Reasonably priced bike computers?

[Bhitucyclist]

Hello friends
Hope my rider friends are all good and riding well. Yesterday i managed to find my way to tonbridge castle. A neat 30 mile with elevation gain of 1400. So feels like a good route to train for pedal to paris that i am taking part in this year. But my old iphone 6 had hardly any battery left. So decided to train back. Someone suggested a bike computer. What do you think - should i just get a charge bank or actually invest in a bike comp? Does anyone use them and find extra features that makes it worth having another gadget on you.

Oh greatful for any suggestion for a 40 mile ride. Wanted to check - cycling on A roads is ok right ?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Hello friends
Hope my rider friends are all good and riding well. Yesterday i managed to find my way to tonbridge castle. A neat 30 mile with elevation gain of 1400. So feels like a good route to train for pedal to paris that i am taking part in this year. But my old iphone 6 had hardly any battery left. So decided to train back. Someone suggested a bike computer. What do you think - should i just get a charge bank or actually invest in a bike comp? Does anyone use them and find extra features that makes it worth having another gadget on you.

Oh greatful for any suggestion for a 40 mile ride. Wanted to check - cycling on A roads is ok right ?

Some will say paper is the only way, others that a phone will do as good a job, or better.

Without going down the road of that my advice is to stop and think (a good think) about what you want to do and how a phone or GPS device could help.
Then think about what features might be "nice to have". Next year. Or the year after.

For some navigation is minor, it's all about the sensors and stats.

Then think about how it all works and how you want it to work. Are they compatible? Some folks don't use smartphones - that'll knock a few options out.

My dedicated GPS is most useful to me in strange urban areas where there are places that stopping to get my bearings is not a good idea.
An important use (for me) is logging my rides in Strava - not for the stats but when I add my photos I have a record of my day's adventure. Priceless to me.
These days "live" elevation profiles are very valuable and I rode happily for years without such info.

If you do a search on these fora you'll find many discussions over various units and options. Just remember that when people are talking about apps their functionality changes over time and vary for levels of subscription.

Good luck!

 

[wafter]

I have a Polar V650 which unfortunately is now discontinued; leaving the smaller M460 which doesn't have a colour screen or mapping facility so is probably not what you require..

However, generally (a few glitches aside) I absolutely love the V650. Its mapping capability has been instrumental in driving me out into areas I otherwise wouldn't have gone for fear of getting lost, while I find the other functionality it affords on the fly (speed, distance travelled, heartrate, gradient and more) really useful and appreciate having the ride mapped / data-logged at the end for future reference.

I think many like to use a standalone cycling GPS unit as it leaves their phone for emergency use and packed away out of harm's way.

I'd not want to do any significant rides without a decent cycle computer now tbh; a really worthwhile purchase IMO

 

[Sharky]

Nice place Tonbridge. Coincidence, we were there yesterday. Did you see all the scooters? There must have been a rally, starting at the castle.

There is a good sportive that starts at the castle. "The Castle Ride 100".usually in May and has shorter distances. Have ridden uit a few times, but not for a few years.

 

[Brandane]

Wanted to check - cycling on A roads is ok right ?

Generally; yes. There are some exceptions, e.g. A720, better known as the Edinburgh by-pass. There will be signs telling you if cycling is NOT allowed - suggest you consult the Highway Code to acquaint yourself with the signs and regulations regarding where you can and cannot cycle!
There are of course plenty of "A" roads where cycling IS allowed but you would need to have some kind of death wish to even contemplate it, e.g. sections of the A9 Perth to Inverness route, or A90 Perth to Aberdeen. Motorways in all but classification, but even worse for cyclists as there is no hard shoulder on which to find some space (N.B.... Cycling is NOT allowed on any UK motorways).

 

[kingrollo]

Hello friends
Hope my rider friends are all good and riding well. Yesterday i managed to find my way to tonbridge castle. A neat 30 mile with elevation gain of 1400. So feels like a good route to train for pedal to paris that i am taking part in this year. But my old iphone 6 had hardly any battery left. So decided to train back. Someone suggested a bike computer. What do you think - should i just get a charge bank or actually invest in a bike comp? Does anyone use them and find extra features that makes it worth having another gadget on you.

Oh greatful for any suggestion for a 40 mile ride. Wanted to check - cycling on A roads is ok right ?

Get a used Garmin edge explore or Garmin edge touring. Probably pick one up for under £100.

 

[Bhitucyclist]

Some will say paper is the only way, others that a phone will do as good a job, or better.

Without going down the road of that my advice is to stop and think (a good think) about what you want to do and how a phone or GPS device could help.
Then think about what features might be "nice to have". Next year. Or the year after.

For some navigation is minor, it's all about the sensors and stats.

Then think about how it all works and how you want it to work. Are they compatible? Some folks don't use smartphones - that'll knock a few options out.

My dedicated GPS is most useful to me in strange urban areas where there are places that stopping to get my bearings is not a good idea.
An important use (for me) is logging my rides in Strava - not for the stats but when I add my photos I have a record of my day's adventure. Priceless to me.
These days "live" elevation profiles are very valuable and I rode happily for years without such info.

If you do a search on these fora you'll find many discussions over various units and options. Just remember that when people are talking about apps their functionality changes over time and vary for levels of subscription.

