Cycling computers

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

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for info on the above, I would like to have something I can clip on to the handlebars
and with readouts big enough to read without using my reading glasses. I would like it to have 2
readouts one to give info on the bike, eg, instantaneous speed, ave speed etc, the other display
to give info on my body eg instantaneous heart rate, memory of heart rate with maximums etc.

Does such a thing exist? Does anyone have experience of using such a device with ref to
reliability, accuracy, price etc. Recommendations and/or constructive criticism would be
appreciated. Is there a website I can consult?

This might fit the bill.

wiggle.co.ukproduct detail.aspOpen ↗

--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W simonmason.karoo.netsimonmason.karoo.netOpen ↗

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

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for info on the above, I would like to have something I can clip on to the handlebars
and with readouts big enough to read without using my reading glasses. I would like it to have 2
readouts one to give info on the bike, eg, instantaneous speed, ave speed etc, the other display
to give info on my body eg instantaneous heart rate, memory of heart rate with maximums etc.

Does such a thing exist? Does anyone have experience of using such a device with ref to
reliability, accuracy, price etc. Recommendations and/or constructive criticism would be
appreciated. Is there a website I can consult? As I am new to biking and of advancing years I feel
I need to be reassured by the info that this type of device might give me and might enable me to
increase my fitness level safely Regards Erdefen

--

Erdefen, Can't help with the computer stuff, I'm afraid, but would be interested to know what you
ended up doing about buying a bike. Did you go for new?...which model did you get?...Did you use
your LBS or Half*rds ? Cheers, Dave.

In message <[email hidden]>, Erdefen <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for info on the above, I would like to have something I can clip on to the handlebars
and with readouts big enough to read without using my reading glasses. I would like it to have 2
readouts one to give info on the bike, eg, instantaneous speed, ave speed etc, the other display to
give info on my body eg instantaneous heart rate, memory of heart rate with maximums etc.

Does such a thing exist? Does anyone have experience of using such a device with ref to
reliability, accuracy, price etc. Recommendations and/or constructive criticism would be
appreciated. Is there a website I can consult? As I am new to biking and of advancing years I feel
I need to be reassured by the info that this type of device might give me and might enable me to
increase my fitness level safely Regards Erdefen

--
(Antispam, drop pants to EMail) All outgoing Emails checked for Virus with Norton.

Look at Polar (www.polar.fi) There's a selection of cyclist specific HRMs, none of them cheap!
--
Michael MacClancy

Erdefen said:

I'm looking for info on the above, I would like to have something I can clip on to the handlebars
and with readouts big enough to read without using my reading glasses. I would like it to have 2
readouts one to give info on the bike, eg, instantaneous speed, ave speed etc, the other display to
give info on my body eg instantaneous heart rate, memory of heart rate with maximums etc.

Quoted message said:

Does such a thing exist? Does anyone have experience of using such a device with ref to
reliability, accuracy, price etc. Recommendations and/or constructive criticism would be
appreciated. Is there a website I can consult? As I am new to biking and of advancing years I feel
I need to be reassured by the info that this type of device might give me and might enable me to
increase my fitness level safely

I'm sure such a device exists, and I'm sure it's very expensive!

As an old git with a heart problem who mustn't exceed a certain amount of exertion I have the same
problem. But the problem with HRMs is that my problems (angina, atherosclerosis) are only loosely
linked to heart rate. For example, generally speaking, it would be dangerous for me to exceed
150bpm, risky to exceed 140bpm for some time, and perfectly safe to trudge along at 130bpm for
hours. Except that sometimes my heart is a bit wobbly, and exceeding 100bpm feels pretty unpleasant,
and I need to sit down and rest. And usually 140bpm feels strenuous, but on a good day it feels
fine. According to my cardiologist, what it feels like is more important then numerical bpm, which
seems sensible to me.

However, I bought a cheap HRM (low end Polar), and wore it everywhere for a while. As a consequence
I learned to be able to guess my heart rate to within plus or minus 5 bpm. Now I only wear the thing
ocassionally, just to check that I'm still guessing right, or to do specific tests to see if the
ticker is getting better, e.g., recovering faster, or doing same work at lower bpm.

