What Computers do you use on your Bike ??

BUACHAILL

In the market for one and just looking for opinions ???

blorg

I have a Garmin Edge 305 displaying Heart Rate, Altitude, Grade, Cadence (and a few other things, and for the the GPS tracking, etc.) and a Cateye Mity 8 displaying speed and time/average speed/distance etc.

BUACHAILL

very fancy pants, this cycling lark has me broke

blorg

You can pick up a Garmin Edge 305 quite cheaply these days, as the new 705/805s are out (add colour screen, SD card, dubious quality mapping.) I'd certainly recommend it, they are a bit tempremental (I feel you'd want a cheap standard backup computer) but they are great when they work and keep a log of everything.

Caroline_ie

I have a cateye 20 quid computer ... and it also gives me calories spent ...

I also have a 10 quid Tesco one that I still use on my Winter/commuter trek 1000 bike ... does the job

BUACHAILL

where is the best place to look at purchasing the Garmin ?

Chips Lovell

Polar CS100. Does the usual speed/distance/avg speed stuff in addition to heart rate and cadence (although you have to buy the cadence sensor separately). I like it. It's wireless, easy to set up and pretty idiot proof. There are much fancier ones on the market, but I'm not really interested in all the additional functionality.

BUACHAILL

Caroline_ie wrote: »

I have a cateye 20 quid computer ... and it also gives me calories spent ...

I also have a 10 quid Tesco one that I still use on my Winter/commuter trek 1000 bike ... does the job

I suppose it doesnt matter how cheap as long as it does the trick

BUACHAILL

el tonto wrote: »

Polar CS100. Does the usual speed/distance/avg speed stuff in addition to heart rate and cadence (although you have to buy the cadence sensor separately). I like it. It's wireless, easy to set up and pretty idiot proof. There are much fancier ones on the market, but I'm not really interested in all the additional functionality.

where did you purchase it El Tonto ?

Quigs Snr

Polar CS400, gives me all the usuals, plus cadence, speed, altitude, HR, Gradient and most importantly the ability to download the data to the PC and graph the terrain vs my speed vs my HR and do all sorts of other clever stuff.

Had a garmin, didn't like it. Fancy, but too big and a pain in the butt to charge it up like it was a mobile phone, more often than not I'd forget to charge and the thing would blink out halfway through an important training ride. My own fault granted, not recommended for lazy people !

A bottom of the range polar is good, nice to have HR, failing that get yourself a cateye wireless (don't be ruining the looks of your new planetx with wires all over the place), and no matter what you do, do not get an aldi or lidl computer. I had 2. One fell apart (aldi), the lidl one was fine, but tempremental, very prone to getting screwed up near power lines etc.., much more so than other computers I have had whilst riding the same routes.

Hungrycol

There's a free one with Cycle Sport mag this month.

I have a Cat Eye Strada.

kenmc

Garmin Forerunner 305, also a Shimano FlightDeck.

TinyExplosions

Cateye HR200 here -works just fine for me!

BUACHAILL

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Polar CS400, gives me all the usuals, plus cadence, speed, altitude, HR, Gradient and most importantly the ability to download the data to the PC and graph the terrain vs my speed vs my HR and do all sorts of other clever stuff.

Had a garmin, didn't like it. Fancy, but too big and a pain in the butt to charge it up like it was a mobile phone, more often than not I'd forget to charge and the thing would blink out halfway through an important training ride. My own fault granted, not recommended for lazy people !

A bottom of the range polar is good, nice to have HR, failing that get yourself a cateye wireless (don't be ruining the looks of your new planetx with wires all over the place), and no matter what you do, do not get an aldi or lidl computer. I had 2. One fell apart (aldi), the lidl one was fine, but tempremental, very prone to getting screwed up near power lines etc.., much more so than other computers I have had whilst riding the same routes.

no i wont be ruining my new baby with an Aldi ha ha, got word i should have it tomorrow or Friday at the latest, wish i wasnt working on Saturday now

Gavin

Just some no name brand one. It chafes a bit on the shoulders, doesn't have cadence, or speed, but it does have the internet.

Chips Lovell

BUACHAILL wrote: »

where did you purchase it El Tonto ?

Cycle Superstore as far as I can recall. Plenty of places online sell them too.

stuf

el tonto wrote: »

Polar CS100. Does the usual speed/distance/avg speed stuff in addition to heart rate and cadence (although you have to buy the cadence sensor separately). I like it. It's wireless, easy to set up and pretty idiot proof. There are much fancier ones on the market, but I'm not really interested in all the additional functionality.

was looking at this on wiggle - the CS100cad model has the cadence sensor for £13.50 extra as opposed to £24.50 extra if you buy seperately

CS100 - £71.55
CS100cad - £85.05

Cadence sensor - £24.50

blorg

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Had a garmin, didn't like it. Fancy, but too big and a pain in the butt to charge it up like it was a mobile phone, more often than not I'd forget to charge and the thing would blink out halfway through an important training ride.

