lemurhouse

Howdy. Is it inescapable that I need a computer to ride brevets -- i.e. an odometer to follow cue sheets? I find it much more enjoyable to ride without a computer, free from the tyranny of constant input re speed, elapsed time, etc. And since I ride mainly fixed gear I can reasonably calculate how fast/how far I'm going by figuring cadence and gear inches. However, I don't want to be missing turns and adding more time and miles to already long rides, so I'm reluctantly concluding that I'll need an accurate computer/odometer, espescially when tired and brain-dead. Realistic?

So, the questions:

(1) Do any of you experienced randonneurs have any observations about the reliability of wireless vs. wired computer setups? I'm attracted to the reduced clutter and easy on-off aspect of wireless, but then again I've had enough trouble with my wireless network at home, my wireless heart rate monitor, and wireless stuff in general to be skeptical about such devices and am wondering if wireless computers are robust/accurate enough for use in a long ride with exposure to the elements. I.E. accumulating odometer innacuracies after a few hundred kms.

(2) Does anyone have recommendations re specific computer that can be mounted on the stem, as opposed to the handlebar? I frequently use the bar tops immediately next to the stem, and don't want to lose that hand position.

Many thanks.

brunop

i have both wire and wireless on various bikes. they are both very accurate when set up properly.

i like the cateyes.

Machka 

If you ride brevets in Manitoba, you would not need a computer ... or even a cue sheet for that matter. My brevets there were more or less ... 75 kms east, 25 kms north, 75 kms west, 25 kms south, and you're done your 200K. When I went to the PBP I didn't have the faintest idea how to read a cue sheet.

However, in many other parts of the world, an accurate computer and an ability to read a cue sheet is very important because of the quantity of roads and intricate routes, etc.

I have had both wired and wireless, and for me wireless computers are almost useless. I don't know if it is something in my electromagnetic field or what, but even the act of moving my hand toward the computer to click a button will send the speed shooting up to 65 km/h and then dropping it to 0 km/h and all over the place. Every powerline I got anywhere near also did the same thing. Sometimes cars going by would set it off. For me, wired computers are a lot more reliable.

And one tip, make sure the computer goes past 999.9 on its trip distance. I picked up a cheap one several years ago that would reach 999.9 and then die. I had to remove the battery, put it back in, and reset everything to start back at 0 again.

spokenword

I did my first brevet series with a poorly calibrated Cateye Mity 8 (the entry level Cateye computer). I say poorly calibrated because the computer was initially configured for a bike with 700 x 23 tires and I never got around to resetting it when I went up to 700x28s.

So, as you might imagine, my bike's odometer was a little off Basically the computer was underreporting my mileage by about 5%, so I still had to do the mental arithmetic of figuring out how far I had really gone and when certain turns were coming up. I didn't find it to be a handicap. If anything, being forced to do calculations kept my mind alert and active.

So ,yeah, for me the navigation benefits of a computer were negligible. What was useful was being able to use the computer to gauge fitness and training performance.

bmike

I'm using a wireless VDO MC 1.0+.
Altimeter, thermometer, 2 wheel sets for mileage, and a "navigator" that can be set to any mileage you want as you move from point to point.

All of it has been fairly accurate after calibrating it, and I'm happy with the button sequencing and set up.

Stem mount is nice... I like having it out of the way.

supcom

In Texas, some of our brevets are easy to ride without a computer, some are not. However, our brevet routes don't change much from year to year, so after you ride them a time or two, you may not need an odometer.

However, you could do like a lot of others and stick with someone who knows the route. you;d be surprised how many people don't seem to be able to navigate on their own even with an odometer and cue sheet.

BTW, if you don't want to be bothered by speed readings, you can always tape over the speed display on a computer.

Katysax

An alternative would be a Garmin Forerunner - I use the Forerunner 205. It is worn on the wrist, not the bike. You can set the screen so that it shows exactly what you want. You could choose a screen with a large reading of mileage and nothing else. You could choose a screen with mileage and time of day, or altitude. It shows up to four readings at a time. You can later download where you've been into the computer, and you can even load a route in in advance.