A cheap cycle computer plus a cheap HRM with a handlebar mount for the HRM "watch" will give you the
displays you want quite cheaply. Immediate figures are only a rough guide to what you really want to
know, confused by all sorts of noise factors such as wind, temperature, humidity, fatigue, last
meal, etc.. Long term trends are much more useful, but for that you don't want more expensive
devices on your handlebars, you want a proper computer with spreadsheet etc..

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 650 3085 DoD #205 School of Informatics, Edinburgh
University, 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK. [dai.ed.ac.ukcamOpen ↗ ]

Dave said:

Can't help with the computer stuff, I'm afraid, but would be interested to know what you ended up
doing about buying a bike. Did you go for new?...which model did you get?...Did you use your LBS
or Half*rds ? Cheers, Dave.

I'm afraid I went for a Halford Raleigh P4000 at 250 Pds, it seems OK but it's early days yet, I
bought it yesterday morning and did approx15 Miles on it, feeling the strain today so given it a
rest, will try 20Miles tomorrow and see how I get on, thanks for your interest. Cheers Erdefen

--
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Quoted message said:

I'm sure such a device exists, and I'm sure it's very expensive!

As an old git with a heart problem who mustn't exceed a certain amount of exertion I have the same
problem. But the problem with HRMs is that my problems (angina, atherosclerosis) are only loosely
linked to heart rate. For example, generally speaking, it would be dangerous for me to exceed
150bpm, risky to exceed 140bpm for some time, and perfectly safe to trudge along at 130bpm for
hours. Except that sometimes my heart is a bit wobbly, and exceeding 100bpm feels pretty
unpleasant, and I need to sit down and rest. And usually 140bpm feels strenuous, but on a good day
it feels fine. According to my cardiologist, what it feels like is more important then numerical
bpm, which seems sensible to me.

However, I bought a cheap HRM (low end Polar), and wore it everywhere for a while. As a
consequence I learned to be able to guess my heart rate to within plus or minus 5 bpm. Now I only
wear the thing ocassionally, just to check that I'm still guessing right, or to do specific tests
to see if the ticker is getting better, e.g., recovering faster, or doing same work at lower bpm.

A cheap cycle computer plus a cheap HRM with a handlebar mount for the HRM "watch" will give you
the displays you want quite cheaply. Immediate figures are only a rough guide to what you really
want to know, confused by all sorts of noise factors such as wind, temperature, humidity, fatigue,
last meal, etc.. Long term trends are much more useful, but for that you don't want more expensive
devices on your handlebars, you want a proper computer with spreadsheet etc..

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 650 3085 DoD #205 School of Informatics, Edinburgh
University, 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK. [dai.ed.ac.ukcamOpen ↗ ]

Many thanks for that, yes, I know the problem I also have angina although it doesn't sound as
severe as yours, that's one of the reasons I needed to get fit again as I am overweight, enjoy all
the wrong foods and have generally let myself go in the last few years. I was in the south of
France in June, my wife and I had arrived at a small hotel in a place called La Coquille, the temp
was 28 deg or thereabouts and as we were sitting outside having a cool beer under an umbrella a
couple of old boys came wobbling in on touring bikes, I would have put their ages at over 75 they
were drenched in sweat, pale and gasping for breath but looked lean and tanned, after 20 mins they
were out, recovered, showered, a change of clothes, greeted us with a bonsoir, sat at the table
next to us, ordered a chilled bottle of white wine which they proceeded to demolish in short order.
I had a great feeling of guilt and envy for these chaps and felt ashamed to be slobbing about in a
comfortable car when I knew that I should be doing this kind of thing, so I determined to get
myself a bike again and build up my fitness etc in the hope one day to emulate these wonderful old
boys. Cheers

Erdefen

--
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Simon Mason said:

This might fit the bill.

wiggle.co.ukproduct detail.aspOpen ↗

--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W simonmason.karoo.netsimonmason.karoo.netOpen ↗

