Fifty Plus (50+) - Tell us bout your Bike Tech

Tell us what technology you are using on your bike.
I know one amongst us uses a Power meter, Garmin 705 and HRM. Man that guy is wired. He can't fart without all kinds of data going off the charts!:roflmao2: But you can't argue with results:D

I use an old Garmin Forerunner 205 to record my rides but have been thinking about upgrading. I do like the idea of the 705 - particularly all the data it can collect if you get the full bundle. If I do upgrade to that I guess if I fart or blow a snot rocket it will show up in my report out too...

Hex keys (aka Allen wrenches), open end & box wrenches, adjustable wrenches, torque wrench, spoke wrench, small grease gun, chain breaker, thread gauge, repair stand, digital caliper...oh, you mean while RIDING?

In that case: just yer basic wired computer, no cadence. Very rarely on the road, I might add a Timex wrist HRM that I use mainly on the Tour de Basement in the winter. Rear blinkie, basic AAA battery LED headlight. Simple.

I have a Gamin 705 I use on all the bikes. My favorite feature is the maps and ability to find places (restaurants, etc) when in new places.

I just download the info and don't pay much attention to the stats:)

Basic bicycle computer (no cadence) on the mountain bike, nothing on the road bikes.

Edge 305 forerunner. And most Important Butt Bttr for those pesky rashes on long rides

Just an old Forerunner GPS and a Polar HR monitor from my running days. Would like a 705, but the $ gives me a heart attack!

Cateye Velo 8 no cadence, just basic stuff.
I have been thinking of 305 with cadence and heart monitor only because a 705 is sort of pricey for me.
The heart monitor has really got my intrest as of late.

Garmin edge 305 with cadence and HR.

Before that I had the polar 725i.

I have always had HR and cadence functions on my bikes (since they were made available), but with the advent of the polar and garmin units, the data has been stored for upload to a computer.

No one seems to want to take Garmin on as a competitor in the gps/hr/cadence/bike computer market. It somewhat surprises me.

My HRM is visual, when I can see my heart beat from the outside, I know it's a good ride.

Computer. More for tracking distance and elapsed time than anything else. Cadence? Not even sure what that is!

Computer. More for tracking distance and elapsed time than anything else. Cadence? Not even sure what that is!

Cadence is how fast you are pedaling. You can calculate it very easily, if you want. Count the number of pedal strokes in 6 seconds and multiply it by ten. A computer makes it easier.

Efficient pedaling expends less energy. Efficient cadence is personal but for the average bicyclist it is said to be in the 80 to 90 rpm range. I tell all this to my wife and her eyes glaze over. She pedals fast then stops then slow then fast, etc...

Lance Armstrong showed Jan Ulrich why cadence was important.:)

basic computer with cadence..
Proper cadence helps save the knees,I use the HRM once in a while,
Bud

Cateye Strata for logging mileage on the Volae and EZ Sport, Avocet 15 on the T.E. and Avocet 30's on the DF's.

Cadence, don't they show up every 17 years or so?

Use a Blackburn Neuro 6.0 (all wireless speed, cadence, HRM and altimeter) on my Moots Compact. Put the Blackburn Delphi 6.0 (not using the wired cadence function) on my Masi Speciale Sprint track bike. I like the smallish size of the Blackburns and they use the CR2032 batteries.

Basic electric odometer/speedometer...with my style of riding anything more would be overkill. OTOH padded shorts on a bent is overkill.

I use a Garmin 305 with cadence and HRM.

It is very satisfying to me when I see my HR up in zones 4 & 5 for most of my ride time. I try to balance my cadence, speed, and HR. For me it works.

I would also like a 705 but as with several other people, it is a little pricey for me right now.

Just wireless bike computers on all the bikes

Used to use a Vetta HR monitor-wireless bike computer-all-in-one unit. I used to race as well and one night, after a 6 mile warm up, followed by a group 10 miler @ 25-30mph crit training, I thought I was having a heart attack, as my HR kept going up - 161, 162, 163, 164, etc... as I was doing my easy spin lap. I finally came to a complete stop, and damn !, my HR would not come down !. I pulled off my helmet, my sweat encrusted sunglasses (it was getting on dusk) and looked again at the reading, and lo and behold, it was on distance, not HR and I could not see the period between the 16 and the 1, and the 16 and the 2, etc... 16.1, 16.2, 16.3. I then realized I needed reading glasses and was becoming an old fart. Shortly after, while using the HR in Santa FE, NM at 7,000ft., when my HR hit 220, I realized that too much info was a bad thing and stopped using the HR sender.

Story 2 was while on the Bike Tour of Colorado in '99, after a full day of rain between Ouray and Durango, the 'puter bit the dust, despite being covered in Saran Wrap and a rubber band. I did nothing till Pagosa Springs, when I purchased a new one at an LBS, but hoping to give the old unit one a chance to dry out, rode the Pagosa to Creede leg with no computer. It was difficult day riding up Wolf Creek Pass, not knowing how far to the summit.

2 days ago, I rode my re-painted and rebuilt Lemond road bike, and THOUGHT I had re-installed the correct computer, then subsequently had a depressingly difficult 25 mile ride at an avg. of 13.5 mph, with hard pushes to 16, only to discover after that the wheel size setting was for 700/30 tires, not the 23's I was using.

Slave to the technology we've become.

Steve B.

My Bike Tech shares quarters with my Bike Butler. Oh, you meant technology, not technician.


One of my bikes has a sensor and a wire left over from the original owner. The meter was DOA.

Edge 305 user here. Like many others, the 705 sounds great, but the price break is just too big. Plus, the 305 happily accepts courses which I use on longer rides that lead to unfamiliar territory.

Basic Cateye Mitey 8 plus a Sigma HRM watch mounted on the handle bars. Works well, if not a bit "busy" looking.
I am looking at the Garmin 205/305.
Cheers,
Geary

Old Polar A5 HRM clamped to the handlebar, and a just as old Cateye Astrale 8 computer with cadence. Neither of these has a downloading capability.

Edge 305 forerunner. And most Important Butt Bttr for those pesky rashes on long rides

Aren't the Edge 305 and Forerunner 305 two different units?

I have a computer with basic abilities. I do not use a gps. That sort of comes hard wired. I can always find my way back from wherever I go. I suppose if everyone was like me, they would sell maybe a dozen gps units per year. I will use a heart rate monitor for trainers. It gives me good feedback on effort and gives me something to monkey with since I don't have the amusement of scenery and insane drivers that riding on the affords.

A basic computer with time, speed (current, mean, max), distance (total and trip), and temperature.

A Garmin eTrex Vista HCx GPS: http://www.rei.com/product/752629 with a handlebar mount: http://www.rei.com/product/658740 and the City Navigator North American map set: http://www.rei.com/product/777017

The GPS is for navigation only as it has no HRM or cadence functions. I use it to find my way around new areas, and especially to plot or calculate routes, and to find restaurants, motels, camp grounds, or other important services on tour.

I have a computer with basic abilities. I do not use a gps. That sort of comes hard wired. I can always find my way back from wherever I go. I suppose if everyone was like me, they would sell maybe a dozen gps units per year. I will use a heart rate monitor for trainers. It gives me good feedback on effort and gives me something to monkey with since I don't have the amusement of scenery and insane drivers that riding on the affords.

I'm like that, too, as far as sense of direction. What I would like a GPS for is to log rides. I think that would be fun.

Cateye astrayle 8 with cadence on my road bike and on my commuter nothing but a headlight and tail light. I am thinking about putting something on the commuter to keep track of my overall distance but haven't got around to it yet. I actually enjoy the commuter bike just for the riding pleasure.