Computers
webboo
Posts: 6,087
I have used Various Sigma computers for the last few years, the sort that use a wheel magnet plus a heart rate monitor.
My current appears to have given up the ghost.
So I'm after something that's gives me distance, current speed, average speed, heart rate, average heart rate, max heart rate and calories used. Also altitude would be a bonus. I would like to move away from the wheel magnet ones.
In regard to the GPS ones do they all come with maps.
One final thing biggish screen as I don't want to be riding in my reading glasses.
My current appears to have given up the ghost.
So I'm after something that's gives me distance, current speed, average speed, heart rate, average heart rate, max heart rate and calories used. Also altitude would be a bonus. I would like to move away from the wheel magnet ones.
In regard to the GPS ones do they all come with maps.
One final thing biggish screen as I don't want to be riding in my reading glasses.
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Comments
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All GPS units will have altitude. The better ones use a barometer for alititude. Look for one with ANT+ for HRM connection. Speed sensors are still useful as the distance/speed recorded will be more accurate with one (if wheel size set correctly) due to GPS errors. The Garmin speed and cadence sensors don't use magnets which is great.Webboo wrote:I have used Various Sigma computers for the last few years, the sort that use a wheel magnet plus a heart rate monitor.
My current appears to have given up the ghost.
So I'm after something that's gives me distance, current speed, average speed, heart rate, average heart rate, max heart rate and calories used. Also altitude would be a bonus. I would like to move away from the wheel magnet ones.
No. The Wahoo Elemnt and Garmin 8xx, 1000 are the mapping & navigating ones. You can put a small amount of maps on a Edge 520.Webboo wrote:In regard to the GPS ones do they all come with maps.
Garmin's Edge 1000 has the biggest screen. The Wahoo Elemnt is supposed to be very readable.Webboo wrote:One final thing biggish screen as I don't want to be riding in my reading glasses.0 -
Garmin Touring Plus will do all that if paired with a suitable HR chest strap. Comes with pretty detailed maps for the whole of Europe and will give you reliable turn by turn directions when you're following a course. Decent screen size and you can tell it how many things to display; the fewer you have the larger they'll be. I have speed, heart rate and distance in large characters, and time and calories in smaller cells at the bottom.0
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The Lezyne GPS units will do what you want, although I'm not sure how well they display the maps they will do turn by turn. You'd need to check if they will work like a sat nav and design a route.
Keef66's suggestion of the Touring Plus is a good shout too.
When it comes to maps don't bother paying for them, you can use openstreetmaps and other open source maps. The main thing to take into consideration when considering mapping is how much space there is on the device and if it is expandable. This is particularly important for touring. As a general guide and OSM generic routable map for Great Britain is ~600MB. France is 1.5GB. You can obviously break them up into sections and just put the ones you need on for that day, but not having to worry about that is very good.0 -
Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:The Lezyne GPS units will do what you want, although I'm not sure how well they display the maps they will do turn by turn. You'd need to check if they will work like a sat nav and design a route.
They don't really display the maps - they do a breadcrumb trail, and they do a simplified overview of your route which will show you how far along to your destination you are - but the direction element is covered (as you say) by turn-by-turn.
For creating routes they've got a route builder on their website (unfinished so far) but with a Ride With GPS (free) account you can design a route and port them across. That will have TBT nav.
For impromptu or one way nav, you need to search for your destination on your phone using the Lezyne app (Google Maps based) and it will then push it across to the Lezyne GPS.
The whole setup is a bit buggy at the moment - it comes across to me like they've got the hardware side sorted but the software glitches are still being ironed out. The flip side of that? They're cheap, and I believe that you get a lot for your money. It's just a question of how soon they'll iron those bugs out. I've only recently bought mine (the Super, enhanced version) and I like the unit but haven't been able to test the nav out yet due to bugs. Quite happy to persevere though.0 -
I'm not that bothered about maps as most of the time I tend to know where I going and I don't mind getting a map out of my pocket if need be.
I'm more interested in the other stuff so am I right in thinking the lower number Garmins(200,500, 520 etc) are the ones with this.0 -
I went from wired sigma to garmin 500 fits the bill but budget for the new (ish) magnet free seperate speed and cadence sensors as they are way way better. Does supposedly do breadcrumb trail routes but I couldnt get thst to work when I experimented but I only wanted it for same as you so Im not bothered.0
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If you aren't bothered about mapping or anything fancy, the Garmin 25 is probably the best bet.
Also take a look at Mio Cyclo ones. I used a 105 for about a year before upgrading.
The 105 is a great little (if a touch old) bike computer. The display is nice and big, as you can choose the number of fields to display ( I just used to have speed and distance)0 -
Webboo wrote:I'm not that bothered about maps as most of the time I tend to know where I going and I don't mind getting a map out of my pocket if need be.
I'm more interested in the other stuff so am I right in thinking the lower number Garmins(200,500, 520 etc) are the ones with this.
200 won't, has no connections. I think the new 25 does. You'll need to check how many fields they can display too if you want all the info you said on the same page. Problem is you said you needed a big screen, the 2 and 5 series Garmins are fairly small. Touring Plus should be ok.
Great info from tenofive about the Lezyne. They look reasonably big and fall in a similar price range to the Garmins.0 -
If Readability is the most important consideration then the Wahoo Elemnt is the best for this.0
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Webboo wrote:I'm not that bothered about maps as most of the time I tend to know where I going and I don't mind getting a map out of my pocket if need be.
I'm more interested in the other stuff so am I right in thinking the lower number Garmins(200,500, 520 etc) are the ones with this.
Use your phone.0 -
I have my wife's bosses old IPhone which is rather large and even I''m not that blind. I suppose you can't use a Kindlehsiaolc wrote:Webboo wrote:I'm not that bothered about maps as most of the time I tend to know where I going and I don't mind getting a map out of my pocket if need be.
I'm more interested in the other stuff so am I right in thinking the lower number Garmins(200,500, 520 etc) are the ones with this.
Use your phone.
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