Handlebar compass?

Pat said:

Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the one
Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

Pat

Have a look at your local scuba dive shop. Amongst other manufacturers, Suunto makes a wrist mounting version which should therefore fit lots of handlebar heartrate monitor mounts etc.
They are visible and have a faair amount of tilt movement in the dial before it jams the pointer.

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass

I had one for a while -- see: http://tinyurl.com/3huy9

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malcomm <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Pat said:

Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the
one
Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

Pat

Have a look at your local scuba dive shop. Amongst other
manufacturers, Suunto makes a wrist mounting version which should
therefore fit lots of handlebar heartrate monitor mounts etc.
They are visible and have a faair amount of tilt movement in the dial
before it jams the pointer.

Also check the online REI catalog. They probably have the Suunto backpacker
wristmount compass, which may be cheaper than the scuba versions.

Be careful about mounting it near steel parts on your bike, if you care
about the accuracy. Try moving it around the bike, and see if the needle
moves off north in the location where you plan to mount it. If you have a
steel frame, it might be more accurate if you wear it on your wrist, where
you can pull it away from the frame when checking directions.

--
Mike Barrs

I put a GPSr on my mountian bike (an etrex, with a bicycle mount). It
has a compass, and shows your speed, altitude, etc.. The main drawback
is cost (the etrex was $100 and the bike mount another $20). Also, the
compas only works if you're moving, as it gets info not from the
magnetic field but from it's change in positoin relative to the
satellites it's traking. However, that lets it show true north as
opposed to magnetic north, and it works GREAT! Does everything a
cyclocomputer does (except cadence) without the wires, plus has a compas
and altimeter.

Pat said:

Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the one
Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

Pat

Rich <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I put a GPSr on my mountian bike (an etrex, with a bicycle mount). It
has a compass, and shows your speed, altitude, etc.. The main drawback
is cost (the etrex was $100 and the bike mount another $20). Also, the
compas only works if you're moving, as it gets info not from the
magnetic field but from it's change in positoin relative to the
satellites it's traking. However, that lets it show true north as
opposed to magnetic north, and it works GREAT! Does everything a
cyclocomputer does (except cadence) without the wires, plus has a compas
and altimeter.

How heavy is this as compared to a cyclocomputer? And does it eat
batteries the way most GPS's do?

gds said:

How heavy is this as compared to a cyclocomputer? And does it eat
batteries the way most GPS's do?

I have two eTrex's (the old 2-AA models) on the handlebars, so as to watch
the breadcrumb maps at two different scales; at night, one of them illuminates
at every turn I've marked out, just as an amusement : they keep track even
when they can't see, and it sort of keeps you company in the darkness.

One I've stopped resetting, just to see if the odometer goes over 9999 miles;
an experiment almost completed once, but ruined when I got them mixed up
and reset the no-reset one by mistake.

I get 15-16 hours with 2200 mAh NiMH AA's. That's probably about what
alkalines would get.

You won't notice the weight.

It is, all in all, superior entertainment.

I have two because the page button fell off one - this seems to be the
failure mode in wearing out - and I ordered another eTrex as a replacement.
However, a temporary repair seems to be holding year after year, so now
I have two. Temporary repair - wad up half a packing peanut into a tiny
ball. If it cracks, it's the wrong kind of plastic. If it doesn't crack
but just wads, push it into the missing button hole, and tape it over with
high quality (!) say 3M electrical tape. Very important about the quality.
The result is a super button that apparently lasts forever, and is as good
as the original.
--
Ron Hardin
[email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Funny you ask, I bought one last night at a Meijer Store. It was in the
camping gear section of the sporting goods department for $4.95. It is made
to wear on your wrist with a velcro band that is to large for the handlebar
but I removed the strap and used zip ties to mount it with.
"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the one
Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

Pat

Make sure any compass you buy comes with directions.

Leo Lichtman said:

Make sure any compass you buy comes with directions.

This thread just headed south.

Bill "straight" S.

