Can you recommend a good cycle computer?

[JQ]

I use Strava to map my rides via my iPhone and have never been bothered about knowing how I'm doing in real time, but having done my first Sportive at the weekend I found it frustrating not knowing my actual speed and distance travelled.

Can someone recommend a durable, simple, reliable cycle computer? It doesn't need to have any flashy functions.

Thanks

[donfisher]

If you just want something simple then this'll do the job:

http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/specialized_speed_zone...

If you want something wireless and end up going higer in price just bite the bullet and buy a Garmin, especially for this:

JQ said:

I use Strava to map my rides

[JQ]

donfisher said:

If you want something wireless and end up going higer in price just bite the bullet and buy a Garmin, especially for this:

Why? What will it do that the iPhone won't? It's a genuine question, as I don't see the point, so perhaps I'm missing something. I'll just be paying another £100 for a function I already have.

[Usget]

It will:

- Last more than 2 hours battery life (in fact it'll last more than 12 hours. I've never managed to run mine out of battery)
- Give you GPS navigation.

Definitely worth £70 for a Garmin 200. And if you'd use the data, I'd say it's worth splashing out on something with ANT+ so you can attach a HRM and cadence sensor too.

[Fastpedeller]

JQ said:

I use Strava to map my rides via my iPhone and have never been bothered about knowing how I'm doing in real time, but having done my first Sportive at the weekend I found it frustrating not knowing my actual speed and distance travelled.

Can someone recommend a durable, simple, reliable cycle computer? It doesn't need to have any flashy functions.

Thanks

I recently bought one off a popular auction site, wireless and less than £5 delivered to the door. Called 'Sunding'

[JQ]

Usget said:

It will:

- Last more than 2 hours battery life (in fact it'll last more than 12 hours. I've never managed to run mine out of battery)
- Give you GPS navigation.

Definitely worth £70 for a Garmin 200. And if you'd use the data, I'd say it's worth splashing out on something with ANT+ so you can attach a HRM and cadence sensor too.

Was out on Sunday for circa 7 hrs and used less than 50% of the battery on the iPhone, which also has GPS navigation.

Ultimately, I have my phone on me all the time and it's always charged. Something worth £00's attached to my bike is just another thing to leave at work, leave at home, forget to charge, get stolen, break. I'll happily leave a £10 computer attached to the bike at work, not so much a GPS Garmin.

I can also just envisage the budget creep on something like a Garmin - I'd need more than 1 charger, more than one holder as I use more than 1 bike for my commute to work, then start spending on cadence sensors, etc and I'd hazard a guess it's going to cost a lot more than £70 for something with the same functionality of something I already own and use.

As I say if I am missing something let me know, but battery life and navigation are already fine.

[jamiebae]

Another vote for the Garmin here (sorry). The battery lasts forever, I'm led to believe it's far more accurate than an iPhone in logging data, and you don't have to use any other sensors.

I do have the speed and cadence sensor, because I know I have a habit of slowing my legs down and it makes it very clear when I need to MTFU and pedal faster.

Yes, it costs more but I'd say it's worth the extra. Mounts are cheap (I have a SRAM one on each bike) and it's super-easy to fit and remove.

I have also left it attached to my bike while locked up outside the office for a whole day before too, without it getting stolen, although this may be due to where I live more than the lack of stealability...

[Herman Toothrot]

I persisted with using iPhone for ages tried multiple different apps, logging was gash to be blunt once you zoom in and take a close look at routes. I got a Garmin 800 performance pack to use instead with soft strap heart rate monitor, cadence sensor & UK OS explorer maps for using it on my MTB as well. It's brilliant best gadget I have ever bought.

[Black can man]

Another Garmin vote here, my i-phone just runs out of power unless i turn the brightness right down & then i can't see a bloody thing .


I have the basic 200 i think it's called , i really wished i had bought the dearer one tbh.

[Magic919]

Garmin 800.

[chrisgtx]

Definately garmin. We've got one each.
I did try to be clever and bought the other half a cat eye stealth 50 ,just because she only wanted cadence and HR. it was utter rubbish,ended up sending it back and getting the second garmin.

[JQ]

Black can man said:

I have the basic 200 i think it's called , i really wished i had bought the dearer one tbh.

. . and there's my problem, I get the idea in my head I want a £10 cycle computer and before I know it I'm spending £200 on a Garmin 800. New shiny things are sooo appealing.

[jamiebae]

JQ said:

. . and there's my problem, I get the idea in my head I want a £10 cycle computer and before I know it I'm spending £200 on a Garmin 800. New shiny things are sooo appealing.

