Cycle computer

Dear Group, well i've got my nice new bike and i've taken to having a 5 mile
ride evry day after work, i know its not a huge distance but its a start!

Naturally i hope to feel the riding get easier as i get fitter and also to
see it take less time. Thats where i thought a little cycle computer would
come in. What sort do you think would be suitable for an old boy like me?
And also (and forgive my ignorance) how do the things know how fast you're
going, is it some sort of mechanical linkage?

Many Thanks

--
Best Wishes from Martin

So many questions, so few answers.

PGP Key ID, 0x581E4CE1

On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:21:58 +0100, Martin
wrote:

Dear Group, well i've got my nice new bike and i've taken to having a 5 mile
ride evry day after work, i know its not a huge distance but its a start!

Hoorah! Good stuff.

Naturally i hope to feel the riding get easier as i get fitter and also to
see it take less time.

It will, in fact, stick at it and you'll likely be surprised at how
quickly you adapt. Before long 5 miles will barely be a warm up and
you'll be enjoying traveling much further, and at a quicker pace.

Don't over do things at first though, no need to be a hero. If your
muscles or backside tell you they need a rest, then take it easy for a
day or two.

Thats where i thought a little cycle computer would
come in. What sort do you think would be suitable for an old boy like me?
And also (and forgive my ignorance) how do the things know how fast you're
going, is it some sort of mechanical linkage?

We've just had this question asked in the group. See the thread
entitled "Cycle Comp Principles" in your newsreader, or here at Google
groups:


http://tinyurl.com/d4ebs

http://groups.google.com/group/uk.re...acd3b 17ce8ff




"Bob"
--


Email address is spam trapped, to reply directly remove the beverage.

"Martin" wrote in message
...
Dear Group, well i've got my nice new bike and i've taken to having a 5
mile ride evry day after work, i know its not a huge distance but its a
start!

Naturally i hope to feel the riding get easier as i get fitter and also to
see it take less time. Thats where i thought a little cycle computer
would come in. What sort do you think would be suitable for an old boy
like me? And also (and forgive my ignorance) how do the things know how
fast you're going, is it some sort of mechanical linkage?

Many Thanks


I find a basic wired one from Lidl works perfectly fine for me, all for
under a fiver. Does current/max/average speeds, distance this trip/total
distance, time, current/max/low temperatures. I did have a wireless one, but
found that having a barbag mounted at same time interferred with signal.
Back to the wired one solves this problem.

Cheers, helen s

Martin wrote:
Dear Group, well i've got my nice new bike and i've taken to having a 5
mile ride evry day after work, i know its not a huge distance but its a
start!

Naturally i hope to feel the riding get easier as i get fitter and also
to see it take less time. Thats where i thought a little cycle computer
would come in. What sort do you think would be suitable for an old boy
like me? And also (and forgive my ignorance) how do the things know how
fast you're going, is it some sort of mechanical linkage?

Many Thanks

I use a Cateye Wireless 7, which is a very popular and efficient one.
It's called wireless because there is no wire connecting the sensor on
the fork to the readout unit on the bar. It's called a 7 because it has
7 functions like speed, distance travelled, average speed, total
distance, etc. It works, as they mostly all do, by means of a magnet
mounted on a spoke passing by a sensor mounted on the fork picking up
the magnetic signal on each revolution of the wheel.

I have also used one called a Sigma and have had no problems with either
make.

--
Brian G

Martin wrote:

Naturally i hope to feel the riding get easier as i get fitter and also
to see it take less time. Thats where i thought a little cycle computer
would come in. What sort do you think would be suitable for an old boy
like me?

You could always do what I do, and use a very boring but functional
wris****ch, which is all you need if you're running on a set circuit.
It isn't that I think computers are bad, I just can't be arsed to spend
any time fiddling with setup. It isn't exactly rocket science or
difficult engineering, but OTOH it's several whole minutes work to get
access to information I'm not actually too bothered about getting or
not. So I'll use a watch if I really want to see if I'm speeding up
over a set run.

And also (and forgive my ignorance) how do the things know how
fast you're going, is it some sort of mechanical linkage?

Usually there's a wee round thingummy that sits on one of the wheel
spokes and it trips a magnetic sensor mounted on the fork when it goes
by with each revolution. With suitable calibration for wheel size in
the computer, it's then fairly easy to work out speed.

Some of the more advanced models will tell you pedalling cadence, which
to my mind is actually rather more useful than speed as getting cadence
up over 80 or so pedal revs per minute will get you into the aerobic
zone and much improve your range and cardiovascular fitness, as well as
being kinder on your knees. I'd only bother with a computer if it told
me cadence.
Going faster is nice, but going faster with better technique is better,
and checking cadence is a good way to go about that.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch wrote:

Some of the more advanced models will tell you pedalling cadence, which
to my mind is actually rather more useful than speed as getting cadence
up over 80 or so pedal revs per minute will get you into the aerobic
zone and much improve your range and cardiovascular fitness, as well as
being kinder on your knees. I'd only bother with a computer if it told
me cadence.
Going faster is nice, but going faster with better technique is better,
and checking cadence is a good way to go about that.

As long as you know your gear ratios and speed, you can calculate your
cadence. Easier to say than to do on the fly but not terribly hard. All
you need to do is remmeber the value of r one speed in a particular
gear and then scale according to gear/speed changes.

Or work out the whole lot with Excel or similar.

...d

David Martin wrote:

As long as you know your gear ratios and speed, you can calculate your
cadence. Easier to say than to do on the fly but not terribly hard.

But not particularly easy when you're Going For It and want to know
right there and then if you're at a cadence target yet. And right there
and then is the best time and place to know, because you can adjust
accordingly as you're doing the work.

And especially so if your gears don't have numbered indicators. I can
rarely tell you which gear /exactly/ I'm in on the tourer or the MTB if
it isn't first, second or top.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Call me Bob wrote:

We've just had this question asked in the group. See the thread
entitled "Cycle Comp Principles" in your newsreader, or here at Google
groups:

Oh thanks for that Bob, and I just commited a cardinal Usenet Sin (always
read previous posts) didn't I lol. I found Matthews post and there were
loads of helpfull advice there for me just as there is here.

Thanks very much

--
Best Wishes from Martin

So many questions, so few answers.

PGP Key ID, 0x581E4CE1

David Martin wrote On 09/13/05 15:13,:

As long as you know your gear ratios and speed, you can calculate your
cadence. Easier to say than to do on the fly but not terribly hard. All
you need to do is remmeber the value of r one speed in a particular
gear and then scale according to gear/speed changes.
That seems a lot of work! As long as you have a watch with a 'seconds'
display you can calculate your cadence by counting pedal revs for 10
seconds and multiplying by 6. I am more likely to calculate speed from
measured cadence and known gear ratios than to calculate cadence from
known speed and gear ratios.

Mike

I use the Sigma BC 1600 http://qurl.net/kI which has a cadence display.
The only snag with this is you have to run a wire to your chainstay
which can get in the way.