Gps computer recommendations
 

I'm looking for a wireless gps computer for my bike...just need simple functions ... trip meter... speed... and total milage odometer, so I know how many miles are actually on the bike. Don't need maps or anything complicated..Any suggestions appreciated.. Bought a Bryton but am sending it back due to issues with it.

You don't need GPS for those functions. I liked the Cateye Strada for a basic computer. You can also use free Strava on your phone.

This one is pretty basic and cheap. It gets fair reviews and it’s only $50 on Amazon.

You don't need a GPS.

​​​​​​The thing that a GPS gives you is a record of the path you rode. (And, navigation, if you pay more.)

A downside of a GPS is that the battery life is relatively short.

A regular (non-gps) cycle computer will last for many months on one battery.

Another plus of GPS occurs if you have multiple bikes. I used to have wired computers and needed multiple mounts and multiple calibrations. GPS doesn’t depend on wheel size for speed and distance.

Battery life is a lot better than it used to be. The unit I suggested has a battery life of 30 hours. My first GPS had a battery life of 8 hours and cost about 4 times what that unit does.

Most phones these days can serve the purpose with a number of different apps. I suspect most folks (but not all) have their phones along on bike rides. I'm using Gaia.

GPS is overkill for the OP.

Regular cycle computers are cheap enough that you can get one for each bike.

Mounts come with the computers not with GPS units (so, you have that backwards). It's generally good enough to use the list of circumferences (so, you are exaggerating the calibration issue). GPS-only distance tends to be a bit shorter than the actual distance (so, even that has issues).

30 hours is also still much shorter than the battery life of a regular cycle computer (which can easily be much as a year).

The significant benefit of a less expensive GPS unit is to record your track.

If one has no interest in that, a GPS is not the best choice.

I'm with shelbyfv and njkayaker -- OP doesn't need a GPS. For $25-50 he or she can get a simple cyclecomputer, put it on the bike, and forget about batteries for a year or more.

Cateye Padrone has been reliable for me as a basic non-GPS computer for the past 4 years. I have to change both batteries about once per year.
Is as accurate as the ridewithgps mapping app.

$55 on:
https://www.amazon.com/CAT-Eye-Padro...66409909&psc=1

The OP used "GPS" in his post but that just could have been a mistake.

There's no indication that he wants features that require a GPS.

It doesn't make much sense to recommend a GPS. Especially, without being clear about what it will do for the OP.

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Agreed. I suspect it's a function of going to an online shop and typing "bike computer" into the search box. I can understand why they come up with 2-3 pages of GPSs, starting with Garmin 1030 plus and 830. It's the same reason a kid straight out of college might search for "want to buy a new car" and get Cadillacs and Acuras, instead of Chevy and Civic.

He did mention returning a Bryton.

But, still, he's only indicating he only wants features that don't require GPS.

Depends on what the OP wants to do that they haven't told us. If they are wanting to save and review their data to a website like Strava or RWGS then a GPS is going to give them a better way to look at the route they rode and interpret the data for any particular segment they chose to select. And whether that is the day of the ride or 10 years from now, then the GPS track will make it apparent what that ride was.

I don't know if it's still true, but non-GPS devices were a little late to the party with saving data for review. Many that started doing that tended to use very proprietary data storage formats and the logs were generally only usable with that devices software or manufacturers website. But maybe they've wised up in the many years since I looked.

I know that I shouldn't be surprised that this technology has become less expensive and better over the past few years but it always amazes me. My first handheld GPS (which I still have) is a DeLorme PN-60 and I think that I had to pay about $500 for that thing plus the bike mount kit was gargantuan. Depending on what the OP actually wants, this seems like a very viable option and at a price that is competitive with some of the regular cyclometers. My one concern is that with these type of devices I've never really experienced the maximum battery life that is claimed by the manufacturer. However, that again is something that tends to get better and better over time. I might get one of these for my wife for Mother's Day.

You don’t know that. He already bought one GPS. I assume waxcrazy knows what is needed and wanted.

That depends on the computer. Wireless ones are still rather expensive. The computer CAT7RDR suggested is $5 more than the GPS unit I suggested. A spare sensor is about $40. Wired bicycle computers are cheaper but having multiple computers on multiple bikes starts to add up in cost. And, if you want to track mileage, it becomes a data management problem.

Huh? I’ve purchased a couple of GPS units. They come with mounts. Spare mounts for most of them are dirt cheap because they are simple.

You are misunderstanding what I said about recalibrations. I have bikes with significantly different wheel sizes. I had to change the wheel circumference often as I switch the computer from one bike to another. Sigma Sport used to have a clever mount that worked for 2 different wheel sizes but if you have a 3rd wheel size, you were back to physically changing wheel size on the computer for multiple bikes.

The GPS unit I use now just clips onto the mount and I start riding. With 8 bikes, it’s a whole lot simpler.

I’ll agree that bicycle computer batteries last a long time (usually more than a year), but they aren’t recording much data. It’s kind of nice to have a trace of your route, especially if you want to share the route with someone. I don’t use the navigation on my GPS to tell me where to go but I do a lot of route sharing. Having that ability is worth the hassle of charging the GPS.

waxcrazy hsn’t said what GPS unit is going to be used for. Perhaps you should ask before assuming that waxcrazy doesn’t know the difference between a GPS and a bicycle computer

I am on my second Garmin Fenix watch (a Fenix 5X) and will buy another fairly soon. I love my Fenix 5X! It is not only a very accurate stand-alone GPS (doesn't require a phone to work) but it also tracks all of my activities, heart rate, barometer, altimeter, navigator, weather, etc.

