Fifty Plus (50+) - Ride without computer

My computer on my bike is not working.
I'll use the one on my trainer when I buy some pull ties. I won't have it switched yet by tomarrow mornings ride.

How many of you ride often without a computer?

I rarely use a computer when I ride.

Ride without a computer? Is that possible? Why?

Spoken as an anal-retentative mileage junkie, of course.

I never ride with a computer. Two main reasons. First I am so obsessive-compulsive that I would be competing with my self all the time, and second I do not see the damn numbers any more. Maybe I will get a Garmin Edge, it seems to have a nice large screen.

I have one on my "serious" bike, the one I use for what I laughingly call training and occasionally ride on centuries. None on the other roadie, the singlespeed, the folder or the mountain bike.

How many of you ride often without a computer?

I don't have a computer on my bicycle. My internal one tells me all I need to know. Heart rate, oxygen levels, power output and attitude adjustment. It's very well calibrated. I love it.

My computer on my bike is not working.
I'll use the one on my trainer when I buy some pull ties. I won't have it switched yet by tomarrow mornings ride.

How many of you ride often without a computer?

Can't.
Even on my commute, almost the same every day, I reset it each morning. I'm amazed how much difference the wind makes, and how I feel makes. I love hotting a new commute record.
I must be a geek, but it maes me happy, so what the heck.

I imagined how they would work before they were available. I wanted to make my own. I bought the first computer I ever saw -- Cateye Solar. Still have it (don't use it, but have it.)

No computer, no ride.

On the MTB's I have a problem in that I keep Breaking the sensor or knocking the Computer off the bike and losing it. Still keep buying new ones to replace them but then something goes out of kilter on rides- or the batteries go flat or something interferes with the wireless ones- so as they break I have stopped replacing them. Don't miss them at all. I know when i have done enough miles for the day- or WOW- that was a fast hill or This is Steep and slow.

Then there is the Tandem that also has a cadence sensor on it and it looks as though there are wires all over the place. Just waiting for them to snag on something and break again. The road bike however has a wireless computer on it that does not give a problem. That is how I know that the new wheels and tyres work better than the OM's did and that I have done 3,300 miles on it so far in 11 months.

Other than that- a Computer is the best toy you can get for a bike- but not at $50 a throw every other week.

Computer on the tandem, none on any of the other bikes.

Greg LeMond never used a computer, he claimed the time in saddle was the important part.

I had a Stewart Warner bike speedometer in 1956. Thing crapped out on me after a year. I've been sour on bike computers ever since. My time point-to-point is almost entirely a function of stoplight timing.

Paul

I have one on my "serious" bike, the one I use for what I laughingly call training and occasionally ride on centuries. None on the other roadie, the singlespeed, the folder or the mountain bike.

Sums me up to a T. Except that I don't have a singlespeed.

Mine broke last year {road bike** and due to being lazy, I just never got around to replacing it.
I found it was easier to have an easy ride without constantly trying to increase the average mph. or trying to set a fast time more frequently than I should.
Leaving the heart rate monitor at home works quite well also.
I did however miss the odometer part of the computer.

This year I purchased a Garmin w/heart rate monitor........its time to get back to being a bit more serious about my training.

Don't have one on my Racing USA Comp, but when i ride it i only go on a route that i know the mileage of. Just have to keep track of my mileage. BTW, i use a Schwinn computer on my daily ride that i bought at WalMart a few years ago for 9.00. I usually have it on the scan function that rotates to display speed-max speed-avg speed- and ride time. I really can imagine riding without it. Also have a base unit on my Fuji Cambridge III (fenders for the rain) so i can move the computer from bike to bike in an instant.

Haven't used a computer in over 10 years. I used to track mileage, avg speed, HR, cadence on every ride. Finally learned that the statistics got in the way, at times dictating how I rode; since I wasn't training for races I eventually said "Humbug". Never had an altimeter or a power meter.

My son & daughter have computers on road bikes so they sometimes give me mileage updates on favorite routes.

Now that my town has gone wireless I will probably install a card and take the computer on rides..........................:crash:



not

Essential in paceline riding for speed and time; otherwise useful for training and HR monitoring. Never had one in the old days when growing up, but would miss my Garmin 301 now.

Is it legal to ride without a computer????

My Specialized Sirus, that I use as a sort of town bike/sort of easy riding bike, doesn't have a computer. Remarkable how much fun a ride can be when I'm not worrying about speed, pace, distance, etc.

I only ride without a computer when I want to go slow and take it easy, like when I was recovering from surgery. I find I ride at a more relaxed pace when I have no computer or HRM.

OTOH: You can figure out mileage and eleveation gain after the fact with gmaps pedometer, bikely or whatever.

I traced my route on routeslip. I came up with about 30 miles. I didn't really miss it that much. I was wondering how fast i was going when I was hammering down a straight flat stretch. But it really is not that important.

I only ride with a computer if I'm trying to follow a map on a route I've never ridden before, so that I can keep track of where I'm supposed to turn. Of course, it didn't help this weekend, and I ended up climbing 300ft that I didn't need to... grumble, grumble.

The puter make YOU a slave... And it is a hard task master....No puter for me :>)

I have a computer for each of 4 bikes, they are all base level (miles, trip, speed, time of day), except for one that also has elapsed time and average speed. I think being deprived of a speedometer in my youth has driven me to get one for all bikes. All I really bother with is mileage. Something to write in my log. Occasionally if I think I'm really moving I will glance at speed; although I'm usually so slow I rather not know. As to wireless models, guess I should search as to what affects them. Had about 2 months on my one wireless model and it suddenly dropped to zero. Then responded a bit later but at something less then half speed. I hope wireless computers aren't like digital cameras and just eat batteries.

