Do you use a cycling computer?
 

Just curious...

If I have more than one cyclometer on a bike do I need to vote more than once???? For a year my handlebars looked like a 747 instrument panel but I think I've got that fixed now. Just love all those numbers......

I'm more interested in the amount of time I spend on the bike, not the miles I log. I do use an HRM frequently.

No cycling computer for me . . . yet. I've been considering one, but I just don't wind up ever ordering one.

Absolutely.

It's indispensable on long rides with a cue sheet so you'll know where the turns are (why I first got one). But I also actively use the cadence, speed, time functions as well as an HRM. Season before last I didn't have any of this and I was fine, but I'd feel nekkid now without my computer...

Got 'em on my two main road bikes, because I do longish rides on those. None on the singlespeed, which only goes around town, or the commuter, an old mountain bike with fenders and slicks that also doubles as a rain-mud-snow bike. Don't have one on my mountain bike at the moment, but I'll probably add one by summer--I live on the edge of a national forest, and knowing how far you've gone is helpful in navigation when you wander off on the fire trails.
Also have a GPS, but I haven't learned to work it well enough yet to trust it.

Got one on the road bike but not the mountain bike. I bought an Avocet 20 when they first came out many years ago. It cost $25. That is about what I paid for my most recent Cateye.

I use a computer on my main squeeze and I love it. It has helped me ride further, or longer, or even faster, on many an occasion. It helped me get hooked on cycling, and if a perfect ride yields both fun and fitness, the cycle has been a key for me to the fitness part.

I don't have one on my single speed mistress, because I only plan to use her for trips to the gym, library, etc. (and I already tracked the mileage...lol). Plus I don't want anything on the Univega that someone might want to steal. Other than me.

I have computers on both the p8 and t5200. The newer one on the t has the cadence feature. I plan to work with this for awhile; first to see what cadence I am comfortable with, second to begin to maintain that cadence using different gears to understand better how it will affect overall performance.

Both my road bikes have computers. I didn't have one on my older Raleigh and found I was missing something when riding. Need to know how fast I am currently going, average speed and total for the trip. Thats why I got another Cateye.

I have three. My heart, my lungs and my legs. Feedback from them tells me all I need to know.

I need one for motivation

-- speed: love to see the number flip from 9 to 10, 19 to 20, and 29 to 30
-- cadence: used to make cycling more enjoyable. Before cyclometer was peding at 70 now 85 is my standard and goal this year is to enhance muscles so can pedal at 110 when need it.

rest of functions I ignore. User error usually resets the other data by accident so I don't rely on it.

have them on all the road bikes, all have cadence. Its hard not to have some measure, even if its strictly a fitness program. Training to race, its not effective to not have one. Rode enough years, way back, without one, and training was tough when all you had was a stopwatch to gauge progress. Guessing distance and pace was always crap shoot, with numbers going however you felt that day.
Until now the MTB/commuter has been lacking one, but that changes now that the old Cateye Micro is being handed down to the MTB and a new Supergo is takin it's place on the roadie.
I even broke down and got a HRM to learn all the ugly truth...

I have a cheep one that gives:
speed, average speed, time, distance, max speed and odometer.

Since the batteries ran out on mine, that is what I use.

I will get the batteries fixed, and when it does work properly- the best part I find on it is the average speed. I know it also tells me milage on the ride, highest speed attained and current speed, but it is the average speed for a ride that tells me if I am feeling good tonight, or whether I have to get out and do some more training. I have found that a heart monitor is of more use to me though. Using that I can keep myself at a level that will keep me going for the whole of a ride without overexerting myself, or not working hard enough.

Now to get back to the Subject of this forum-- Had a fantastic ride tonight- Brilliant moonlit night, no ice found although it is only 30deg and only 30 miles and only on flattish cycle tracks, but no computer- no heart monitor, and stayed fast enough to work hard enough, and even had the break at Subways for a coffee and a Sub.

I deliberately don't use one on a couple of my bikes for the opposite reason. A bike computer is basically about keeping score. Once I start doint that then I'm never happy unless I exceed or at least match my previous average speed or top speed or some such silly thing. Sometimes I just want to ride for the hell of it.

Several months back, someone asked about what our mileage for the year had been. I could only estimate because I didn't use my bike computers enough. I thought I'd really like to know, so I've been using my computer to track mileage and to experiment with cadence. It's really not necessary to do so, but it fun for me to know if I'm on track.

Both wifey and I have Sigmas on our half bikes. Love them. Especially wouldn't want to live without the Flight Deck on our tandem. It's impossible to see the back wheel from the captain's position on this long bike, so the gear position indicator on the Flight Deck in extremely valuable. Stoker has a GPS which provides good information and a play toy for her during long rides. OHB

I don't yet, but I'm thinking about it. I don't feel like I need it for cadence... I do cadence on my trainer by pedaling in time with music whose tempo I know, and I've got my brain calibrated well enough now that I can figure out pretty reliably what my cadence is on the road just by feel. I haven't felt like I needed a computer for mileage in the past because I know the mileage of most of the rides I do regularly, and I can pretty easily work out the approximate mileage of new rides. And I don't have a HRM, though I've thought a bit about getting one.

I would >love< to have a computer that monitors wattage, since that's a great parameter to keep track of when you're riding, but that requires a power meter, which I don't have.

But put all of that aside. The Madone I'm waiting for is all about speed, and I just know that once I've got it, I'm going to want to know how fast I'm barrelling down the road. So if anything's going to drive me to get a computer, that'll be it.

One question for those who have 'em... One of the downers of advancing age is that my close-up vision ain't nearly what it used to be. A number of computers that I've seen have displays that frankly look like they'd be close to impossible for me to read without my reading glasses. Anybody got a favorite computer that's got a really easy-to-read display?

I understand, but disagree. Average speed changes so slowly, over 25 to 50 rides, that you can't see it. Top speed is always remembered as top speed on downhill runs. Neither are helpful and if that is all you use a cyclometer for, then I'd agree it's pointless.

The only value of speed is if drop below 10, then probably doing something wrong.

Big value is in cadence. It's real easy to slide down 10 rev in cadence. It happens kind of slow and so cadence reading is good to either reminding self to shift down and retrain muscles or to focus on pedaling technique.

Now after I've been cycling for about 5 years, I'll probably say not necessary. But for now quite powerful. when you ride the same route over and over, it's nice to have something to focus on during the slow parts of the ride.

All four have Cateye Astrale computers with cadence.

too cheap to buy one with Cadence butall my bikes have one..speed...top speeed, average...distance and the all important odometer. How else will I know if I make 5,000 this year. BTW right on track so far !

All of my bikes have computers. They're all just cheap Wally World computers, but I do want to track the basic stuff.

Have a Cateye Cordless 7 that I got at Performance for about $35. I keep track of miles, like to know how far I go. It gives other basic info, avg speed, max speed, time riding and is wireless.

same for me. Without reading glasses anything within arm's length is difficult, unless the characters are big and clear.
I have Cateye Astrals, Supergo S-9C (nice cadence computer on closeout on the Supergo site or Performance site and stores) and a Sigma 1200 (on my Dualsport moto) and all are clear and distinctive enough in display for me to see the readout in any riding position. Also have an older Vetta that was easy to read. Can't really speak to any other brands/models.