Thanks for that, it seems to meet all the criteria I laid out, however I cannot find a detailed spec
on it, I have tried the VDO cytec web site and downloaded the details but simple things like
dimensions, battery life, type of battery(therefore cost), sensors-wired? sensors- wireless ? are
not discussed, clearly there must be some kind of wheel sensor involved, is it a wheel magnet with
sensing coil hard wired to the computer? does the heart sensor involve wearing some kind of chest
harness or is the pulse taken from wrist or ankle? why do these manufacturers not publish a full
spec these days? do they assume we cannot understand? Here I go ranting again, is it the Meldrew
syndrome kicking in? I don't BELIEVE it!!!!! Cheers Erdefen

--
(Antispam, drop pants to EMail) All outgoing Emails checked for Virus with Norton.

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm sure such a device exists, and I'm sure it's very expensive!

As an old git with a heart problem who mustn't exceed a certain amount of exertion I have the
same problem. But the problem with HRMs is that my problems (angina, atherosclerosis) are only
loosely linked to heart rate. For example, generally speaking, it would be dangerous for me to
exceed 150bpm, risky to exceed 140bpm for some time, and perfectly safe to trudge along at
130bpm for hours. Except that sometimes my heart is a bit wobbly, and exceeding 100bpm feels
pretty unpleasant, and I need to sit down and rest. And usually 140bpm feels strenuous, but on a
good day it feels fine. According to my cardiologist, what it feels like is more important then
numerical bpm, which seems sensible to me.

However, I bought a cheap HRM (low end Polar), and wore it everywhere for a while. As a
consequence I learned to be able to guess my heart rate to within plus or minus 5 bpm. Now I
only wear the thing ocassionally, just to check that I'm still guessing right, or to do specific
tests to see if the ticker is getting better, e.g., recovering faster, or doing same work at
lower bpm.

A cheap cycle computer plus a cheap HRM with a handlebar mount for the HRM "watch" will give you
the displays you want quite cheaply. Immediate figures are only a rough guide to what you really
want to know, confused by all sorts of noise factors such as wind, temperature, humidity,
fatigue, last meal, etc.. Long term trends are much more useful, but for that you don't want
more expensive devices on your handlebars, you want a proper computer with spreadsheet etc..

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 650 3085 DoD #205 School of Informatics, Edinburgh
University, 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK. [dai.ed.ac.ukcamOpen ↗ ]

Many thanks for that, yes, I know the problem I also have angina although

it

Quoted message said:

doesn't sound as severe as yours, that's one of the reasons I needed to

get

Quoted message said:

fit again as I am overweight, enjoy all the wrong foods and have generally let myself go in the
last few years. I was in the south of France in June, my wife and I had arrived at a small hotel
in a place called La Coquille, the temp was 28 deg or thereabouts

and

Quoted message said:

as we were sitting outside having a cool beer under an umbrella a couple

of

Quoted message said:

old boys came wobbling in on touring bikes, I would have put their ages at over 75 they were
drenched in sweat, pale and gasping for breath but

looked

Quoted message said:

lean and tanned, after 20 mins they were out, recovered, showered, a

change

Quoted message said:

of clothes, greeted us with a bonsoir, sat at the table next to us,

ordered

Quoted message said:

a chilled bottle of white wine which they proceeded to demolish in short order. I had a great
feeling of guilt and envy for these chaps and felt ashamed

to

Quoted message said:

be slobbing about in a comfortable car when I knew that I should be doing this kind of thing, so I
determined to get myself a bike again and build

up

Quoted message said:

my fitness etc in the hope one day to emulate these wonderful old boys. Cheers

Erdefen

--
(Antispam, drop pants to EMail) All outgoing Emails checked for Virus with Norton.

I swear by my Polar S710 and it will do all you want and more...but at a price. Do a Google on this
group and you will find plenty of info that others and myself have written over the past 12 months.
Any specific questions...ask away!

--
Mark

"Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak"

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

Quoted message said:

Dave said:

Can't help with the computer stuff, I'm afraid, but would be interested

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

know what you ended up doing about buying a bike. Did you go for new?...which model did you
get?...Did you use your LBS or Half*rds ? Cheers, Dave.

