tkn0spdr

I've got a Niterider Rebel 3 wireless computer on my bike and I like it for the most part. There's a few things that I would change about it but no showstoppers.

I'm pretty sure that it's thermometer isn't very accurate. It's always about 5 to 15 degrees higher than what the actual temp is. Today I was riding and I know the temp was somewhere between 87 and 91F with about 70% humidity and my computer was telling me that it was between 100 and 106F. It was hot either way.

I was wondering if most people's computers are more accurate, less, about the same, or they just don't care. It wouldn't bug me so much but it's one of the things that's always on the display so I always see it when I look down at my cadence.

Thanks,
David
https://www.huntingthehaunting.com

RacerOne

My trek computer's temp always seems a bit high when the sun is shining. If it's cloudy its pretty close.

fusatia

Temperature is relative.

Forecast temperatures are averaged for a given area (usually), and adjusted for things like wind, humidity, solar intensity, etc. Most of the time your forecast is an average shade temperature... The temperature on your computer is probably accurate to within 2deg F (1deg C), at your given location and under the given conditions. It's not directly comparable to the readings from more advanced instruments like meteorologists use.

shmily_dana

I used to have a temperaure feature on one of my old computers. My theory was that it was measuring the temp of the metal of the handlebar. It seemed fairly accurate when it was off the bike in my apartment.

mayukawa

The temperature on my VDO MC seems pretty accurate. When you're out in the sun and on the road, it gets a lot hotter than the ambient temperature, because you have a lot of heat being absorbed by the pavement and then reflected up. I think that why you think it's not accurate?

tkn0spdr

That's a good point, everything around here is blacktop. Black + Florida sun = crazy to be riding.

Ames

LBS mechanic stated the Trek's are about 10 degrees high in the sun as stated above. Remember pavement is usually much hotter than the actual air temp because of the convection heat given off by it. Test by walking from under a shade tree to a sunny grassy spot and then to a paved area. You can feel the difference.
My home is accross from a 30 acre woods and we have several large Oak trees arround our home also and you can feel the temperature drop coming in from open fields to the shady area.

rangerdavid

cateye strata wireless, no temp reading.............

GGE

The temp reading from my Planet Bike 9.0 is usually pretty accurate.

Snoots

Same computer here, I don't really want a temp reading on my computer, it'll just remind me how freaking hot it is.

Dubbayoo

I believe my Polar overestimates high temps, low temps seem close.

qmsdc15

Be sure to put the sensor under your tongue and leave it there for at least a minute or two.

FrankBattle 

I never realized this many people cared about the *actual* temp reading when out riding.

I have a Suunto watch that I never take off. I don't even remember how to display the temp. When I did years ago, it would always read my body temp. Does the Edge 305 have temp?

whistler

Actually, the Garmin 305 does measure the temperature but for some reason you cannot access it. If you power the unit up while pressing the on button and the enter button an information screen comes up where one of the data points is the temp. I wrote Garmin about allowing access to that data in a future software update but I never got a response from them. I am not sure I would really use it, but it seems a shame to have the information there but not be able to use it if you wanted to.

Kai Winters

5-15 degrees over on my cheap ass Bell computer.

tkn0spdr

Of course, my mistake.

Thanks,
David

heavyMetal

Yeah, my Polar 720i seems to bear this out. The average temp is usually close to the expected, but the max is always higher than what is reported on bright sunny Summer days.

noisebeam

The sun directly on the unit will heat it up considerably. Keep in mounted (or provide a barrier) so it is in full shade all the time if you care.

Also consider that most standard 3V LCD will become unreadable ~120F, sometimes less, so don't provide any function full sun.