My computer on my bike is not working.

How many of you ride often without a computer?
Ride without a computer? Never, ever.

I have two on my main bike, in case one fails or gets reset somehow. One has heart rate, but both have ride time & speed.

I have only one on my beater bike, but I have an older model for a spare that fits the same mount as the one on it.

I am very OC about measuring the roll out to set the wheel size, too.

I have one on my "serious" bike, the one I use for what I laughingly call training and occasionally ride on centuries. None on the other roadie, the singlespeed, the folder or the mountain bike.

+1. That sounds like me too.

Most Springs I have nothing on the bike. I tour and ride Maine's backroads so eventually I have to put one on. I also need to train for the tour so along with it comes the HRM. This year I think I'll add a GPS for help
navigating farm country (not may signs out there).

But after the tour I tire of the gadgets; just want to ride. So off they go, until next June.

I was given a cycling computer about eight years ago, as a Christmas stock-stuffer. It's in the box, stuffed in the back of my underwear drawer. I've never seen the need for one.

I have a computer on my mountain bike and sometimes do enjoy using it, but I get lazy about replacing the batteries.

I somehow don't think a computer would look right on the 1959 Capo. :)

I have one on each of my bikes to track my mileage, but like some of the others sometimes I think I worry too much about my average speed. A friend of mine told me that he took them off of all of his bikes and just rides for fun and enjoys it more now. When I got my most recent bike I only took a lap around the block before I put the computer on. When I first started road riding, after every ride I came home and reported my mileage and average speed progress to my wife. One day she told me that she didn't care how far or fast I ride and doesn't understand why I would. I guess that makes sense, so I don't tell her anymore.

I have one on each of my bikes to track my mileage, but like some of the others sometimes I think I worry too much about my average speed. A friend of mine told me that he took them off of all of his bikes and just rides for fun and enjoys it more now. ...

That's kind of where I am, although I'll admit that a computer is like a good riding partner, i.e., it can make you work harder than you would by yourself. I did my usual 25mi / 40km round trip Coast Highway 101 ride yesterday, from Leucadia to the top of the Torrey Pines hill, but I got passed by 4 people, including one chap on a mountain bike and another on a great-looking Rivendell with barcons. I could blame the crosswind or the 3-digit combined age of myself and my trusty Capo, but the truth is probably that I haven't been pushing myself hard enough for the past few years, in either running or cycling.

That's kind of where I am, although I'll admit that a computer is like a good riding partner, i.e., it can make you work harder than you would by yourself. I did my usual 25mi / 40km round trip Coast Highway 101 ride yesterday, from Leucadia to the top of the Torrey Pines hill, but I got passed by 4 people, including one chap on a mountain bike and another on a great-looking Rivendell with barcons. I could blame the crosswind or the 3-digit combined age of myself and my trusty Capo, but the truth is probably that I haven't been pushing myself hard enough for the past few years, in either running or cycling.

I have a great fear of Torrey Pines hill. What can you tell me about it? It looks impossible so I've avoided it like the plague.

Like anything else, the bike computer is a tool. It gives you useful data. But you don't want that tool to start dictating the ride. Two things: ride for the fun and for the exercise, unless you're not a recreactional rider. If you're a racer wanna be, that's your passion but let reason control your passions.

You can tell your cardiologist or internist how many miles you ride and average speed and even heart rate. This is good information to know. As you get older, hopefully you will grow older gracefully.

I have a great fear of Torrey Pines hill. What can you tell me about it? It looks impossible so I've avoided it like the plague.

Lay up before the water hazard. Then use a seven iron.

Haven't used a computer in over 10 years. I used to track mileage, avg speed, HR, cadence on every ride. Finally learned that the statistics got in the way, at times dictating how I rode; since I wasn't training for races I eventually said "Humbug". Never had an altimeter or a power meter.



Agreed.

When mine broke a couple of years ago I bought a new wireless....and never installed it. I now set my digital watch so I know how long I ride but nothing else. I'm surprised at how much I don't miss it.

Lay up before the water hazard. Then use a seven iron.
Torrey Pines is a world-famous gliderport. I didn't know there was a golf course, too.

Paul

Well, my new El Cheapo computer works just fine on the new bike -- but it hardly does anything! It measures speed, distance, and has a clock for the current time and the odometer. That's it! I wanted simple, but I also wanted at least to measure time (length) of ride...

Oh well, I'll see how this feels. I'll just muptiply the miles by an average of 12mph or something to get time in the saddle.

How do you keep from speeding through the school zones without a computer?

I have a great fear of Torrey Pines hill. What can you tell me about it? It looks impossible so I've avoided it like the plague.
I have ridden it numerous times, both the steeper original switchback road inside the park, up to the rangers' station, and the main 5-lane highway. The main highway is not especially steep, perhaps 8 percent at most, and I generally take it in either a 49-inch gear (42/23 on the Bianchi or the UO-8, 38/21 on Capo #1) or a 47-incher (40/22 on the mountain bike). In addition to the obvious advice to meter your energy and to save something for the top of the climb, don't let yourself get fooled by the false summit about 3/4 of the way up, where the road curves to the right, hiding the final climb from your view. I remain seated for most of the climb up the main highway, standing intermittently. I do alot more standing on the cranks on the inside road. :)

My mountain bike is the only one without a cyclometer. For now!!