General Cycling Discussion - Favorite Cyclocomputer

Hey everyone,

I'm just curious what everyone's favorite bike computer out there is. Not because I'm necissarily in the market for one as I already have one, but because it's interesting to see the various models and designs and functions. Plus, someone looking for one can come here to see personal favorites.

As far as my favorite goes, I would have to say anything made by Cateye seems to be good, but the only one I have is a Cateye Komo, so I guess that would go down as my personal favorite. And don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful computer, especially for a 7, not 8 function computer.

Shane

I have a SigmaSport 800. Works great. I also have a SigmaSport BC500 that is about 6 years old. It works fine, I just wanted more functions.

I have two. A Cateye wireless on my roadbike and a "more sophisticated" Vetta on my MTB. The Vetta gives me problems whenever it is wet (including high humidity). While the Cateye has never had a problem. If I was to choose I would take a Cateye wireless.

Originally posted by Trek4100

I'm just curious what everyone's favorite bike computer out there is. Not because I'm necissarily in the market for one as I already have one, but because it's interesting to see the various models and designs and functions. Plus, someone looking for one can come here to see personal favorites.

Although it's been discontinued for a long time now, my favourite computer so far has been my old Cateye CC-8000 "ATC". It was a ruggedised computer which looked kinda bulky. It had a wired pickup with a thick cable. It was totally waterproof (you were even supposed to be able to operate the buttons while submerged). Some of the functions included the typical instantaneous/max/avg speeds, stopwatch, trip counters (trip distance, trip time, total time, total distance, distance per day) and auto start/stop. But it also had one unique feature at the time... 10 memories... each which could be used to "mark" a point in your ride and it would store all of the above speed, distance and time data (and associated subdata) at the instant you pushed the button. Despite the vast amount of data available, the screens were well organised and easy to read. It was very handy for the kind of long-distance offroad touring I was doing. The only problem was that it was rather pricey (~US$85 in 1990).

I currently have Shimano Flightdecks for my bikes... the jury is still out on them. |8^) I like some of the features a lot but there are others which are rather niggling. I like the virtual cadance and the gear display as well as the integrated controls but I sometimes worry about the ruggedness of the unit (it has survived some serious crashes on my MTB though) and I sure do miss that memory feature of the old Cateye. The Flightdeck's display order and toggling between different screens can be a bit confusing too... especially when your're a little oxygen deprived.

BTW, I notice you are also an Aegis rider... :)

Let's see.

"Bike Computers I Have Known"

1. Nashbar Wireless. Not bad, but the contacts in the bar mount were flimsy and corroded easily.

2. Specialized something or other. It's about three years old and was on closeout at Nashbar for something like $9. Still my favorite, mostly because it seems to be bulletproof. Lives on my Novara. I bought my son one at the same time, for his Raleigh MTB, and it's still working perfectly too.

3. Planet Bike Protege 8.0. The first one I had was replaced by the company because the firmware was apparently not quite ready when they were manufactured, so the average-speed function was inaccurate. The replacement has been fine, and I do like having all that info available at one glance. Lives on my Airborne.

4. Cateye Tomo, bought it off the bargain table at Performance for $6.99. Seems ok but haven't got many miles on it yet. On the Fuji.

These are all basic computers, no cadence or altimeter or anything like that. I think I may replace the Cateye on the Fuji with something that shows cadence, which might help me on training rides.

RichC

I have a Power Tap on my LeMond Victoire.

The Power Tap (http://www.analyticcycling.com/CycleOps/PowerTapFeatures.html) has been pretty cool to use so far, but I'm suffering from information overload. I don't race any more, and find all the information I can down load and store on my lap top is really more than I need. (If I were still racing this would be perfect!) ;)

Hi,
I seem to go through speedos like M&Ms. I have had a bunch of basic ones, they all seemed the same. Put a Topeak Panoram on the wife's bike last year. she likes it a lot (she refuses to mess with buttons) because all she has to do is clear the Dist at the beginning of the ride. It's not fully waterproof; which is a
serious negative for an expensive toy designed to play outdoors. I used a Planet Bike 5.0 last year; and I liked it just fine. It's not as durable as many, but I enjoyed it. I got a Cateye Cordless for my new bike; and truthfully, I don't like going back to the small screen. Once they've been to gay Pareee....
What I can't seem to make up my mind is whether I want to replace it with
a Panoram or a Planet Bike.

I have a Cateye Mity 3 on the Trek. Nothing special: speed, time, distance, avg. speed, max speed, odometer. Works fine, easy to read, and not too expensive.

I too have the Cateye Mighty 3. Basic computer and the cheapest available locally. I find it great on some aspects, but I also have a few reservations about it.

