Originally Posted by
Mayonnaise
I'd like to ask a general purpose question about tandem computers. I've got a new tandem on the way and am wrestling with how much computer I need. My wife and I will be putting the bike on the car and driving to different places to ride the tandem, places we've never been before. I've gotten by without a GPS on my bike for the last 40 years and generally like to keep things simple (recently I've been diligent about using my cell phone to upload all my miles to Strava just so I can get a yearly tally). But the tandem is going to be a game changer in my mental approach to cycling. Feeling that change coming I can see how cool it would be to have a Garmin or some such GPS to keep things safe and fun and maybe even more spontaneous. For those of you with this type of computer, on a scale of 1-10, how important is it to your tandem experience?
I have the Garmin Edge 810 and my wife has a Bontrager Node 1.1. On a scale of 1-10, I would have to vote 10 for the GPS equipped Edge 810. We were at a tandem rally a few years ago and we missed a turn as well as several others and we did not know where we were. I made up my mind that from that point forward we would have a GPS unit on the bike. On another rally we were with a group who had missed some arrows and the GPS took us on the route. We will not ride without it. I have GPS in the car and had it on our Honda Goldwing.