Seattle Forrest

Windows XP was great in the day of horse-drawn carriages, log cabins, and carrier pigeons. Thanks for reminding me of a bygone age.

Daspydyr 

Like Rona, I prefer my HP 17.5" screen laptop. I can't get it attached to the handlebar very well.

I like my Garmin 305. The altimeter stinks. One day a ride has 1800' of elevation gain, the next time on the same ride shows 2300'. I'm betting it is really 2300'. HR and Average speed to me are the most valuable measures for health.

CACycling

I like the CatEye cyclocomputers that can be stem mounted. The Strada Cadence on my road bike has been great and I find the cadence feature useful (much like a tach can be useful in a motor vehicle). I have Mity 8 on my MTB and a Micro Wireless on my commuter. I have used many of the cheap ones in the past and all the wired ones worked fine. Cheap wireless are worthless IMHO.

And we still have 2 PCs at home running XP (plus 1 running Vista and 3 running W7) and everything at work is still XP. I'll take XP over Vista any day but do like W7.

sjvcycler

Get a cateye. Simple and basic.

dcrowell

My CatEye fell off (and under a bus) last week. I sold two bikes. That means I'm now settling down with the Sigma 1009 for my three remaining bikes.

It doesn't do cadence, but I don't care. It has the basics, and allows me to set the lifetime odometer when changing the battery. It's wired, so it just works. It also uses the common CR2032 battery, which I have a ten-pack of for other purposes.

fietsbob

Trek-Bontrager has a range, mounts on stem or handlebar.

wireless = 2 batteries to replace.

wantone

I do

WIN XP is pushing 11 years old btw....that's a lifetime for some

Still waffling on cadence even though so many of you like it...Im not even in that realm of riding that hard to care. Maybe I should. I got my bike because Im back in school and relatively broke...and fat. Its killing two birds with one stone while making me feel great. I commute to school and my grant research project....probably 10 miles a day. Today I had the day off so I went over to the museum district and chuffed around the roads and trails over there. Sedentary to something is where I am :0)

Wired doesn't bother me in the least. I think I'll go on the cheap and put a nicer one in my amazon wishlist.

thanks for all the feedback.

IBOHUNT

Linux because anything(!) Windows just drives me nuts

On topic... I'm with those that want Cadence as part of the package.

rhammons

I usually have my 9 function Knog NERD hooked up and running, with my iphone tracking heart rate and gps, and as backup. The NERD works pretty great, was especially great over winter on the trainer; however, I've been putting a lot more focus and weight into my iphone as a the main solution these days. I just received my Wahoo Fitness 'The Protector' bike case/mount and am looking forward to giving it a shot, meaning I'll either have to abandon the NERD or move it somewhere less useful. I'm really hoping this works out great, and the plan is to then pick up their mountable auxiliary battery so it'll be usable for more than the 5 hours I get out of the phone currently.

Mr. Beanz

I've had several sub 50 computers but after picking up the Garmin Edge 500, the under 50 stuff is all the same.

Garmin, no wires, no magnets, no sensors, and 7 functions by way of 3 windows, that is 21 functions available for viewing pleasure on a ride.

I have one window set up for climbing (%, total ascent etc) another for flat rides (general info) and the third with direction, temp, time of day etc.


garmin2 by gulpxtreme, on Flickr

bigfred 

But, it still requires a magnet and sensor for cadence. Albeit, wireless, which is very nice. I love my 500. But, they're well out of the OP's budget. However, he's already stated he has a smart phone with gps. So, I don't see why he can't find a way of using that.

Seattle Forrest

In computer years, WinXP came from the era when galaxies were still being formed. Which is probably why it's popular with digital retrogrouches. If they were really hardcore they'd still be using Windows 3.1, though.

Since you've got a smart-phone with GPS, you have a pretty advanced bike computer available to you for $0.00, if you decide to use it. You can get a free app that will use the GPS as a speedometer, have Google Maps if you get lost, and be able to map your ride after the fact. (I think the coolest stuff a GPS bike computer can do mostly happens when a ride is over, eg the data is useful, but not so much while riding.)

Big Pete 1982

I posted in the Road Cycling forum (and was promptly bashed) about using Map My Ride phone app as well as Strava phone app. Both work pretty well, but I wouldn't recommend for a cycling computer since having the screen on for that long would quickly kill the phone battery. The apps are great for analyzing a ride when you get home.

Mr. Beanz

Forgot to mention and meant to, I don't use the hr or cadence, no need with my style of riding.

bigfred 

And those are two of the prime reasons I love the gizmo. Although, as I get a better feel for my percieved effort vs. heart rate, it's becoming less and less of a useful tool. Still, my primary screen is three data points: Cadence, HR, Speed.

jeneralist 

...and I was going to say that I miss my old Sinclair ZX81!

wantone

XP comments still cracking me up...my first computer booted to dos from a 5 1/4 floppy before hard drives existed. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Never really thought of the phone, but thats a great idea. I usually throw an all in one recharger in my pannier on the way out anyway.

nymtber

Honestly, on the 3 rides I have used it so far (it got COLD again ) I really really like my Garmin Edge 200. I didn't want cadence/HR functions (or will I EVER want them). I really like tracking my rides online, seeing my route, etc. Sure, it was 10x more than a cheapie from walmart, but I am glad I spent the money!

Seattle Forrest

Does YOUR bike computer have itunes?



It works better than a netbook because you don't have the screen flapping around every time you hit a bump. Plus it's more aero!

Seattle Forrest

Yeah, XP is from the days when you only had to boot from 3.5" discs. Remember when everybody had 16 colors, and a VGA adapter with 256 colors seemed luxurious?

Anyway, a lot of people use smart phones for bike computers. It's very common in the road forum. The attitude is "Why would I spent $500 on a Garmin when I already have a GPS in my phone?" and "If I crash, I'll have more important things to worry about than my phone." The biggest problem people seem to face doing this is that the battery life is limited. I haven't done this myself, but:



^ I don't know why anyone would mount the phone there. It takes away a perfectly good hand position.









A lot of them have waterproof covers for your expensive phone:

magohn

I tried them all, I started with a WallyWorld $20 special, then a second similar unit. Then a PB version until I went for the Garmin. No interest in trading in the Garmin. Spring for the Garmin 200 if you possibly can.

I also tried the "phone" as a computer. No good. I was stranded 10 miles from home with a dead phone due to running a GPS app for biking. Works well for short local rides but I need my phone ready to go and not flat in emergencies. The 705 has a 12-15 hours battery life.

wantone

Nooooooow to find something that will fit my android, AND mount on the stem like that. Thank you!

Seattle Forrest

I think I may have found the last XP user: