Which kind of sensor do you use often when you riding?

jeffersonduang

When you riding, which of the following sensor do you use often? Which do you want to use?
1,cadence sensor
2,speed sensor
3,HR (Heart Rate)
4,Power

lostboysaint

1,2 & 3.

1,2 & 3!

BTwin Speed and Cadence and HR ANT+ all talking to a Garmin 800.

colinsmith123

1 to 4, plus another. Pain sensor. That's the most pointless sensor of all as it always seems to be in alarm. :roll:

sloppyschleckonds

Is this a quiz?

jgsi

Pointless sensor... what you asking for?

RutlandGav

As a relative newB, I have acquired only 3) so far, relatively recently. Cadence I have a pretty good feel for, so is low priority, speed means nothing because so many external factors - namely, wind, affect it. Best of all would be 4), power meter. I am trying to convince myself to splash the cash. It's the most money I have spent on any single item, except my car. And non discretionary stuff like council tax, obviously.

kajjal

None, I don't want to get too caught up in performance stats and focus more on the ride. I do use an edge 500 for general speed / distance stats, mapping and strava but not obsessively.

colinsmith123

To the OP, unless you have the cash to splash, or are racing or at least planning on racing do you really need a PM. A PM is only a part of the jigsaw and unless you are prepared to spend an age learning how to use and interpret the data or can afford a coach to do this for you, then your HR will more than suffice.

There is a lot of truth in what Kajal says. It does become obsessive. As my better half says, I spend almost as much time looking at my ride data as I do riding.

RutlandGav

Still a relative novice, but riding a lot, I'm attracted to the power meter and the hr monitor because i'm looking to lose weight through cycling (well, i have already lost quite a bit in fact) , but keep going into "bonk" mode on longer rides. I want to pace in such a way that i can avoid the bonk without having to constantly stuff huge quantities of sugar in. Just going by "feel" ain't cutting it, and speed is so influenced by wind never mind traffic and terrain - my best time for my commute, for example, is 70 minutes with a tailwind, 110 minutes with a headwind - at same average hr of 122.

In terms of usefulness, i'd say -

1. power
2. hr
3. cadence
4. speed

in terms of cost to implement

1. speed / hr / cadence ..... negligible cost


4. power.... eye watering

colinsmith123

RutlandGav wrote:

Still a relative novice, but riding a lot, I'm attracted to the power meter and the hr monitor because i'm looking to lose weight through cycling (well, i have already lost quite a bit in fact) , but keep going into "bonk" mode on longer rides. I want to pace in such a way that i can avoid the bonk without having to constantly stuff huge quantities of sugar in. Just going by "feel" ain't cutting it, and speed is so influenced by wind never mind traffic and terrain - my best time for my commute, for example, is 70 minutes with a tailwind, 110 minutes with a headwind - at same average hr of 122.

In terms of usefulness, i'd say -

1. power
2. hr
3. cadence
4. speed

in terms of cost to implement

1. speed / hr / cadence ..... negligible cost


4. power.... eye watering

None of the above is going to stop you from bonking. Only experience can do that.

daniel_b

1, 2, 3 and kind of 4.
Cadence is REALLY useful for me, I have increased it by 20% over 18 months use, rather than just grinding along in too big a gear as I used do and knackering what muscles I have.
Having and using the stats from one probably makes it later redundant, but I still like it for peace of mind.

Heart rate is very useful for my training I do, targeting different zones for steady rides or intervals etc.

Everyone has speed surely? Though I don't have it on my main screen, so perhaps that means I do not 'use' it as such.

I currently have a powercal hr strap that kind of estimates your wattage output.
Plenty of debates to be had out there with regards to whether it is any good, accurate etc etc, fair review by dc rainmaker I would say.
Anyway, it has worked very well for me, but I am currently waiting for a delivery of some Garmin Vector 2's, so will be interested to see how they go, and as I love to crunch numbers post ride, will give me even more to do!
And will hopefully be a breeze to swap between multiple bikes.

Just joined my local club, so have some training sessions lined up, along with some TT's and if all goes well, some very amateur racing.

I ordered mine recently when Rose had a pair for £30 more than a single one costs in the UK, I could not resist.
My torque wrench is ready to go!

Druidor

#2 speed sensor

Keep looking at getting a HRM to monitor when I am going to have a coronary going up the hills round me.

Fat bloke and hils not a good combination at times.

Man Of Lard

Eyes, ears...

Of the accoutrements: HRM, cadence, temperature sensors. Speed from GPS.

bob6397

I use speed (from my Garmin eTrex) - and then upload the data to strava after..

Nothing else - the same on my mtb as well.. Don't need 'em - I know when my legs aren't going fast enough and I can tell if I'm not putting enough power in when I start to slow down...

diy

Unless I'm chasing a PB on something I wont look at speed much, Cadence occasionally HR frequently, if its a training (Fitness) ride.