PROS
- works fine, even at -25 C and even in the rain;
- it's on its third year with the same battery;
- not too big, yet easy to read in daytime.

CONS
- no backlight to light the digits in the dark (major sore point); a system like the backlight of Timex watches would be great;
- always shows instant speed (the other reading alternates according to what you select); I would prefer to always show "Distance 1" and have the other reading alternate between speed, maximum or average speed, time of day...
- the clock should also display seconds.

Regards,

The best so far has been a Specialized Speedzone Comp that I use on both my roadie and MTB. The wiring is stronger then others I have used, and holds up good in the rain. It is dead on accurate, as I compared it to a certified speedometer in a police crusier. The mount has a break away feature that allows the top section of the mount and the computer to "break" off in a crash but not damage the system.

$19.99 at my LBS, and came in a tin that I added to my Mother's tin collection

Cateye Enduro, and Mity 3. Both never give a spot of trouble, provided the pickup is positioned well, rain of shine.
My next comp will be a Cateye HR 100, for my custom Serotta (please, please, please, I hope).:rolleyes:

Originally posted by khuon
But it also had one unique feature at the time... 10 memories... each which could be used to "mark" a point in your ride and it would store all of the above speed, distance and time data (and associated subdata) at the instant you pushed the button.
Anybody know if any current cyclocomputers have this? It just seems like a no-brainer, like a cyclocomputer equivalent of a lap/split timer. Almost every ride I do, I find myself wishing I had this feature.

I use a (two) Specialized Pro. It does: all the usual stuff, cadence, inclinometer, altitude, gain, temp. Plus it uses a barometer for the altitude so if you are riding flats and your altitude suddenly changes you know you are fixin' to get wet.

Last night I put new Cateye Astrale 8 computers on my and Donna's bikes. I took a Cateye Tomo off of her bike and a Cateye HB100 off of mine. I will miss the HR function of the HB100 but I'll be getting a separate HRM sometime soon. My primary reason for switching to the Astrale is for the cadence function.

When I finish building my TT bike I'm going to put one of those planet bike computers on it because it can show distance along with current and average speeds at the same time. This will be great info to have during the TT.

Zack

Originally posted by khuon
. But it also had one unique feature at the time... 10 memories... each which could be used to "mark" a point in your ride and it would store all of the above speed, distance and time data (and associated subdata) at the instant you pushed the button. Despite the vast amount of data available, the screens were well organised and easy to read. It was very handy for the kind of long-distance offroad touring I was doing. The only problem was that it was rather pricey (~US$85 in 1990).



That sounds like the kinda of computer I'm looking for! I wonder if something like it is on the market.. I hate it how stops signs and cool downs mess up my averages.

I like the thermometer on my Trek Radar. That way I can offically complain about the temperature.

I wish computers had 4 odometers on them. One for trip miles, one for tour, one for yearly miles, and one forever. 2 is not enough.

I got a Planet Bike 9.0 for christmas, and for the light riding that I've been able to do it has been really nice. I really like the big display, and no buttons to have to mess with while riding. I'll have to wait to see how it holds up this summer when I get a chance to do some real riding =]

I like the Cateye Enduro; I'm a road-only rider but cyclecomputer wiring seems unreasonably fragile except for that model. Cateye as a brand is the most reliable of all in my experience. My dream item would be a wireless unit with a long enough range to transmit from front wheel to rear bars of a tandem--why can't a cyclecomputer have a code programmed into it by the user? This isn't a real high-tech thing--garage door openers work this way.

I think I'm going to spend a few bucks and get the Polar 150, it's a HR monitor plus bike computer.

My favorite CycloComputer is the Campagnolo one. I like the integration with the shifters. It can tell me my cadence, speed what gear I'm in. Does everything I need.

If you want a computer for the back person on a tandem, why not just get two computers one for the front and one for the back. Hook one sensor to each wheel. Person in teh back gets hooked up to the back wheel and person in front to the front wheel.

Performance Axion 8.0 wireless.

Originally posted by blwyn
I wish computers had 4 odometers on them. One for trip miles, one for tour, one for yearly miles, and one forever.
Howzabout 3? Cateye Mity3 (and I think the Enduro has the same head) have 3... a normal trip odometer, and 2 additional odometers. I use one for annual and the other for weekly miles.

I just got a CatEye Astrale. It's got all the basic functions I need, including cadence. I'm a happy biker now. :D

The only gripes I have are: the wiring is too short, and the fact that the clamps were designed for road bikes, not MTBs. :p

I've been told that CatEye has had few problems with changing technology and changing mounts ... they keep their original mounts with new models. This is the main reason why I went with CatEye.

