zastolj

Just wondering if anyone else shares my feelings. I've been using my old Lezyne Mini for 2-3 years and have had mixed feelings. First of all the battery life just sucks now. I have to recharge it full after every ride to be sure it lasts the whole way. The user interface, the way the buttons work has been kinda awkward the whole time, not intuitive to me at all (probably a personal thing). I've also had a couple inconvenient freezes. Just a couple, but enough to have lost confidence of its reliability. It's really easy to transfer across bikes though, that's for sure.

I enjoyed Strava for a while but as I don't race a lot anymore and I'm not that light, chasing those seconds for the KOM's on those crazy short steep climbs we have over here is not my idea of fun anymore and I just don't see any other value in it for me. I can time myself on these climbs if I want to and compete with friends riding with me. Navigation would be nice, but then again I really don't need it, as I usually have my phone with me. Tracking rides is nice, but do I really want to spend time looking at my rides and places I've been and the routes I've taken? Not sure. My couple years worth of Strava history is all there to see but the time that I've spent looking at my rides (or other peoples rides) is close to zero minutes.

I've been looking for a new GPS to replace the Lezyne but I can't find anything that I like. Most of these computers are needlessly big, with poor battery lives. It seems a lot of people have had all sorts of issues with reliability, especially with Garmin but also other brands. I kinda like how small and industrial the Lezynes look, but even they actually sit quite tall and look a bit clunky to me now. It's not that I can't afford these but none of these are cheap, some of them really expensive.

Cycling should be simple anyway. So I'm going back to a basic cycle computer. I'm looking at the Cateye Strada Slim. Beautiful, simple machine with batteries that probably last for years on me. Sensor sits unobtrusively inside the fork. The thing weighs 12 grams (I guess not including the sensor, road.cc says 25 grams total). I can just go out and ride and see all the data I really need, and if the magnet has not moved around, I can be pretty sure it's going to work. I have 4 bikes that I ride and I could buy every bike it's own good quality Strada computer and it would still come out cheaper than a mid-range Garmin. All this just sounds too good to be true! Which highlights how stupid I might have been wanting things I don't really need...

Seattle Forrest

I enjoy the best of both worlds. I have GPS in my wrist watch. The bike itself is unencumbered, I don't have numbers in my face, etc, it's what a lot of people would consider 'pure.' But I have data, turn-by-turn navigation, my 20 minute power records, etc. I get about 24 hours of GPS time, and the watch face shows a battery gauge so it's very easy to stay on top of.

The only value I see in Strava is their global heat map.

seedsbelize 

I use Strava, but only for the gps, really. Initially I used it to record distance, but since I don't keep track of that anymore..... I never stopped using wired computers. The battery life is impeccable.

deacon mark

I have a Garmin 910x I use the bike also has a wireless cateye. I use roll out to calculate the cateye for accurate measurement and between them there is l less than 1% error. They are both amazingly accurate. The Garmin will only be off going in short circles. I use it to run but on a 400 meter track it will show error up to 50 meters in a mile at times.

u235

I use Strava for every ride, actually Polar Beat with a HRM and then sync to Strava. Polar beat uses less power and is better at tracking/logging non walk/run/swim workouts. Either way... It runs on my phone sitting totally out of sight in my pocket/bag. I do not look at it until well after the ride and I am home. I mainly use it to track my own overall progress over a long time, not individual segments. Good or bad, I ride alone, don't have any bike friends, and all my rides are all default private. My ride is what it is.

Scarbo

VDO M4 Wireless.

79pmooney

I run electronics free. (Well almost. Cell phone that I usually cannot get to in time if I get called so I usually don't even try and a blinkie on all my bikes. One bike has a simple computer, cadence and HR for the trainer.) So, except for clincher instead of tubular, not that different from my rides 40 years ago.

Every time I think of going "modern" I think of the cost, the hassle, the time spent, the mental energy spent and think "Is it worth it? Does it make my riding better? My life better? Will I be happier?" Until the yeses outnumber the no's, I"ll stay electronics free.

