School me on computers
 

I'm thinking about picking one up with tax return money. Do you use one? Share your experience, likes, dislikes etc. I had a garmin forerunner and it sucked. It was huge on my skinny girly wrist, uncomfortable, unreliable and generally disappointing (good thing REI stands for "return everything inc"). So I'm thinking that a computer will take care of the false gps readings that I got on the garmin. Things I want:

Something that I can mount on my stem (quill, I don't even know if that's possible)

Wireless

Heart rate (my garmin did not have this, so I don't really know much about this part)

Cadence?

Watts? I don't even know what that is or how it pertains to riding/training.

Edge 305

macbook

i lold

I did not.

:colbert:

It'll probably be overpriced and their lights suck but all the cool kids are talking about em

http://createtwodestroy.blogspot.com...d-shayzah.html
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UT9FKQvdrM.../knog_nerd.jpg

I got a super cheap one from Nashbar a few years ago for my road bike. It's their house brand, but wireless and does the limited number of things I need ( speed, mileage) but not much else. If I remember correctly it was WAY cheaper than everything else I saw and still works like a charm.

You can get low end polar stuff and get heart rate, cadence, plus other features. They also mount on the stem.

If you want watts, which is a unit of power, then the price goes way up. You can get ibikes fairly cheap, but otherwise you would have to go to a wheel based or crank based power measuring system, which would run you at least a grand on the low end.

HOLY CRAP! A G? Can you explain to me why that would be so important to someone to spend that much money? When you say a unit of power, does that mean like how much force I put into my pedal stroke?

No, that would be a unit of force. A unit of power is equivalent to a unit of energy over a unit of time. Energy is a quantity and power is a rate. Measuring your power is like measuring the horsepower of an engine in that it represents how much energy you can put out over a certain period of time. It depends on both the force of your pedaling and the rate of pedaling.

Do you lose street cred by looking like Ben 10 - without all the monsters - on a fixed wheel bike?

I have no street cred. As proof, I have no idea who/what Ben 10 is.

Ben 10 is an American animated television series created by "Man of Action" (a group consisting of Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle), and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The pilot episode aired on December 27, 2005, as part of a sneak peek of Cartoon Network's Saturday morning lineup. The second episode was shown as a special on Cartoon Network's Fridays on January 13, 2006. The final episode aired on April 15, 2008. The theme song for the show was written by Andy Sturmer and sung by Moxy.[1] In April 2008, Ben 10 was succeeded by Ben 10: Alien Force.

Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and their grandfather Max, during the start of their summer camping trip, Ben goes stomping off into the woods after another fight with Gwen, whom he is not happy to have along on the trip, and finds an alien pod on the ground. When he examines it, he finds a mysterious, watch-like device, called the Omnitrix, stored inside. The device attaches permanently to his wrist and gives him the ability to transform into a variety of alien life-forms, each with their own unique powers, quite similar to DC's Dial H for Hero comic. Although Ben realizes that he has a responsibility to help others with these new abilities at his disposal, he is not above a little superpowered mischief now and then. Along with Gwen and Max, Ben fights evil, both extraterrestrial and criminal.

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Have no fear, I only know this because I have two sons (7 and 3) who run around with these BIG toys on their wrists. Sometimes I'm just the dude, pretending to be the other dude, who knows something about the dude.

the mavic jawns are fancy.

I was just looking at those mavics. Can I put a skewer in my phil hub?

Maybe someone on here can chime in, but they don't seem to work so well: http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/tr...9_1624crx.aspx

Edit for a general computer comment: Right now I've just been riding for fun only, if I have a computer right in front of me, it makes it not so fun anymore. I pay attention to how far I've gone, how fast, etc. but not if I feel like riding and everything around me as much. I just dislike having it sitting there spitting out numbers at me.

But, I like having average speed/milage info after the fact, so I'm thinking about getting a wireless computer I can just stick in my jersey pocket or saddle bag and read it later or something...

Training purposes. Roadies on the higher up competitive levels are all about measuring and constantly tweaking to gain every watt of power they can get.

mabook pro

I understand the competitive guys trying to always get better, but I still think in time or average speed. I don't get the watts thing. I'm sure it translates into progress somehow, I just don't know how.

If you have a fixed I don't think cadence monitoring makes a lot of sense imho. Your speed will determine your cadence which you can figure out on your own once you know your speed. I also don't know if they make wireless cadence computers. I had a computer that did cadence but that part was wired and the rest was wireless.

Yeah, I reckon that's right. Speed and cadence are fixed (no pun intended) so I guess that would be superfluous.

What do you want the computer for? Plenty of inexpensive wireless ones that'll give you speedometer, odometer, trip mileage, clock. $30 or less.

Spend more, get more features. I had a very nice one that had way more features than I knew what to do with, and the one that I thought I wanted, which was cadence. But after a few thousand miles I never looked at the thing except for mileage and speed. When it died, I didn't bother to replace it.

Heartrate monitors are for training purposes as are SRM Powertaps.

Aren't you afraid a computer on your bike will ruin the whole Zen thing? It's a slippery slope; next you'll be putting mirrors on your bike, wearing a helmet, then blinkies all over the bike. When you get the cellphone carrier on the handlebars you've sunk too low for zero; might as well get a recumbent.

Things I want: distance, speed, top speed, average speed, time. I might also want heartrate, but I guess it would be more just another number too look at than any real benefit. I'm just curious about it. I also want something that I don't have to mount on the handlebars. Worrying about the Zen thing is for kids. I'm 32 and I love riding my bike.