I've been using a Shimano Flight Deck for three years and love it.

Ciclosport C414M is the one I like. I have use a dozen or so over the years. Al have been just fine for the basics (speed, ave, time, dist, trip). The C414M does altitude and gradients too which I like. Plus it is downloadable into the computer and graphs the rides.

Here is a screenshot of the graphing. You can flag parts of your ride for reference when riding (or afterwards).

http://ricemobile.net/cgi-bin/i/junk/cm414.jpg

I love it. Plus it has cadence option to ($15 extra) that I use and that puts the wheel sensor on the rear wheel. Then you have the orignal wireless setup for another bike (it has a two bike memory).

Originally posted by roadbuzz
Anybody know if any current cyclocomputers have this? It just seems like a no-brainer, like a cyclocomputer equivalent of a lap/split timer. Almost every ride I do, I find myself wishing I had this feature.

Yeah... I miss the memory function too.
This webpage has a nice review of the old CC8000. (http://www.bikepro.com/products/computers/arch_cateye.html#atc)

My Flightdeck has a seperate stopwatch group that you can use to log between two points but must be reset before continuing onto the next leg. The CC8000 was able to figure out and log distances, times and speeds between and at each leg of a 10-leg trip.

I know the Cateye OS computers have some unique on-unit logging/graphing capabilities... maybe it has memory features too.

If you had your choice which of the following would you get (I have nothing right now). Mostly commuting on the weekdays and riding for enjoyment on the weekends.

Cateye Enduro 8
Planet Bike Protege 9.0
Topeak Panoram (or Next Panoram not sure of difference other than brand).

I've had a Planet Bike Protégé 8.0 on a 2nd bike for a year now and had no problems at all. Given the choice of those 3, thats an easy one, go with the Protégé you wont regret it! ;)

I have the Cateye Enduro II (or 3?) and it works great. There are two minor design problems with it, however:
- it always shows the speed; I'd prefer to have it always show the odometer, with the rest of the display showing either speed, or max. speed or time...
- no back light; it would be very interesting at night.

On the plus side, it seems to be very waterproof.


The Topeak Protégé 9 uses smaller digits which might be a problem in semi-darkness.

And the Panoram takes 3.5" wide on your handlebars. That's a lot of real estate! I just saw a caution: Push the computer to change functions... but push less than 3 seconds or you will reset ride data. Scary! On the Cateye, you need to press two buttons at once for 2 seconds, so it's harder to do it by mistake.

Regards,

Planet Bike Protege 9.0

Trek Radar (older model, but with the temperature).



I've given up on all wireless computers due to the area I live and ride in... too many high power lines and stop lights that use wireless technology. I was always getting totally bogus readings on every ride. Plus the temperature readings were way off.

I prefer to have temperature and time of day feature. And surprisingly, there are few that have those and are still wired. The two listed above are my favorite so far. I'd love to have an altimeter (I have one on a wireless), but it's not really necessary for the riding I do.

The nice thing about the Protege... you can order the extra long wire and put it on your rear wheel so you can record mileage when you use your trainer.


The downside to both of the one's listed above, no backlighting... so riding in the dark is not an option.

I can't compare since this is my first one. Thus far, I like.. :beer:

Cat Eye - MSC3DX with heart rate monitor.

Functions: Cadence, current speed, clock time, heart rate, elapsed time, maximum heart rate, lap count, average speed, maximum speed, trip distance, total distance and pluse zone time.

Features: Record memory, heart rate targe zone, lap, auto start/stop, back light, pace zrrow and sleep mode. Bike and wrist mount. Water resistance. Also, purchased download kit.

I like my wireless Cateye II. No intellectual reasons other than my old computer got the wire pulled out of it somehow so I thought hey, why not try wireless? So I did and I like it; it went through a surprise rain storm, it's gotten really rattled on our broken up streets that are about 5 years over due for repair! For some reason the first battery in the sending unit only lasted only 3 months but the new one has lasted 1 1/4 years and the computer battery has yet to be replaced. The only drawback I don't like is I have to remember to turn it on when I ride, but you can turn it off at stops to preserve your average time; but I don't do this anymore because I found myself forgetting to restart it!!

I'm on my second Flight Deck. The first one was a 6500 and then I took it back for the newer 6501. Biggest differences:

Monitors up to four different bikes
Input odometer milage when you change the battery
Shows numerical chain ring/cog combination when switching gears
Graphic chain ring/cog display on all the time

It works great for me, maybe Shimano will add a HRM next to flight deck.

Originally posted by talkdj
maybe Shimano will add a HRM next to flight deck.