I'm afraid I went for a Halford Raleigh P4000 at 250 Pds, it seems OK but

it's

Quoted message said:

early days yet, I bought it yesterday morning and did approx15 Miles on

it,

Quoted message said:

feeling the strain today so given it a rest, will try 20Miles tomorrow and

see

Quoted message said:

how I get on, thanks for your interest. Cheers Erdefen

No problem! Glad to hear you got a result. When I started regularly cycling again, I did a 4 mile
round trip, daily, for a couple of months. Minor irritations but nothing more. Since then, I've done
35 mile mountain bike tracks and all the way upto a 100 mile a day end to end trip. I definitely
believe that starting off taking it easy and letting muscles get used to the new exercise type layed
down a good grounding for being able to move upto more extreme distances with minimum fuss. Guess
what I'm trying to say is take it easy initially, it will become easier, no point in rushing things
to be able to do the TdF in a couple of weeks. Most importantly, enjoy! Cheers, Dave.

A word of warning. If you decide to get HRM (eg Polar type) and separate cyclometer (a perfectly
reasonable thing to do), then do not get a wireless cyclometer. They can interfere with one another,
resulting in apparent speeds of up to 50mph and heart rates of over 300bpm....a bit alarming!

Regards Steve
--
*** Note: Please remove both socks before replying ***

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

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for info on the above, I would like to have something I can clip on to the handlebars
and with readouts big enough to read without using my reading glasses. I would like it to have 2
readouts one to give info on the bike, eg, instantaneous speed, ave speed etc, the other display
to give info on my body eg instantaneous heart rate, memory of heart rate with maximums etc.

Does such a thing exist? Does anyone have experience of using such a device with ref to
reliability, accuracy, price etc. Recommendations and/or constructive criticism would be
appreciated. Is there a website I can consult? As I am new to biking and of advancing years I feel
I need to be reassured by the info that this type of device might give me and might enable me to
increase my fitness level safely Regards Erdefen

--
(Antispam, drop pants to EMail) All outgoing Emails checked for Virus with Norton.

Erdefen said:

I'm looking for info on the above, I would like to have something I can clip on to the handlebars
and with readouts big enough to read without using my reading glasses.

Can't help with heart rate. But this Palm Pilot based software might have a big enough display:
bikebrain.combikebrain.comOpen ↗

steve said:

A word of warning. If you decide to get HRM (eg Polar type) and separate cyclometer (a perfectly
reasonable thing to do), then do not get a wireless cyclometer. They can interfere with one
another, resulting in apparent speeds of up to 50mph and heart rates of over 300bpm....a bit
alarming!

Regards Steve

The more expensive Polar models have coded transmitters ie. they receive only from the designated
transmitter. That'll eliminate any cross talk.

steve said:

A word of warning. If you decide to get HRM (eg Polar type) and separate cyclometer (a perfectly
reasonable thing to do), then do not get a wireless cyclometer. They can interfere with one
another, resulting in apparent speeds of up to 50mph and heart rates of over 300bpm....a bit
alarming!

Regards Steve

The more expensive Polar models have coded transmitters ie. they receive only from the designated
transmitter. That'll eliminate any cross talk.

Have a look at this, cgi.ebay.co.ukeBayISAPI.dllOpen ↗
also there a few others if you search on ebay .

search.ebay.co.uksearch.dllOpen ↗
ebaytag1code=3&ht=1&st=2&category2=16169&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&shortcut=2&from=R2&catref=C3

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Erdefen

BDave said:

Can't help with the computer stuff, I'm afraid, but would be interested to know what you ended up
doing about buying a bike. Did you go for new?...which model did you get?...Did you use your LBS
or Half*rds ? Cheers, Dave.

I'm afraid I went for a Halford Raleigh P4000 at 250 Pds, it seems OK but it's early days yet, I
bought it yesterday morning and did approx15 Miles on it, feeling the strain today so given it a
rest, will try 20Miles tomorrow and see how I get on, thanks for your interest. Cheers Erdefen
well done , if you have the commitment and patience results take time and you will notice them stay commited and good luck
--
(Antispam, drop pants to EMail) All outgoing Emails checked for Virus with Norton. [/B]