I use the power meeter a lot on indoor training.

jeffersonduang

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Is this a quiz?

We are making a smart professional bicycle, we want to build it perfect.

jeffersonduang

JGSI wrote:

Pointless sensor... what you asking for?

I want to know when you are training, what kind of data use often, and how to use them.

jeffersonduang

RutlandGav wrote:

As a relative newB, I have acquired only 3) so far, relatively recently. Cadence I have a pretty good feel for, so is low priority, speed means nothing because so many external factors - namely, wind, affect it. Best of all would be 4), power meter. I am trying to convince myself to splash the cash. It's the most money I have spent on any single item, except my car. And non discretionary stuff like council tax, obviously.

The power meter is so expansive. How much would you pay for it ? My friend recently buy a power meter, almost cost $1500. If a bicycle has a power meter inside, and it is not so expansive, do you want to buy it ?

JackPozzi

jeffersonduang wrote:

RutlandGav wrote:

As a relative newB, I have acquired only 3) so far, relatively recently. Cadence I have a pretty good feel for, so is low priority, speed means nothing because so many external factors - namely, wind, affect it. Best of all would be 4), power meter. I am trying to convince myself to splash the cash. It's the most money I have spent on any single item, except my car. And non discretionary stuff like council tax, obviously.

The power meter is so expansive. How much would you pay for it ? My friend recently buy a power meter, almost cost $1500. If a bicycle has a power meter inside, and it is not so expansive, do you want to buy it ?

Personally I use a PM on several bikes so having it built into one bike and not being able to transfer it would be an unnecessary expense.

lostboysaint

Daniel B wrote:

Cadence is REALLY useful for me, I have increased it by 20% over 18 months use, rather than just grinding along in too big a gear as I used do and knackering what muscles I have.

That. There's often a very big difference from "having a good feel" for it to actually using the target cadence you're after. Like this poster I found a very big difference when I started using it - despite having already assured myself I was where I wanted to be!

BrandonA

I always wearing a HRM regardless of the bike I ride.

Both bikes have Power Meters. Both Power Meters compute cadence so neither bike has a cadence sensor.

My main bike also has a distance / speed sensor. The second bike relies on GPS to compute this data.

angry_bird

1-4.

The power meter was a big investment, after a year of use I'm beginning to see the benefits. Would I have seen them without it? Probably, maybe not to quite the same extent. Was it worth it? IMO yes, I find the data interesting, it's useful for targeting specific areas when training and (at times) useful when racing to ensure I'm not overdoing it and reassuring when I can see how much more I can give before I know I'll blow up. Unfortunately when the adrenaline gets going my common sense/innate ability to pace myself often goes out the window, it's useful after the race to see if/when/where I've been doing too much work.

jeffersonduang

colinsmith123 wrote:

1 to 4, plus another. Pain sensor. That's the most pointless sensor of all as it always seems to be in alarm. :roll:

Pain sensor? For what ?

daniel_b

JackPozzi wrote:

jeffersonduang wrote:

RutlandGav wrote:

As a relative newB, I have acquired only 3) so far, relatively recently. Cadence I have a pretty good feel for, so is low priority, speed means nothing because so many external factors - namely, wind, affect it. Best of all would be 4), power meter. I am trying to convince myself to splash the cash. It's the most money I have spent on any single item, except my car. And non discretionary stuff like council tax, obviously.

The power meter is so expansive. How much would you pay for it ? My friend recently buy a power meter, almost cost $1500. If a bicycle has a power meter inside, and it is not so expansive, do you want to buy it ?

Personally I use a PM on several bikes so having it built into one bike and not being able to transfer it would be an unnecessary expense.

Exactly this - power meters are not cheap, and likely will not be cheap for a fair few years.
In my opinion the vast majority of people who want or would consider a power meter, would need to have the flexibility of moving it between multiple bikes, and building it into a biek takes that option away.

What happens if the frame cracks, or you want to sell the bike to buy a new one?

With pedals, crank or hub powermeters, you can simply move them onto your new bike.

I really do not think there is a market for the product you are envisioning - I will happily be proved wrong however

keef66

Speed, distance, heart rate displayed on main screen. I don't need a power meter to tell me how feeble I am.

rollemynot

I went out without my Garmin (forgot to charge it)

Phone in back pocket for Strava - and rode on RPE

2 PB's and a top 6

Do numbers hold me back?

lastwords

Cadence and power meter. I love to climb and a power meter helps with pacing its surprising how easy the start of a climb feels compared to the end when pacing with a power meter, before I invariably set out with too much pace. Cadence needs to be in the 80s to 90s for me and although I have a feel for it the screen just confirms what I feel. I also use HR cause you cannot always produce the same power ie ill or tired.

I don't display speed. Power meters can be as complicated or simple to use as you want them to be. I simply pace with mine after a while you get an idea of the numbers you can produce for different types of climb or lengths of flat road etc.