It weighs very little, and given it does eat batteries, I use
rechargables, which are fairly inexpensive now-adays. Lasts 15 hours or
so on a charge.

gds said:

Rich <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I put a GPSr on my mountian bike (an etrex, with a bicycle mount). It
has a compass, and shows your speed, altitude, etc.. The main drawback
is cost (the etrex was $100 and the bike mount another $20). Also, the
compas only works if you're moving, as it gets info not from the
magnetic field but from it's change in positoin relative to the
satellites it's traking. However, that lets it show true north as
opposed to magnetic north, and it works GREAT! Does everything a
cyclocomputer does (except cadence) without the wires, plus has a compas
and altimeter.

How heavy is this as compared to a cyclocomputer? And does it eat
batteries the way most GPS's do?

"foldedpath" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Also check the online REI catalog. They probably have the Suunto

backpacker

Quoted message said:

wristmount compass, which may be cheaper than the scuba versions.

Nobody seems to have the full size Suunto wrist compass, they're all
digital now (what the world really doesn't need) for much higher prices.

Peter Cole said:

Nobody seems to have the full size Suunto wrist compass, they're all
digital now (what the world really doesn't need) for much higher prices.

That's good. You can put the flux gate itself on the end of a long wooden stick
and the readout on the handlebars, and be free of the influence of the bike steel
on the direction.
--
Ron Hardin
[email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Ron Hardin said:

That's good. You can put the flux gate itself on the end of a long wooden stick
and the readout on the handlebars, and be free of the influence of the bike steel
on the direction.

Wouldn't it be simpler just to stick it to the end of your nose?

Norman Wilson
Toronto ON
--
To reply directly, expel `.edu'.

Pat said:

Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the one
Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

Pat

Nashbar had a bell/compass gizmo for about $4.00, which they may still
sell. I've got one and it has been OK, although there are two minor
caveats:

1. It's not like a boat compass, where you look at the side nearest you
and see the direction in which you're going. Rather, the headings are
painted on like a normal compass, so your direction (as in N, E, S, W)
appears on the side of the compass toward the front of the bike.

2. It may be affected by nearby steel on the bike, just like auto
compasses are by all the steel around them. So the thing is probably not
that accurate. But it might help you figure out that you're going west
instead of east, for example.

The bell does have a nice, clear "ping."

:-)

In article <[email hidden]>,

- said:

2. It may be affected by nearby steel on the bike, just like auto
compasses are by all the steel around them. So the thing is probably not
that accurate. But it might help you figure out that you're going west
instead of east, for example.

It just needs a binnacle, c/w quadrantal spheres and
heeling magnets.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Pat said:

Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the one
Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

I bought a couple of these: http://www.altimeters.net/altclipon.htm
I bought mine for travel, and I haven't taken a trip yet. A friend took the
other, and she's happy using it around here in Brooklyn.

Don <donwiss at panix.com>.

Looks nice and compact, yet functional...is it affected much by the metal in
the hadlebar though?

"Don Wiss" <donwiss@no_spam.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Pat said:

Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the one
Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

I bought a couple of these: http://www.altimeters.net/altclipon.htm
I bought mine for travel, and I haven't taken a trip yet. A friend took

the

Quoted message said:

other, and she's happy using it around here in Brooklyn.

Don <donwiss at panix.com>.

: >Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the one
: >Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

: I bought a couple of these: http://www.altimeters.net/altclipon.htm
: I bought mine for travel, and I haven't taken a trip yet. A friend took
the
: other, and she's happy using it around here in Brooklyn.
:
: Don <donwiss at panix.com>.

Hey, thanks! It's smooth and not like something out of a cereal box.

Pat in TX

Pat said:

: >Has anyone seen a decent handlebar compass that doesn't look like the one
: >Bell puts out, i.e., a toy?

: I bought a couple of these: http://www.altimeters.net/altclipon.htm
: I bought mine for travel, and I haven't taken a trip yet. A friend took
the
: other, and she's happy using it around here in Brooklyn.
:
: Don <donwiss at panix.com>.

Hey, thanks! It's smooth and not like something out of a cereal box.

Pat in TX

Yea, that would look good on my handlebar, until the first time I
forget to take it when I leave the bike.