Carbonfiberboy 

Captain has been using a Bontrager Node 2.1 for HR display and as a general bike computer. However it never picked up the Garmin speed/cadence sensor reliably. After Cateye assured me that their instruments would do so, I changed to a CC-GL50. It works perfectly. Nice big numbers, easy to read, picks up ANT+ signals at 3 meters, pairs to the transmitters. I picked it up for $135 on ebay.

Its only flaw noted so far is battery life. The Node battery would last about a year. The GL50 is only specced for 10 hours and it's a USB. So for long rides, I'll have to put the Node back on and carry a battery pack for the stoker's Edge 800. Because the GL50 charges through a cradle, it cannot be charged in use. OTOH, it's totally waterproof, not having any ports.

The GL50 battery life is so short because it is a GPS device and stores course information. Which I didn't need, but fine. The hassle there is that I think I have to upload the stored courses to clear memory every once in a while.

Just a note for whoever might be interested.

tkramer

Can't you turn the GPS off? If I recall, when I was researching ANT+ head units, the CatEye lets you turn off GPS tracking if, for instance, you want to log distance on an indoor trainer.

Carbonfiberboy 

Thanks for the nudge. I searched the manual, nothing. I emailed Cateye tech support: nope, can't turn it off, no way to extend battery life. GPS speed tracking does automatically turn off when it syncs to a speed sensor. However that doesn't turn the GPS itself off, just its speed calculation since that is hopefully supplied more consistently by the wheel sensor.

Interestingly and kind of along that line, I have the Edge 800 set to automatically calculate wheel circumference from its GPS inputs. Then it's easy to read that off the Edge and put that number into other computers, like the Cateye, which don't have that bit of smarts, without having to measure it.

Bezalel

Does connecting the cradle to a power source disable the computer? If not a customized mount can be built.

waynesulak

I also could not get my Node to reliably read sensors. I wasted way too much time with it when very other ANT device I have worked with worked fine. I doubt that I will buy another trek component.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, that turns the computer off.