When you don't want a bike computer just don't use it. Don't need to recalibrate for other bikes. The one problem that I do see for brevets is that you will get about 10 hours on a charge. There are devices you can use to extend the charge.

bmike

If you go GPS, you might as well just go to a navigational version - it would be more useful on brevets with maps, routes, turns, etc.

Paul L.

Ok, the polar CS series will mount on the stem. That being said, I could run most of the brevets out here without a computer as I study the route out beforehand using the cue sheets posted off the web and either maps.google.com, the maps at Yahoo.com, or routeslip. This way I pretty much know what turns are where. That being said I don't mind the computer so much, just have taught myself to ride more by heartrate than speed.

Machka 

This reminded me of something that happened on the Great Southern Randonnee in Australia a couple years ago.

About a week before the GSR, my bicycle fell over and my computer broke. A day or so before the GSR, I took my bicycle to a shop in Melbourne to have it checked over before the ride, and I mentioned my computer. They soldered it, but told me it probably wouldn't last very long. They were right. About 300K into the GSR I hit a bump and my computer took wing and flew off into the ditch.

Not a big deal ... the route was pretty straightforward. But it was a little annoying from time to time when I would have liked to know how far I'd gone and how much further I had to go to reach the next sign of civilization. My bicycle computer is also my only way of telling what time it is on a bicycle ... I quit wearing watches entirely back October 1998.

So ... it was the middle of the third night, and the guy riding with me was really struggling. We had left a little town, Hamilton, at midnight and it was 80 kms to the next control where our bag drop and beds were located. There was one little dot-on-the-map town halfway, and that was it. There were no road signs every so often indicating the distance we had to go. And I had no means of telling how far we'd gone or even what time it was .... and yet the guy with me, who had both a watch and a computer, kept asking me how much further ... and what time it was!!! Like I said, he was really struggling.

I'm not sure how I did it, but I guessed the time and distance every time he asked me, and when we got to the town in the middle, I discovered that my guesses were pretty accurate!! Shortly before the lights of the town came in sight, I told him that the town was about 10 kms away ... and that's about what it ended up being, and when we go to the town, there was a town clock which was bang on what time I thought it should be. Same for when we finally arrived at the control town.

I rode another two weeks of my tour after the GSR before I finally got a computer, and continued to be fairly accurate with my guesses of distance and time as I went along.

roadfix

If you don't like electonic gadgetry on your bike you can try to locate those old fashoined mechanical odometers which mount on front axles. Trip distance only, no speedometer. I believe they're still being manufactured.

Machka 

I actually have one of those, I think. A disc thing, right? And I've got one that's even older than that - it has a little spinner that rode on the tire.

landshark1

"(2) Does anyone have recommendations re specific computer that can be mounted on the stem, as opposed to the handlebar? I frequently use the bar tops immediately next to the stem, and don't want to lose that hand position."

I just stem mounted a Serfas Level Three Wireless on my bike. I bought it because I wanted a stem mounted computer with numbers large enough to read. They're new, and priced well below most. Mine was under $50 at LBS for the double wireless!

https://www.serfas.com/computers/index_computers.shtml

lemurhouse

Many thanks to all who responded with their input.

The brevets around here in Virginia and Maryland seem to be fairly twisty/turny with plenty of opportunities to go off-course, so I guess I'll bite the bullet and install a computer. I generally ride on my own and wouldn't want to blindly rely on someone else for navigation anyway. If I actually make it to PBP I might ditch the computer then.

Thx.

Pumpkincycle

I usually like having a (minimalist) computer--but on some solo rides seeing the miles seemingly turn SO SLOWLY is sometimes a drag. When that happens I just flip the readout to max speed, which rarly changes, and I stop looking at the computer.

I probably went through 4 wireless computers in the last few years, starting with Cateye and the pricy VDO. On a long ride when I wanted to know speed/ distance they'd either cut out for good or read "32-8-32-8-32-8 mph" while bombing down a long downhill. I finally bought 3 cheap Cateye wired models and I love them--always a dependable read.