This is entirely true, and even if you _do_ charge it the Garmin can throw a fit sometimes, it's essential to have a backup computer. But when it works it is really great, the entirely configurable display is a major plus point for me, you can choose exactly what you want on it.

Verb- I see your photo and raise you this:

daymobrew

CatEye Mity 8 on hybrid
CatEye Astrale 8 on road (has cadence)

Polar 625X HRM - does altitude too.

Bicyclegadabout

Jeepers I dunno lads. That’s a lot of money to be spending. Suppose you are all IT nerds, you like all the numbers

I got the Aldi one for €20. It’s got all the usual, it's wireless and it comes with a HRM. It’s survived several falls and even a spin in the washing machine. The holder for it broke though. A cadence monitor would be nice too.

I don’t think I’m at the level where I’d be spending €80+ on a bicycle computer just yet. Aside from it being a cool toy with nice stats etc, do you really get a regular benefit that you wouldn't get from a cheapo computer?

trek climber

BUACHAILL wrote: »

where did you purchase it El Tonto ?

They are on special offer on Wiggle at the moment
Sorry.. question has already been answered, didn't see page 2

Gavin

blorg wrote: »

Verb- I see your photo and raise you this:

Bollix. I'll have to concede defeat.

kenmc

Bicyclegadabout wrote: »

Aside from it being a cool toy with nice stats etc, do you really get a regular benefit that you wouldn't get from a cheapo computer?

Yes, the Garmin lets you retrack your steps if you get lost. Also if you program a route into it, it shows you how far from the top of the mountain you are, and you can see the profile of the climb you are dealing with - actually that's not a benefit now that I think about it.
It does have a 'virtual trainer' on it though, for routes you regularly do, so you can race against your previous best time. It's a fun toy to have to be honest, you could certainly live without it. I like being able to see speeds, routes etc in hindsight.

The flightdeck's buttons are built into the brifters, so you can flick through the displays without taking your hands off the bars. It also has a virtual cadence, without having a cadence sensor, since it knows what gear you are in and the gear ratios, and your speed. doesn't take account of freewheeling though, but otherwise it's spot on.

Traumadoc

Garmin etrex legend cost me e100 on ebay, great for recording speeds distance etc , bought it originally for working in outback Australia, but its great on the bike.

FrankGrimes

Bicyclegadabout wrote: »

I got the Aldi one for €20. It’s got all the usual, it's wireless and it comes with a HRM. It’s survived several falls and even a spin in the washing machine. The holder for it broke though. A cadence monitor would be nice too.

I got one of them a while back and set it up after a couple of months but could never get it to work, tried changing batteries, resetting etc but could never get a reading out of it.

I bought a refurbed Garmin Edge 305 from ebay for €170 delivered with HRM and cadence sensor - will be testing it when coming back from surgery in a few weeks.

tunney

DA SRM Pro

BUACHAILL

Hope you have a speedie recovery from surgery

penexpers

I have one of the aldi ones too. Does the trick but I don't use the HRM.

BUACHAILL

Amazing how some people find the Aldi stuff great and yet others say it never worked for them. Computers can be got very reasonably really but I guess it depends on what gadgets you want on it.

Raam

Garmin Forerunner 305. Not the prettiest machine on the market, but functionally, it's class.

arybvtcw0eolkf

When did Aldi have computer's?.

kenmc

every couple of months they have their weekly specials - lidl too.. Due up again around August/September for the students to get their cycling stuff for college.

Hungrycol

I got an Aldi/Lidl wired one for my commuter bike, it lasted 700k's and decided I'd gone far enough. Replaced it with a Mitty 8.

EhBenDisDonc

For a while there I thought I must be the only person happy with my Lidl computer - wireless and HRM for 20€, and it hasn't missed a beat yet. Got it in Gort in April, and could have sworn I saw them still on the shelves last week.

Drapper

garmin edge 305 :-)

the dogs!!

AndyP

Just the basic Mity 8 for me, does everything I need.

blorg

Cateye computers are bombproof, I have a Mity 3 that is still going strong 10 years in. Think I only had to replace the battery once! I have a Cateye as backup on all my bikes for when (not if!) the Garmin plays up.

ob

Garmin Edge 305, tis excellent, never had a problem with it.

