Shimano Flight Deck vs. cadence sensor

In article <opsl2qb8en0lcd5c@dell-ins8200>, Leon <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I am going to buy cycle computer with cadence function.

Please, give me your opinion about two alternatives: Shimano Flight Deck
or any other computer with cadence function.

Anyone any comments - appreciated.

Only one: as you probably know, the Flight Deck actually calculates a
theoretical cadence rather than an actual one. It can do this because
part of the set-up is programming in all your gear ratios, and because
the Flight Deck can figure out which gear you are in (by counting shifts
at the handlebars, I think) and knows your speed, it knows how fast you
would have to pedal to hit that speed in that gear.

As you might already suspect, this means it gives cadence readings even
when you aren't pedaling. It shouldn't actually matter, since you only
really care about cadence if you are pedaling, but most people can
figure out if they are pedaling or not.

All other cadence meters that I know of use a magnet on the crank and a
second sensor. This is arguably a bit messier, wiring-wise, unless you
go for a wireless solution.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

Sat, 12 Feb 2005 07:40:14 GMT, Leon <[email hidden]> skrev:

Quoted message said:

Please, give me your opinion about two alternatives: Shimano Flight Deck
or any other computer with cadence function.

Anyone any comments - appreciated.

Flight Deck is such a neat computer because you can shift it with your
thumbs on the grips, without lifting your hands. And the virtual candence
calculation is good for all practical purposes.
But actually you only need to messure cadence for a for a few months, for
instance to train af faster cadence than what you are used to. Soon you
will have a pretty good idea of the cadence you are riding in. And you
don't need an exact messurement.
If you want to save some money, you just make a paper calculation of what
cadence corresponds to a given speed in your favorite gear
constallations. When you feel comfortable with a cadence of 90 rpm and
feel allright doing 110 rpm, then you are riding like Lance Armstrong, and
that ought to be good enough.

Another cheap and easy way to check your cadence is to count the turns for
15 sec. every once in a while. Start the count on zero and multiply by
four.

I am happy with my Shimano Flight Deck. But if you are buying it
exclusively to messure cadence I would consider it not worth the money.

Ivar Hesselager
Denmark

--
Sendt med Operas banebrydende nyhedsgruppe-
og e-postklient: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Ivar Hesselager said:

When you feel comfortable with a cadence of 90 rpm and
feel allright doing 110 rpm, then you are riding like Lance Armstrong,
and that ought to be good enough.

My average cadence is over 100rpm, and I'm not fit to wash Lance's water
bottles...;-)

Leon said:

I am going to buy cycle computer with cadence function.

Please, give me your opinion about two alternatives: Shimano Flight Deck
or any other computer with cadence function.

Anyone any comments - appreciated.

Thank you very much everybody for the useful advices!

Sat, 12 Feb 2005 21:21:27 +0000, Zog The Undeniable <[email hidden]>
skrev:

Quoted message said:

My average cadence is over 100rpm, and I'm not fit to wash Lance's water
bottles...;-)

Then you don't need to improve your candence any more. From now on you can
concentrate fully on learning hhow to clean water bottles on a
professional level. I'm not very good at that myself. ;-)
Ivar

--
Sendt med Operas banebrydende nyhedsgruppe-
og e-postklient: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Leon said:

I am going to buy cycle computer with cadence function.

Please, give me your opinion about two alternatives: Shimano Flight
Deck or any other computer with cadence function.

Anyone any comments - appreciated.

The nice thing about the Flight Deck is no wires all over the bike. Also,
there's a neat gear indicator, which I find more useful than cadence. It's one
of those things I thought was silly before I had it, but now wonder how I lived
without it. I don't think the buttons on the brifters are that big a deal. If
you can take your attention off the road long enough to read your computer, you
can take your hands off the bar to push a button.

The downsides of the Flight Deck are the expense, and the fiddly little wires
running under the handlebar tape. This can make changing cable housings or
adjusting brifter position a real pain. So get it right before you trim the
wires and tape everything up.

Matt O.