Ben

RPK79

I like data and don't try to shame me into not collecting it. This forum is my safe space.

memebag

Not me. My Garmin Edge 1000 or Edge 25 record all of my rides. They give me turn by turn navigation. I do a lot of group rides and a lot of those are new to me, so it beats fumbling with a cue sheet. All of it gets uploaded to Strava automatically. I can see how many miles I have on every component on my bike. I can see if I'm getting faster or slower.

Why would I give all of that up?

Grasschopper

If it's not on Strava it didn't happen.

indyfabz

I have never been on either. I am high on life, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannn!


That reminds me, I need to print my cue sheets for my upcoming tour. BRB.

Scarbo

That mindless meme has all the salience and freshness of one of our dear President's tweets.

nycphotography

I would keep using Strava even if I weren't training... for a few years I didn't bother downloading the files from my 705... then it eventually crashed and I lost all that data.

When i started riding again last year, I uploaded all my old files to garmin and strava... and now I find myself really missing those files from 2-3 years of riding that I lost. I sometimes want to refer to some of those rides/data, but they are gone forever.

The 520 I got to replace the 705 seems the best balance. Just GPS and data recording, small (enough), battery lasts long enough (at least double the 705, never an issue on any single ride, even an all day affair)... but the real key to me is the "auto upload" to garmin -> strava. I never lose ride data because it goes automatically (and the 5 times in 100 it doesn't I can easily trigger it wireless without having to plug it in to the computer).

While I may or may not care about any single ride now, who can say what my priorities will be next year? Having the data for future reference (at almost zero incremental cost/effort) is one of those things I've learned has a value I can't really estimate today.

And tomorrow, when I suddenly realize the value? It will be too late to record the data!!

Grasschopper

Pttf...that's not a Strava meme...THIS is a Strava meme

TimothyH

If you don't want a GPS then fine but please don't tell other people how to enjoy the sport.

If I want to make it complex, enjoy analyzing the science behind it or like to compete against other people then it is my business.

Everyone should be free to enjoy cycling the way they want without being told how they should or should not be doing it.




-Tim-

Scarbo

nycphotography

Hey! wth is the matter with you? Don't tell people how to tell people how to enjoy cycling!!

billyymc

Yep, agree with you. And I"m on totally the opposite end of this question. I tried Strava, MMR, and ridewithGPS for a few weeks. Found them interesting but in the end not enough to bother with.

Lately I don't even really plan out my rides that much. I tend to take roads that look interesting and see where they go. Sometimes I get lost, but usually not for long.

I do have a Sigma bike computer that has an altimeter.

Doge

You must have small KOMs.

TimothyH

Get off my lawn!!!

RPK79

This whole internet thing is a fad.

RJM

I found it pretty shocking how little I cared about strava once I stopped regularly checking it. My rides get sent there through garmin connect, but rarely check into strava anymore except if I ride a training route that I know has certain segments on it and I want to see if I pr them. I find that feature nice, but it isn't a substitution to training with the power meter. Trainingpeaks has that site bested for power stuff.

I do like keeping the gps route of the rides I do and I've had the mapping of the garmin save me on routes before so I will bring the computer. The watch that SF has would be cool and I could see that being my next computer solution.

Seattle Forrest

The only rides I sent to Strava are the ones I drive my bike to do, they almost always involve gravel. Because these are the rides that will affect their global heat map, new places. I get value out of it for finding routes, and this is my way of giving back.

I have big enough feet that I don't need to play internet racing with strangers.

Iride01 

I still use the old Garmin Training Center software on my PC. I also save all my data off the Edge 500 I use to a hard drive I use for backups. I don't think I obsess with the numbers, but I do find them useful and motivating to know specifics on how my performance is getting better or worse.

I have used Strava, MapmyRide and RidewithGPS in the past quite extensively. However it got to where the info I was looking for was easily given by GTC. So I use it's primitive controls and ungainly user interface for all of my rides. Sometimes lately I have needed a little more ways to look at my ride data and I found the free account from RidewithGPS is giving me what I need when GTC does not.

datlas 

Do what works for you based on your current goals.

Personally, I don't like a computer on my bike. I do have an iPhone in the back pocket. I use the Strava app (mainly for social reasons), I push Start at ride start, End/Save at ride end.

Enjoy the ride.