Machka 

Actually you might want it there. France is a maze of a million roads, all of which look the same. Almost everyone I've ever talked to who has done the PBP has taken a wrong turn somewhere. I did, very, very briefly in 2003.

spokenword

Sandy Whittlesey, one of the fastest BMB riders, regularly rides without a computer, heart rate monitor or any of this "new fangled technology". So, it is possible to do without.

pumpkincycle -- how recently were these experiment with wireless computers? have other folks seen this with their wireless models? perhaps the technology has improved recently? I'm contemplating a wireless Cateye for my new randoneering bike, but not if the stuff is still flaky. I get enough frustration trying to get my PDA to pickup wireless Ethernet signals.

bmike

i've not had any issues with my VDO MC 1.0+
only minor issues with the cadence on my Mavic wintech.

Michelangelo

Yes, a maze, and the new return route past Dreux will be quite something to follow on very small roads with almost no useful road signs to follow. Cue-sheets and maps do really help

Cadillac

I have yet to see harmony between one cycle's computer and another's.
The problem is that most people do not set up their computer properly.
The typical response is to look in the computer manual for the size of tire and use the number printed there.
I admit, that comes close; but not close enough.
The proper way is to mount the bike (with its normal air pressure) and roll the bike wheel at least three revolutions, then measure the distance that the bike has travelled.
Divide this number by three (or the number of revolutions used).
Some people roll the bike without mounting it, but sitting on the bike will deflect the tire and change the circumference of the tire.

If you change the tires, the "number" should also be changed.

Also, for the best accuracy, change your setting to metric.

I have heard people saying that they are riding 20 mph along side me and I am doing only 20 km/hr.
Obviously their setting (or mine) is incorrect.

bmclaughlin807

Umm.... since it's using the same timing and the same settings using miles or km won't make a difference in the accuracy. If the computer is off it's because it's a very cheap computer and not accurate or(more likely) incorrect tire size entered.

I calibrate mine by riding a known distance and seeing how far off it is. The longer the known distance, the more accurate my calibration.

Machka 

I think what he is saying is that it seems like some people set their computers up for kilometers but think they set it up for miles ... you know how you can toggle it to either kilometers or miles. So they think they are travelling 20 mph, but in reality they are travelling 20 km/h.

It certainly would explain some of the speeds talked about over in the Road forum.

Pumpkincycle

Spokenword-
Forgot the BEST part for ditching wireless. Finished a double one year, last hour in the dark, and only registerd 185 miles. Strange. When I did nightime rides the cyclocomputer wouldn't work, when I was ready to chuck it during the next daytime ride I did wireless worked great. Now totally bewildered. This went on for a few weeks, why the f doesn't it work at night. Finally started doing some surburban hill repeats on a stout hill, where I could use a crappy LED light on the climb and turn on the 10 watt halogen on descents. Under the streetlight I could see 4-5 mph registering on the climbs--too dark to see on the descents--but at the end of the ride my average only 4-5 and only have half the miles I should. EVERY TIME I TURNED ON MY NITERIDER THE WIRELESS STOPPED REGISTERING.

Specific to your question the first Cateye was the old wireless model (Cateye 3?) which started jumping around. (Cateye had replaced the fork pickup @ two years before when it totally stopped working.) New Cateye Model was one bouight in early 2005 (Cateye 8?) which didn't like when my light was on and pickup was hard to set up on my fork. VDO also from early 2005 worked OK on a bunch of training rides and then on hardest double it stopped registering mid ride--I would have been f'd if I didn't know the course..

On long rides I just don't want to worry about what my cyclocomputer is doing and the wired models are fine (also like the fork mounts on the wired models better--much thinner.)

Dewbert

I have a couple of different cateye models and they work nicely.
However, I generally reset my trip odometer at the beginning of the ride and the put the computer in clock mode so that I only know my current speed and the current time. I don't look at my total mileage or averages until the end of the ride (most of the time, anyway). I like to know how far I went, but I'm with you...I don't like the nagging sensation of trying to keep up with the numbers while I'm riding....sort of takes some of the fun away.

bmclaughlin807

My computer is set for cadence. It shows speed all the time by default. If I had the choice, I'd set it up for Time and Cadence.

I've been working on cadence... last year I raised my 'normal' cadence from the 60 RPM I've always ridden at to closer to 85-90.