Bike computers

MikeyOz said:

anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

I've got a Sigmasport BC1200 with wireless kit on my main bike, and a VDO C10+ wireless on my old Colnago. Both work really well, but the VDO one is a little hungry on batteries. I'd recommend the Sigmasport - it's really good kit.

Don't bother with cadence. I used to have a Cateye Astrale (wired) computer with cadence - the cadence display fascinated me for about ten minutes, and after that I never bothered looking at it again. Speed only ones are much cleaner - more Zen.

Besides, if you're riding fixed (as of course you should be) then your speed and cadence are directly proportional anyway.

Cheers,

Suzy

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

Quoted message said:

Broke my bike computer just recently....... so new one is needed,
anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

anyway some opinions of what other people have ?

--
MikeyOz

ive got a sigma bc1600, there is a wireless version of it but i think you
lose the cadence function if you go wireless?
the bc1600 itself has been really good and theyre pretty cheap
the cateye double wireless seems to be cheaper on ebay now than it was a few
months back

MikeyOz said:

Broke my bike computer just recently....... so new one is needed,
anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

anyway some opinions of what other people have ?

I'm a bike computer junkie and have tried heaps. I've
also never been completely satisfied. Here is a bit of a
list with some brief opinions.

For a long time, my favourite was an Avocet 40 (I think).
I really like the magnetic pick-up which was a ring near
the axle. This meant that computer responded very quickly
to changes in speed (there is effectively about 12 magnets around
the wheel). Instead of a magnetic reed switch, there was a small coil
within which the alternating magnetic field induces a small alternating
current. That's currently on my (very) old tourer. Drawback
is that it chews through batteries pretty quickly. Avocet
still make computers but they don't seem to be easy to get.

I've tried numerous cateye wired and they all work adequately.
Not very exciting, displays can be a bit small.

Only wireless computer I've used is a Trelock 900. I don't
think there's much weight advantage as you need a battery in
the wheel pick-up. Real advantage is cleaner appearance. The
Trelock is too big for my taste although I like the mounting
system (so long as you have standard bars).

On my racing bike I lashed out and got a Campagnolo Ergobrain
which is pretty good. The you can control the computer with
buttons built into the break hoods which is pretty cool. An
absolute [censored] to install though - took me several hours and I
needed new bar tape and lots of cable ties. There are four wires
coming out of the head unit (wheel pick-up, cadence pick-up,
left button and right button). Heaps of info with a dual (ie
parallel) auto/manual set up. The unit will also tell you what
gear you're in which I find only mildly useful. There's also a
Shimano Flightdeck which I think is very similar but I've not used it.

Personally, I'm not fussed about having cadence. For me it's
an extra thing to click through to get to what you want. It also
adds lots of wires the bike. More useful would be a combined
HRM and computer - I like the look of the polar CS100 and CS200.
I would lose the brake hood controls though.

That's enough rambling for now...

DeF

--
e-mail: [email hidden]
To reply, you'll have to remove finger.

suzyj said:

Don't bother with cadence. I used to have a Cateye Astrale (wired) computer with cadence - the cadence display fascinated me for about ten minutes, and after that I never bothered looking at it again. Speed only ones are much cleaner - more Zen.

That depends. A measure without a purpose is not useful, however if a measure has a purpose it is useful.

The two bits of data I pay most attention to when cycling is heart rate and cadence. I ride near enough every day and I ride to get to work. If I don't give myself easy days then it's very easy to overtrain and run myself down, monitoring heart rate while riding helps a lot in that regard.

Where the cadence comes in is pretty much like a tacho in a car. If I've got room left in the heart rate zone for the day and the cadence gets above a hundred, I'll change up a gear. If my heart rate starts going out of zone I'll change down.

Lately I've been messing around with different cadences. I'll do a five minutes with a cadence of 95-100 and then switch to a cadence of 80-85 while maintaining the same heart rate zone. I've only done that a couple of times but certainly felt as if different parts of my legs had been worked.

It'd be a bit difficult to do that sort of thing without a cadence reading. You could say that one should know how fast the legs are going round; maybe it's just me but there are times when I feel like I'm doing a cadence of 90 only to find I'm doing 110 and vice versa. My body's not good at giving me objective feedback.

quote='suzyj'MikeyOz said:

anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

I've got a Sigmasport BC1200 with wireless kit on my main bike, and a VDO C10+ wireless on my old Colnago. Both work really well, but the VDO one is a little hungry on batteries. I'd recommend the Sigmasport - it's really good kit.

Don't bother with cadence. I used to have a Cateye Astrale (wired) computer with cadence - the cadence display fascinated me for about ten minutes, and after that I never bothered looking at it again. Speed only ones are much cleaner - more Zen.

Besides, if you're riding fixed (as of course you should be) then your speed and cadence are directly proportional anyway.

Cheers,

Suzy[/QUOTE]
Or try a Sigmasport BC1600. It has a cadence kit that does not have to be installed. You could have it on for the first ten minutes and then remove it for zen reasons 😉 .

