason could you have to NOT ride at YOUR maximum?

bluechair84

Seriously? I do think you must be joking the other half of the time I'm not in agreement with you.
There is a local DH race next month I'd like to enter - inpsired by riding in the Alps recently. I want to improve my riding and my times on this short run as I'm not an exceptional DHer and need the practise. I'll try different lines, different tehniques and see how well I can do - the stopping distance at the bottom will make a significant difference because the course is so short.

Anonymous

Hmm, trying different lines, I see.
However, if, as you say, you're not an exceptional DHer, then there will be too much variance in each run time to make such accurate timing useful. So, I still maintain, you're taking things far too seriously.
If you were actually fighting for the win, where every hundredth of a second counts, sure, but otherwise, just go have fun.

weeksy59

bluechair84 wrote:

Seriously? I do think you must be joking the other half of the time I'm not in agreement with you.
There is a local DH race next month I'd like to enter - inpsired by riding in the Alps recently. I want to improve my riding and my times on this short run as I'm not an exceptional DHer and need the practise. I'll try different lines, different tehniques and see how well I can do - the stopping distance at the bottom will make a significant difference because the course is so short.

I think what he's saying is...

If you're going flat out and trying to make time on sections, how do you know even if your timing is accurate to a 10'th where you made up that 10th ? how would you gauge where you gained/lost ground ?

You're riding at your maximum, if you find you need 2 seconds, how are you going to find a new maximum ?

bluechair84

The main choice that will affect the time is the many doubles; it's pretty easy to over reach and land to flat on the far side. I can't decide if it's quicker to slow alittle and ride the double properly to then 'pump' off the transition or to hit it flat out, clear the whole thing and ride out the rough landing.

I'm genuinely interested if I can improve my times with practise, it's a local run, i'll hit it regularly before the event, so I will be getting better (that's the idea), and a stopwatch will help me to quantify this. Who knows, maybe I'll be a 'late bloomer' and become a DH warrior by October 8)

-- edited for fluency --

weeksy59

Personally i rekon you'll learn more about the quick way down by watching how quick lads take particular sections. Although this may mean you don't find this information out until the day.

bluechair84

Yeah, agree with that. I'm hoping to meet some seasoned lads whilst I practise and follow them down, see how they hit it. I've been given positive feedback by some riders there who thought I looked very quick, but I'm under no illusion of being a real competitor. Just want to improve and enjoy the event.

weeksy59

bluechair84 wrote:

Yeah, agree with that. I'm hoping to meet some seasoned lads whilst I practise and follow them down, see how they hit it. I've been given positive feedback by some riders there who thought I looked very quick, but I'm under no illusion of being a real competitor. Just want to improve and enjoy the event.

Lastly...

If you enter and ride... you ARE a real competitor mate.... Don't ever believe you're not.

I propped up the arse end of motorcycle races for a few years at the big UK circuits on my Ducati and Suzuki... but i was as real as anyone else out there.

It takes balls to prove yourself and do it... even if you prove most people are better than you

bluechair84

weeksy59 wrote:

It takes balls to prove yourself and do it... even if you prove most people are better than you

Yer ok, I am a bit competitive and want to hit this b@srd flat out. But I'll be happy if I beat one other guy. 'Most' means someone will be behind me propping up my ego.

Anonymous

Pfft, I don't believe any of you are real. I know I'm just making you up. Funny thing is, you don't :P