I have the 500 and it's great. The only thing missing is maps, but getting lost is just an excuse to find some new routes to explore...

[Usget]

JQ said:

Was out on Sunday for circa 7 hrs and used less than 50% of the battery on the iPhone, which also has GPS navigation.

Not at the same time though. Unless your iphone has an on board nuclear power station.

[donfisher]

JQ said:

Why? What will it do that the iPhone won't? It's a genuine question, as I don't see the point, so perhaps I'm missing something. I'll just be paying another £100 for a function I already have.

I've not used a mapping app on an iPhone but I was using a variety of them on two or three different android phones.

Yes it works and yes they do the job of the Garmin but not as well IMHO - look at your segments on Strava, I'm guessing several of the random 90mph KOMs that look a bit odd probably say Srava iPhone app under the device heading.

I've got the 200 - it doesn't work with any of the ant+ accesories (as far as I know). I'm not that fussed about HR data and cadence.

All models of Garmin will need charging less than your phone. They come with a couple of mounts in the box and the basics - speed, distance time are all just on the head unit so can be swapped between bikes very easily with no messing around with sensors. Don't worry about 2nd chargers etc. They're all mini usb and charge when you connect them to your computer to upload the rides.

Leaving them unsecured on the bike is the only real problem.

You're absolutely right though. They aren't totally necessary and their functions are covered by other things but having wasted money on a couple of little computers on a couple of bikes in hindsight I should've just got the Garmin first - I urge you not to make the same mistake.

[lukeyman]

Never used one but thought it was a good idea...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/wahoo-rflkt-bike-computer/...

[chris7676]

I just got Bikehut 11 function one (for silly £5 from Halfrauds) and i'm impressed - it does all i want it to and feels quality. (obviously no mapping, heart rates, blood pressures or facebooks).

[S13_Alan]

donfisher said:

You're absolutely right though. They aren't totally necessary and their functions are covered by other things but having wasted money on a couple of little computers on a couple of bikes in hindsight I should've just got the Garmin first - I urge you not to make the same mistake.

Same here bought a 200 recently after messing with a few cheap cycle computers and realised I should have just bought it start with.

Had used Strava with the phone but kept forgetting to start it, or start it when I'd stopped for a break, or didn't have my phone with me. Found now it's so much more convenient to have the stand alone computer doing the logging, and I haven't missed uploading a ride yet.

The breadcrumb trail mapping on it is really useful too, much better than I expected.

[scubadude]

I use iPhone 5 for strava, in a quadlock case on the stem to keep pockets empty, with everything turned off except GPS it'll run about 8-9hrs
(Did RideLondon the other week with it which was 9hrs door to door of the hotel and it went flat as I stopped Strava- phew!)

On the bar I have a Cateye Strada Cadence wired computer (CC-RD200) which was about £20-25 IIRC, its wired so installation took alittle longer but its very reliable and still on its supplied battery 2yrs later. I could have got a cheaper one but really wanted Cadence which I think is an excellent tool and worth having- also means speed sensor is on the rear wheel so works on the Turbo Trainer as well :-)

A Garmin is tempting but I would still need my phone so all up weight increases as does the complexity and download faff, I start Strava on my phone indoors to give it time to catch the GPS and haven't found "forgetting" to start/stop it an issue.

K.I.S.S. If you already have a strava solution buy a cheap computer and enjoy.

[idiotgap]

I have strava on my android phone which I keep in my jersey pocket (screen off).
I also have a little bike computer I got on ebay for £2.45 which I rigged to give me cadence by fitting the magnet to the crank rather than a wheel and working out the correct wheel diameter to rig it up with.

This is my interim solution to get me started I put it in place in May when I got back onto two wheels and it's working well. The cheapy computer gives me the time and my cadence. Top speed, averages, where I went etc. I can look at on strava when I get home.

I am missing a few things from my ideal set-up though - real-time speed, HR, navigation.

I bought a 99p handlebar mount for my phone and tried to use it to route find and explore some more roads, but fudging it to not sleep the display and having it bright so I could see it destroyed a battery very quickly. I had intended to buy bluetooth HR, speed and cadence sensors and geek it all together with my phone - but the failure of the GPS experiment has put that on hold.

I'm saving up for a garmin, but I really want decent nav so I will be saving for a while I suspect. If the phone idea looks more viable later I might consider a dynamo hub or solar panel jersey (does one of those exist? - must look in innovations catalogue!!)