You can get them for $40 from Bikepro in Melbourne, which includes the cadence. The wireless harness is another $40, though I don't think that includes wireless cadence.

Personally, I prefer a wire. One less techo thing to go wrong and the sensor and receiver don't look as clunky. Once the wire is installed properly, you hardly notice it. I've heard too many people complain about interference and flat batteries.

suzyj said:

MikeyOz said:

anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

I've got a Sigmasport BC1200 with wireless kit on my main bike, and a
VDO C10+ wireless on my old Colnago. Both work really well, but the
VDO one is a little hungry on batteries. I'd recommend the Sigmasport
- it's really good kit.

Don't bother with cadence. I used to have a Cateye Astrale (wired)
computer with cadence - the cadence display fascinated me for about ten
minutes, and after that I never bothered looking at it again. Speed
only ones are much cleaner - more Zen.

Besides, if you're riding fixed (as of course you should be) then your
speed and cadence are directly proportional anyway.

Cheers,

Suzy

--
suzyj

I found cadence really good when I was starting out. I have a Cateye
Astrale 8 on my race bike and it has the cadence counter on it and I get
distracted by it these days - oooh, am I really pedalling that fast? I
bought a Sigma BC1600 (maybe) for my commuter and put the cadence kit
on, but the wiring got wet and brittle and broke somewhere, thus stopped
reading after a few months, so I just ripped it off. Cadence is pretty
much in my head now.

Tam

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

Quoted message said:

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

I decided on the Echowell Echo-F2. Not wireless, but nice & cheap at
$60-70.00 and has cadence. The wireless version doesn't have a cadence meter
but I consider cadence vital so I went with this one.
I'm happy enough with it but it's kind of annoying that it can only show
average cadence with the clock. I'd prefer a screen with clock, speed and
actual cadence at the same time but I guess I could always wear a watch if
the time was that important.

--
www.ozcableguy.com
www.oztechnologies.com

My 2 cents....

I've got a Topeak wireless, picked up from my LBS. No fancy functions,
just the usual..... Never skipped a beat, and does what i need. About
$100 (from memory), give or take... Would definitely recommend it (if
you don't want cadence...).

Cheers,
Abby

MikeyOz said:

Broke my bike computer just recently....... so new one is needed,
anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

anyway some opinions of what other people have ?

--
MikeyOz

I've got computers with cadence on my two bikes. A Sigma BC1600 and
Cateye Astrale (the old model, works the same, looks different, smaller
display) I much prefer the Cateye for a few reasons. The Cateye can
change between auto start/stop and manual, The Sigma is auto only.
Manual start stop is handy for timing races, intervals etc. The Cateye
can swap the cadence between the main display and the sub display. The
Sigma cadence is an optional extra and the extra wires aren't very well
attached and in a bad position and fall off sometimes. The Sigma
average speed algorithm is wildly inaccurate. The Sigma actually died
after 1 week but was replaced under warranty. The Sigma does have some
features that the Cateye doesn't have such as extra odometers and trip
meters but I don't find them particularly useful, some people might
though.

I personally wouldn't bother paying extra for a wireless computer when
it just has more things to go wrong and extra batteries to replace.

I find having cadence on my computers very useful hence having it on
both of my bikes. Sure you get to know what cadences feel like and
mightn't really need it but you could say that about speed too couldn't
you.

Bruce.

MikeyOz said:

Broke my bike computer just recently....... so new one is needed,
anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

anyway some opinions of what other people have ?

take your pick
http://stores.ebay.com.au/Geargurl-Cycles-International_Computers-Heart-Monitors_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQftidZ2QQtZkm

I bought one of the Cateye micro Wireless, ok it has no cadence, but I
find it works great, uses the same size lithium battery in the sender
unit and display, easy to install, no stupid wires to tangle around the
front suspension or get ripped off by a branch on the single track (what
happened to the last computer grrr!)

another feature I like is the 2 different sizes of wheels you can swap
between, so you can use the same computer on a road bike with 700 rims
or a 26" mountain bike.

sinus said:

Or try a Sigmasport BC1600. It has a cadence kit that does not have to be installed. You could have it on for the first ten minutes and then remove it for zen reasons 😉 .

You can get them for $40 from Bikepro in Melbourne, which includes the cadence. The wireless harness is another $40, though I don't think that includes wireless cadence.

Personally, I prefer a wire. One less techo thing to go wrong and the sensor and receiver don't look as clunky. Once the wire is installed properly, you hardly notice it. I've heard too many people complain about interference and flat batteries.

The $40 BC1600 with cadence is a good deal - i bought two. The cadence wire is easily broken though, I had to resolder mine. I like the two trip meters - great when touring, you have an overall odometer for the trip, a day trip meter, and another one you can use in countdown mode for when you have Xkm till the next town.

I also love the polar 720i as it tracks everything, cadence, speed, HR, altitude, temp and the PC software is quite good.

Adam

MikeyOz said:

Broke my bike computer just recently....... so new one is needed,
anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

anyway some opinions of what other people have ?

I've given two wireless ones away. They never seemed to work properly.
Now I'm wired.

Marty

quote='Marty'MikeyOz said:

Broke my bike computer just recently....... so new one is needed,
anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

anyway some opinions of what other people have ?

I've given two wireless ones away. They never seemed to work properly.
Now I'm wired.

Marty[/QUOTE]
thanks for all the feedback guys/girls much appreciated! I'm checking out those ebay sales through gear_girl, they are great.... looks like I will go for one of those...

Possibly the CS-200 or maybe the 720i if I can push my luck!

MikeyOz said:

Broke my bike computer just recently....... so new one is needed,
anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

anyway some opinions of what other people have ?

I'll add my 2c ...

I have used the following :

Cateye Austal (cadence) - good, good battery life, bad when wet - stops
working!
This is because they don't seal well between the mount and the computer
Cadence is worth having, IMO. For rec cyclists it's a toy, for racing,
how're you going to do 2 x 10 min 120rpm intervals if you don't know
how fast you're spinning?! but then, rec cyclists punt around on
Colnago C50's and Trek Madone SSL's when they don't need to shave 2s
off a climb either!

Polar S520 (without the cadence sender). Nice, but the soniclink is a
bit of a pain, and it can only store data for one ride.

Sigma BC1200 - good, basic computer - great for long trips, very
reliable, can have the odometer set (unlike the scateye) so when you
replace computers, your odo is still right.
I have one of these on each of my bikes now. I think they're a bit
nicer than the scateye, better screen, nicer to use, and more reliable
in the wet.

Polar S720. The ducks nuts. Does everything you could want. Only
drawback is wireless - interferance from tramlines, cable TV ... you
name it. The drawback with wireless is twofold - extra batteries and
interferance. If the Polar had a wired option, it'd be perfect within
its range of features. Otherwise, it's the best there is, except for
the power meter function - it's about as accurate as the calerie
counter I think. Not worth spending the $ on. If you want watts, get a
powertap or SRM. A powertap isn't that much more expensive than an
S720 with the power & cadence senders. Overkill for recreational
riders of course (probably costs more than most rec riders bikes!)

I've had feedback on the new polar bike computers (c100 & c200?) that
they don't give you the data uploads that you can get from the S520 &
S720 watch/computers. IMO, for a few extra bones, get the 520 or the
720.

I have fitted a couple of Shimano flight decks, and don't like 'em
much. Haven't used one often, but the virtual cadence is a PITA when
you change cassettes (maybe not an issue for most!), as you have to
reprogram the computer for all the new cogs. Doesn't take too long to
do, but you have to remember how to do it, or RTFM! And the speed
sender looks clunky...

DeF said:

MikeyOz said:

Broke my bike computer just recently....... so new one is needed,
anybody have a wireless one, opinions, otherwise good or bad ?

Ive never had cadence before, so will probably get one with cadence, I
see ProbikeKit have a Vetta double wireless for something like $140,
the cheapest I have seen over here so far is about $280 for a double
wire-less.

anyway some opinions of what other people have ?

I'm a bike computer junkie and have tried heaps. I've
also never been completely satisfied. Here is a bit of a
list with some brief opinions.

For a long time, my favourite was an Avocet 40 (I think).
I really like the magnetic pick-up which was a ring near
the axle. This meant that computer responded very quickly
to changes in speed (there is effectively about 12 magnets around
the wheel). Instead of a magnetic reed switch, there was a small coil
within which the alternating magnetic field induces a small alternating
current. That's currently on my (very) old tourer. Drawback
is that it chews through batteries pretty quickly. Avocet
still make computers but they don't seem to be easy to get.

I've tried numerous cateye wired and they all work adequately.
Not very exciting, displays can be a bit small.

Only wireless computer I've used is a Trelock 900. I don't
think there's much weight advantage as you need a battery in
the wheel pick-up. Real advantage is cleaner appearance. The
Trelock is too big for my taste although I like the mounting
system (so long as you have standard bars).

On my racing bike I lashed out and got a Campagnolo Ergobrain
which is pretty good. The you can control the computer with
buttons built into the break hoods which is pretty cool. An
absolute [censored] to install though - took me several hours and I
needed new bar tape and lots of cable ties. There are four wires
coming out of the head unit (wheel pick-up, cadence pick-up,
left button and right button). Heaps of info with a dual (ie
parallel) auto/manual set up. The unit will also tell you what
gear you're in which I find only mildly useful. There's also a
Shimano Flightdeck which I think is very similar but I've not used it.

Personally, I'm not fussed about having cadence. For me it's
an extra thing to click through to get to what you want. It also
adds lots of wires the bike. More useful would be a combined
HRM and computer - I like the look of the polar CS100 and CS200.
I would lose the brake hood controls though.

That's enough rambling for now...

DeF

Phantom Cycles have a special on at the moment for the SIGMA BC-1600
COMPUTER for only $34.95 marked down from $54.95 I bought one but having
difficulty working out how to set up the cadence sensor. A bargain though.
Blanchy