Bicyclegadabout

BUACHAILL wrote: »

Amazing how some people find the Aldi stuff great and yet others say it never worked for them. Computers can be got very reasonably really but I guess it depends on what gadgets you want on it.

I guess they don't have the best quality control. They're cheap and an impulse purchase for most people so if they don't work people will just say "meh, ****it."
I guess I was lucky and got one that worked.


Now that I think of it, I would like the Flightdeck. The buttons are in the handlebars lads, in the handlebars. mad! $50 on ebay I see...hmmm.....

TinyExplosions

Bicyclegadabout wrote: »

I guess they don't have the best quality control. They're cheap and an impulse purchase for most people so if they don't work people will just say "meh, ****it."
I guess I was lucky and got one that worked.


Now that I think of it, I would like the Flightdeck. The buttons are in the handlebars lads, in the handlebars. mad! $50 on ebay I see...hmmm.....

There are other systems that have remote buttons that can fit in the flightdeck ones too -for example, the cateye I have can do the same

doozerie

Cateye computers tend to get good reviews (think the Strada in particular got a very good review in Cycling Plus a few months back) but I got sick of the brand after the umpteenth one failed in the wet. That was a few years back and at the time I know of 3 or 4 other people who had similar problems with various Cateye models - in the dry they were fine, but when raining the displayed speed would change to random figures, etc. I would hope that these days they are better but I've not been interested enough to try another Cateye as yet.

I have since used Specialised (my particular one is okay, but not great value for money), Echo (J7 - simple but brilliant value for money and seem to be indestructible, not sure if they are still available though), and Sigma (Sport BC906L - also very good and good value too).

blorg

Might depend on the particular Cateye model- my Mity 3s and 8 have been absolutely reliable in the wet. I have an Aldi/Lidl computer (not sure which) - it just never worked but I wasn't bothered bringing it back.

Tackleberry

Campag only but I have the ergopower compute and its the best I've ever used, has a ridiculous amount of functions including backlights, lap timers, even a setting in case you get a spare wheel, but the display is very big and clear, very handy knowing what gear you're in as I have crashed before while having a quick check!

Also gives you cadence aswell as all the other standard stuff, including an alarm if you wanna set upper and lower cadence or speed, very good value for money and very handy having the buttons in the brake hoods.

Never tried the flightdeck but I'd presume its fairly similar so that could be an option.

Ebay is best

Chips Lovell

I'd love if Campagnolo introduced a new Ergobrain, maybe something wireless with a HRM.

BUACHAILL

ok just ordered up my computer, went for the Garmin Edge 305 with HRM , looked at the 705 etc but couldnt justify the extra money !!

doozerie

blorg wrote:

Might depend on the particular Cateye model- my Mity 3s and 8 have been absolutely reliable in the wet.

I saw it happen to 2 or 3 different models over the course of a few years. I suspect it was a design/construction flaw in how they were sealed. As I say though, that was a few years ago and they might well have resolved it by now.

However, I am still not impressed by some aspects of Cateye products in general as it seems to me that they cut corners/costs where they shouldn't. For example, I have used their bike lights for years, and continue to do so, because they generally work very well - that is, when/while they work. Their lifespan tends to be severely limited though because the body of the (front) lights is usually made of relatively brittle plastic that can end up cracking at the point where they connect to the handlebar clamp due simply to vibrations from the road. The clamps last forever but the body of the light snaps where it clips onto the clamp. I've lost about 3 halogen lights from that problem alone (and know others who have experienced the same problem), and others due to the on/off button biting the dust, fragility of the body where you open it up to replace the batteries, etc. In the same space of time (10 years or more) I've gone through only one back light (made by Vistalite, not a Cateye - used to use Cateye rear lights, but those became problematic over time too while the Vistalite has been excellent).

Cateye produce some good products, but for the money they charge the limited lifespan of some of them makes them poor value. However, they seem to be the brand of computer and lights most heavily pushed by the local bike shops (and some online shops, and others such as Cycling Plus reviewers), so it can be hard to find decent alternatives.

blorg

I can only offer the counterpoint of my two Mity 3s- first one I got in 1998 and still going strong, subsequent one got around five years ago and ditto. Got a Mity 8 this year and it has been bombproof so far.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Cateye Velo 8.

Just bought it and found Aldi are doing better next week..

http://aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/58_6416.htm

blorg

Mairt wrote: »

Cateye Velo 8.

Just bought it and found Aldi are doing better next week..

http://aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/58_6416.htm

I wouldn't feel hard done by, that Velo 8 is going to give you many years service while the Aldi job is a bit of a crapshoot as to whether it works or not. Having said that, €20 is an unbeatable price for a HRM.