Odometer, speedometer, clock
 

Was riding last night and whilst looking at my bike computer decided to change the "mode" and found it has the 'time of day' on it...i had forgotten that it had that feature, cause I mainly use it to see how far I have ridden. SO What do you use your bike computer for, Cadence, Average speed, or what... I guess I can say I have been stuck on the speed and distance and have not taken advantage of the other '''stuff'''that is available. Call me curious...

Mine has speed and ride time displayed all the time, then I can choose two others. In one window I always have current cadence. In the other I generally have heart rate, but sometimes have average speed or current hill grade.

I wear a watch, so that's where I look for time of day.

I keep a record of all my rides in Cyclistats, so I'm interested in distance and saddle time (actual riding time) plus the time in the heart rate zones which I get from my HR monitor (HRM) for record keeping. Some cyclometers have the heart monitor feature built-in.

While I'm actually riding I only care about speed and distance for mountain biking and the same for road with the addition of cadence. I also glance at percent of maximum heart rate. I'll check it more often if I'm doing intervals.

I've found that my cyclometer rounds down for the average speed display. While I may check it periodically on the ride, the value from Cyclistats or just calculated from time and distance is more accurate. Not a big deal though as the max error is 0.9 mph.


Since my HRM also has a GPS receiver, I enjoy glancing at elevation when I'm mountain biking in the mountains, especially after a long climb.

The HRM displays time of day, ride time, elevation and percent of max HR all the time. For my infrequent jogging I replace time of day with pace. On unfamiliar trails (single track) I use heading instead of time of day.


Al

It depends on the reason for the ride. Most times I'm looking at cadence and distance traveled. If I'm doing a workout I'll put it in the stop watch and distance mode and also use the HRM. My HRM (seperate from computer) also has a "HR zone" indicator and that is good for intervals and hills. I have a Timex GPS unit that I'll use sometimes when I want to deal with the 4 different units to turn on and sync. The GPS information is really useful, if sucessfully recorded, when loaded onto the computer.

For me, distance. I like to know where I am, distance wise, in a ride. The speed function is nice to have but I'm not at all into average speed. The rest of the stuff that is available by simply pushing a button...I never look at.

the current speed always shows on mine. for the second field (user selected) i usually pick either ride distance or current time. i usually track the time so i know when to turn around to go home and cook dinner for my sons.

be well,

jim

Mostly I look at HR zone, speed, and time of day.

Edit I also look at cadence, but thats more out of curiousity than anything

I usually keep my computer display in speed/cadence mode, but occasionally switch to elevation/gradient if I want to see how steep a hill REALLY is, and sometimes on a brevet I'll switch to trip odo to see if I've missed a turn yet. :rolleyes: I also use a separate HRM.

SP

I have the Garmin Edge 705 with the altimeter, cadence and heart rate.

I have six variables displayed which includes 2 large read outs and 4 smaller readouts i.e. font size. Cadence is at the top with heart rate right below. The the other four are elapsed time, speed, average speed and distance traveled. I only glance at cadence and heart rate.

The 705 includes the new ANT+ wireless protocol. When I get a power meter, I will add power.

I have mine display current speed and time of day. Only look at mileage/avg. speed after the ride.

mine displays cadence, speed, then distance or time of day, the first and last line are user selectable.

It is interesting to see all the variables... ride, purpose, what you want to save... to one and all continue to enjoy...and don't be late for supper.

I have mine on speed, not so much to see how fast I'm moving but
whether or not the computer knows I'm moving. My secondary readout
is set on odometer which is my primary interest.

Can I use a Tetris mode for the times I spend sitting in the shade halfway up the hill??

Doesn't matter what I have displayed on the Garmin 305- I can't read it as I am short sighted. Have to wait for a stop to check whatever I have displayed.

I really only care about the ride's distance. And I don't even know what "cadence" is, besides something Marines do when they're running.