Cycling Computers

I use the cateye (http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=O0306), very nice, small and looks great!

I use a Garmin 705. Works great and does everything I want it to.

Cateye Mity 8 here. Does what I need, dead reliable with just one battery that lasts forever.

$10 (Wal-Mart) Schwinn wired computer: speed, average speed, max speed, time, trip time, odometer, trip odometer. 5+ years and no problems.

robapp said:

Just joined, nice forum, really like the look of it. Just wondering what everyone uses for cycling computers (stuff that tracks location, distance, speed, acceleration, cadence, altitude etc).

Full disclosure
I work for the makers of VeloComputer VeloComputer ? Home - Mobile Cycling Computer. Its a mobile phone app that records all the aforementioned metrics of data with a preset of custom sound so you don't have to take your eyes off the road.

I realize this biases my perspective on this particular device, but I would probably be hiding the fact that I work for them if I didn't think the application was actually any good.

So, I would really like to know what you guys use, what you think works, and what you think doesn't. And if you feel really generous, you can try out the app demo at the VeloComputer website and tell me what you think: good, bad, or ugly. Any opinion is welcome and helpful. It works with BlackBerry, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, and Android phones.

If I am violating any etiquette this forum adheres to by participating as a commercial interest please let me know and I will delete this thread immediately.

Thanks,
Rob

I use something like this.

Citizen Men's Eco Drive WR100 Watch BM6660-50L

And a 2 dimensional 'GPS'(a paper map) if I'm somewhere I'm not familiar with. Time I have to ride is what's important to me, not really speed or distance, etc. My opinion is all.

bianchi10 said:

I use the cateye (Probikekit.com | Cat Eye Computers | Cateye Strada Wireless 8 Function Computer), very nice, small and looks great!

I used to have a cateye as well. But it came with a bike i bought off of craigslist, and it was before I started commuting on my cycle so I didn't get to use it that much. I don't remember it having cadence so it might have been a strada wireless but I can't be sure.

In terms of pros and cons for this particular device, it's a cateye, when people think about cycling computers they are 9 times out of 10 visualizing a cateye device. They make a solid product, but its not infallible. I may be in the minority on this but I never liked a whole bunch of stuff strapped onto my handlebars, aesthetically speaking there is something so off the shelf of a walmart about it. Also, I love a multitasker, If I can roll two bricks of tech into one while maintaining functionality I usually do it. This is one point where I think the velocomputer shows a pretty strong hand.

alienator said:

I use a Garmin 705. Works great and does everything I want it to.

Wow, what a beaut, a massively expensive one but a beaut none-the-less. i especially like the heart rate monitor and the turn by turn navigation. How does the heart rate monitor work, is there an actual hardware piece that measures vitality or is it a function of software? What kind of lag is there in the GPS?

Thats one of the things I like about developing for smartphones. The investment for expensive hardware is already made and you get to harness all the powerful and interesting components in your software and sell it for a reasonable amount.

Velocomputer may not have turn by turn direction, but it can output your ride into google maps and google earth while displaying some pretty indepth metrics on your ride. But than again, it would be a little weird for a 15 dollar app to compete with a 600 dollar (at least in my region) hardware behemoth like the Garmin 705.

dhk2 said:

Cateye Mity 8 here. Does what I need, dead reliable with just one battery that lasts forever.

Like I said to Bianchi, I consider cateye to be the industry standard. They are the guys you think of when you think of cycling computers. Does the Mity have cadence monitoring? If anyone has a cateye that measures cadence I would be interested to know how it accomplishes it. Does it use a sensor strapped to your crank or what? The way velocomputer does it, is it uses the accelerometer to measure the rise and fall of your legs and translates that into rpm.

Scotty_Dog said:

$10 (Wal-Mart) Schwinn wired computer: speed, average speed, max speed, time, trip time, odometer, trip odometer. 5+ years and no problems.

I see a lot of people that have robust cycling computers with a lot of features, but still lacking in cadence. Is this feature something that appeals to you or not? Do you see this as having any value?

Peter@vecchios said:

I use something like this.

Citizen Men's Eco Drive WR100 Watch BM6660-50L

And a 2 dimensional 'GPS'(a paper map) if I'm somewhere I'm not familiar with. Time I have to ride is what's important to me, not really speed or distance, etc. My opinion is all.

Haha love it. Sometimes the old ways are best.

One of my road bikes and my wife's ATB have Cateye Cordless 7s on them.

My other road bike has a Nashbar Tempo Wireless on it, which looks and performs like a Cateye clone at half the price.

The Cateyes and the Nashbar have worked flawlessly so far, none of them have the cadence feature and I'm not interested in it.

My Cateye Strada Cadence served me well, until I got my KK computer w/ indoor power meter.

robapp said:

Does it use a sensor strapped to your crank or what?

Correct. Straps to the left crank, and to the chainstay.

robapp said:

Wow, what a beaut, a massively expensive one but a beaut none-the-less. i especially like the heart rate monitor and the turn by turn navigation. How does the heart rate monitor work, is there an actual hardware piece that measures vitality or is it a function of software? What kind of lag is there in the GPS?

Thats one of the things I like about developing for smartphones. The investment for expensive hardware is already made and you get to harness all the powerful and interesting components in your software and sell it for a reasonable amount.

Velocomputer may not have turn by turn direction, but it can output your ride into google maps and google earth while displaying some pretty indepth metrics on your ride. But than again, it would be a little weird for a 15 dollar app to compete with a 600 dollar (at least in my region) hardware behemoth like the Garmin 705.

HR is measured with a heart rate strap, and I don't notice any GPS lag.

Garmin 705. Unbeatable.

It is pretty unbeatable, but for the amount of cycling I do, I could never justify it in my mind. I really wish I could because I love tech and any chance I have to get my hands on something shiny and futuristic I do, but 600 bucks is more than my bike, and I have a decent touring cycle. I think a golden rule in this situation is to find a device that sufficiently accomplishes data requirements while making sense financially in light of your cycling commitment. Right now, my device does that, extremely well.

All of my bikes, with the exception of the Brompton, have Cateye cyclocomputers. I don't like having everything all in one, if the thing breaks you got nothing. Cateyes are rock solid reliable, my phone is a phone, my watch is a watch, I use a GPS when I can't get a map, and pack a compass sometimes too.

lostinsk said:

All of my bikes, with the exception of the Brompton, have Cateye cyclocomputers. I don't like having everything all in one, if the thing breaks you got nothing. Cateyes are rock solid reliable, my phone is a phone, my watch is a watch, I use a GPS when I can't get a map, and pack a compass sometimes too.

The vast majority of electronic products are exceedingly reliable. Of course there are exceptions, but it's that way for all manufactured goods.

alienator said:

The vast majority of electronic products are exceedingly reliable. Of course there are exceptions, but it's that way for all manufactured goods.

Couldn't agree more, today's electronics are very reliable. But.. some of them don't work well in the rain (my Garmin 205, my phone etc.. ) and if you should happen to drop it and it gets run over by the car behind.....well that's not so great.