I took the "bike computers" off of all my bikes and use just the Garmin. It syncs seamlessly with Strava and my company's health program exercise software. With the addition of the cadence and speed sensor it provides very accurate cadence, speed and output tracking. Not cheap but it doubles as my wrist watch that I use every day.

Sure I do (with a reasonable degree of confidence). What he describes he wants doesn't require a GPS.

None of these features he explicitly listed requires a GPS. It's not assuming to understand he isn't asking for a GPS!

??? You complained about me about pointing-out that feature and then you go and mention the feature to me. Bizarre.

Those are all nice features but you are assuming the OP knew about them and you are assuming the OP wants them (ignoring that he doesn't want something "complicated"). You are assuming these features (which the OP doesn't include in the list of features he wants) is worth the "hassle".

Which he returned. How does that indicate he wants a GPS?

You ignored what he wrote: What he said he wants doesn't require a GPS.

You are comparing a high end wireless cycle computer with a "low end" GPS unit.

He talked about "my bike". That is, he's talking about one bike (to a reasonable degree of confidence).

You are ignoring what he actually said and making all sorts of assumptions.

The GPS you recommended comes with one mount. Every cycle computer comes with one mount. Sure, if the GPS mount is standard (the one you recommended appears to it might be), you can easily buy mounts. But you are assuming he has multiple bikes.

No. I understood what you what you said. This would make it a pain to move it between bikes. But you are assuming the OP has multiple bikes (when he said "my bike", that is, one bike).

??? Bizarre.

The OP listed what the device is going to be used for!

You are assuming he knows the difference!

There is no downside in pointing out the differences. If he knows, then reading it again doesn't hurt him.

There certainly is a downside to him not knowing the difference. It also might be useful to other people reading this thread.

:rolleyes: You are making all sorts of assumptions (which are contradicted by what the OP wrote).

Well the OP said they wanted a GPS. I'd think the OP must have some undisclosed reason. Just because the things desired don't necessarily require a GPS doesn't mean one isn't needed.

Perhaps since all GPS units save your track log for later review, they figured they didn't have to list that as a desired feature.

They said other stuff (that you are ignoring) too.

• The features the OP explicitly listed don't require GPS.
• The OP said they didn't want something complicated.
• The returned the GPS they did buy.

While they might be looking for a GPS all the other stuff strongly suggests that they really aren't.

??? All the features the OP did list (every last one of them) are provided by all GPS units too.

The OP said they "only need simple functions". How do you figure that encompasses fairly-complicated features like recording your track?

Some people are not really reading the OP's post very carefully.

cyccommute didn't read the post carefully, complained about people making assumptions (when they really didn't), and then went on a frenzy of assumption making.

(That they likely didn't want a GPS isn't an assumption: it's a conclusion based on carefully reading what they wrote.)

Karoo Hammerhead 2

I think everyone pretty much has read the OP's post carefully enough. Until the OP responds one way or the other about whether they do or don't want a GPS there is no reason to not suggest other GPS cyclometers or wrist worn devices. As well there is no reason not to also suggest non-GPS devices.

So why do you argue so fervently that the OP doesn't want a GPS? Just state what you think is something for them to look at and don't worry so much about what others recommend.

No, they only saw "GPS" and ignored all the other stuff.

There is no reason to ignore all the other stuff and assume he is looking for a GPS. And complain about other people making assumptions when they aren't (you didn't do that).

??? I didn't "argue so fervently that the OP doesn't want a GPS". You aren't reading things carefully.

I said that he doesn't need a GPS given what he explicitly listed as the features he wanted.

Given what he explicitly listed and that he wanted something with "simple functions" and "doesn't need maps or anything complicated", it's a reasonable conclusion that he really doesn't want a GPS.

Note that I indicated that recording tracks is the distinctive feature of a basic GPS unit. The point of that was to be clear that, if that was a feature he was interested in, he would want a GPS! (cyccommute chided me for mentioning that feature and then proceeded to repeat it!)

So, yeah, you and cyccommute are not reading things carefully enough.

Waxcrazy here.....The reason I want a simple function gps is because I don't like wires or zip ties on my forks...I know it sounds crazy!! But true👍

Not crazy. That's a very large part of why I never got a cyclometer for my bike until they had GPS cyclometers that had wire less sensors. Of course I still have to put up with the zip tie to hold my crank magnet on for cadence.

I've only used Garmin's, but they aren't for everyone. Some just won't understand some of Garmin's ways of doing things in the user interface that goes back to the first few GPS's they marketed. Garmin seems to be very entrenched in maintaining that philoshophy or what ever you want to call it about how their UI's present and get information from you.

If you want a simple Garmin, then this is one of them, https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/596828
still maybe a little pricey compared to offerings of other manufacturers that are likely just as good. There are also all kinds of wrist worn Garmin devices that will handle everything from sleeping in your bed, walking, cycling and other fitness stuff all in one device.

As others have said, you don't necessarily have to have a GPS. Many have wireless sensors now, but they cost too. And you have to have a sensor to get speed and distance with them. With a GPS, you only have to have the GPS.

Hey, I like the reason.