I would rather Shimano license out the interface like they do their BB spline pattern so that other computer manufacturers could make FlightDeck interface compatible units. The same goes for Campy. And since the abstraction can be done at the mount/harness, you could have one computer head that would work for both say a Campy equipped roadbike as well as a Shimano equipped MTB. It would of course be nicer if they made the interface open but that would probably be too much to ask for from Campy and Shimano.

i have a polar s510 on my road bike. it's a good piece of equipment, but i am disappointed by the pc software and the sample rate in memory. i have a cateye enduro on my cyclocross and mountain bikes. i like that i can move it to either bike, and it's pretty tough. i wear the polar as a hrm when i'm on either of those bikes.

I'm going to order a Cateye computer today from Nashbar and can't decide which one. I have narrowed it down to either the Mity3 or the Enduro 2. From what I have read they are exactly the same except for a stronger casing and thicker wire on the Enduro2. Nashbar is running the Enduro2 (Silver) at 19.95 and the Mity3 (colors) at 13.99, guess nobody wants the colored ones. I could care less, I'm happy they are cheaper than the black Mity3. Always saving a buck if possible. My question is will the Mity3 fit a Mt. Bike???? I wasn't sure if the straps might be larger on the Enduro to fit the Mt. Bike forks. Thanks in advance for any help. I forgot to add also that I ride on pavement 95% of the time.

I have a Sigma BC800 wireless set. Very weatherproof, works well even at -30C (the display does get sluggish but the information is stored ok). My only complaint is that it does not have a backlight. Sigma sell a separate small light to be attached next to any comp, but I find the idea somewhat ridiculous. The thingy will most probably not survive the first crash.

Before this I had the basic model by Echo (Echo3 methinks) which was nice and basic (only one button at the back for resetting / configuring). After 7 years of summer commuting I started riding in winter, too, and after a couple of winters the flimsy cable short-circuited. New cable/sensor unit would have cost almost as much as a new Echo3, so I decided to try wireless.

--J

Zman:

Don't know about the enduro, but I just put a Mity 3 on my wife's mountain bike last week. She rides mostly on pavement too, that's why we went with the mity over the enduro (the sale price influenced the decision also). The straps are made so that it will fit just about any size fork. I don't think you will have a problem at all.

I have a wireless Topeak Panoram and I love it so far. Only time I have to press any buttons is to clear it at the start of my rides. Speed, distance, ride time, and actual time all on one easy to read screen. I cant imagine having to press buttons and watch the screen to find what I am looking for while also trying to watch traffic.

Had a Sigma BC800 and broke it. The base has two tiny tits that stick up to lock it into the bottom side of the computer and it must have been bumped causing them to shear off; seemed like such a poor design that maybe it was an intential flaw. Replaced it with a Cateye Astrale8; not cordless but having the cadence feature is more than a fair trade to me, and it works great and is very easy to read. Always had great luck with Cateye.

Hey, I was wondering if anyone here has tried out the Trek Fusion. I just saw it at my LBS when I was getting the Kenda's put on; it looks awesome, but at just 36 bucks for a 12 (or was it 14?) function computer, it almost sounds too good to be true and that it might not be of good quality. However, the Trek name makes one believe it would be good. Anyone tried one out?

I recently bought a Cateye Tomo XC and I absolutely HATE it! It was the cheapest at the LBS.

-First time I setting it, the little gray "set" button kept disapearing under the computer shell. Fortunately I was able to retrieve it
-You need to hold the button for a couple of second to get the clock. Why?
-You need to start and stop the riding time clock manually.
-The function button is on the left and my computer is on the right, this means --I need to reach a little more and once I accidently pushed the stop/start button on the right so it stopped counting riding time.

The last point (and some others I didn't mention) are more "personnal" problem but having to start/stop the riding time (TM) manually is a major annoyance. Average speed is related to riding time and it's always messed up.

Before that, I had an even cheaper CCM computer from a Canadian Tire store. It did everything perfectly (basic functions).

First off, I'd like to say hi to everybody. Just signed up today :)

The main reason I'm here was because I was looking for a good bicycle computer. One of the features I'm looking for is being able to download the information to my computer (I'm in IT so it needs to interact with a computer, LOL). What would be cool would be to being able to overlay slope, speed together on a graph. Any other thing would be okay.

I bike to work as often as I can. I figure its about 20Km one way.

I've taken note of the following product:
Power Tap

Are there other computers that could potentially be of interest?

Velocipedio,

I thought you liked the s510?
what don't you like about the software? the graphics
you printed out a while ago looked quite good.
I'm thinking of an upgrade and the 510 was one
on my shortlist (hey I like the 720 but ouch!).

Marty