Good luck!

Thanks - i have a smart phone but with longish rides the batt doesnt last. So i want to save it so that i can find my way back and still record my rides

 

[Bhitucyclist]

I have a Polar V650 which unfortunately is now discontinued; leaving the smaller M460 which doesn't have a colour screen or mapping facility so is probably not what you require..

However, generally (a few glitches aside) I absolutely love the V650. Its mapping capability has been instrumental in driving me out into areas I otherwise wouldn't have gone for fear of getting lost, while I find the other functionality it affords on the fly (speed, distance travelled, heartrate, gradient and more) really useful and appreciate having the ride mapped / data-logged at the end for future reference.

I think many like to use a standalone cycling GPS unit as it leaves their phone for emergency use and packed away out of harm's way.

I'd not want to do any significant rides without a decent cycle computer now tbh; a really worthwhile purchase IMO

What is the name of the brand- polar? I have only heard abt garmin but i find garmin complicated - had a garmin watch which was rendered useless as i could not update it with time

 

[Bhitucyclist]

Nice place Tonbridge. Coincidence, we were there yesterday. Did you see all the scooters? There must have been a rally, starting at the castle.

There is a good sportive that starts at the castle. "The Castle Ride 100".usually in May and has shorter distances. Have ridden uit a few times, but not for a few years.

Thats how i got to know about tonbridge castle - the castle ride was mentioned by another rider. Its a beautiful place . Planning to ride there again and go further - have you been to anyother town from tonbridge? Hows the route. A lot of the route i had to ride on A road - which was a bit scary

 

[Bhitucyclist]

Get a used Garmin edge explore or Garmin edge touring. Probably pick one up for under £100.

Garmin seems to be the dominant brand - i found their watch complicated to set up and keep the software updated

 

[Bhitucyclist]

Generally; yes. There are some exceptions, e.g. A720, better known as the Edinburgh by-pass. There will be signs telling you if cycling is NOT allowed - suggest you consult the Highway Code to acquaint yourself with the signs and regulations regarding where you can and cannot cycle!
There are of course plenty of "A" roads where cycling IS allowed but you would need to have some kind of death wish to even contemplate it, e.g. sections of the A9 Perth to Inverness route, or A90 Perth to Aberdeen. Motorways in all but classification, but even worse for cyclists as there is no hard shoulder on which to find some space (N.B.... Cycling is NOT allowed on any UK motorways).

Yes motorways i am aware- made a massive mistake in 2019 - and was scared to death. But yesterday the A roads i rode on - other cyclists were riding too - But they looked those super fast pro kinds! So not sure

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Thanks - i have a smart phone but with longish rides the batt doesnt last. So i want to save it so that i can find my way back and still record my rides

Then the simplest and cheapest solution is to use a powerbank to keep your phone charged up.
So long as you have a place to secure the powerbank you're good to go.

But......
The connection on a phone isn't designed for rough stuff so you may find the socket becoming damaged over time. And, of course, you'll need to take rain into consideration.

Depending on your bike and attitude to expense you could also consider a dynamo hub with an "adapter" for charging directly from the hub as you cycle. With a good dynamo light added (with an on/off switch) you'd always have light as well.
Note: Not advisable to try to charge and run lights at the same time and charging only occurs at a reasonable speed. Also, some phones don't play nice with that type of intermittent charging.

As for A roads? Once you're legal the next step is are you comfortable? If you're not look for an alternative!
https://cycle.travel/ is an excellent planner for quiet roads.

 

[rivers]

I'm a fan of the wahoo elmnt bolt. Excellent battery life, easy to set-up and use (requires the smartphone app). You can also charge it on the go if needed with a battery pack. I've had mine for a good 3 or 4 years now and still get 11 hours between charges. The bolt 2 is the newer version and then there is the roam as well.

 

[Sharky]

Thats how i got to know about tonbridge castle - the castle ride was mentioned by another rider. Its a beautiful place . Planning to ride there again and go further - have you been to anyother town from tonbridge? Hows the route. A lot of the route i had to ride on A road - which was a bit scary

I'm based in Longfield, about 16 miles north of Tonbridge, so don't cycle via Tonbridge normally. Farningham, Eynsford, Shoreham, the Pilgrims Way are all nice little villages. Just need to explore the tiny back roads. I can do a 20 mile loop from Longfield and not need to go on the major A roads.

 

[wafter]

What is the name of the brand- polar? I have only heard abt garmin but i find garmin complicated - had a garmin watch which was rendered useless as i could not update it with time

Yes; the brand name is Polar. They do a lot of smart / general fitness watches (my ex had one and liked it, which is partially what put me onto them). They used to do two cycle computers but have boiled it down to the lesser-specced M460 now and are also apparently pushing their watches as suitable for cycling (with mounts for bars etc); although it seems that this isn't a market they're falling over themselves to target.

The V650 wasn't particularly popular when it came out and got middling reviews, however I think a lot of this was addressed later with firmware updates and changes to the support. I've found mine to be great; the biggest niggle being that it sometimes fails to detect the heartrate monitor and requires it re-adding.

Thankfully for now the support remains for the V650 (everything is managed through a web interface) and I guess that while the M460 / maybe other products exist so should support for the V650.

I was put off Garmin by reports of glitches and generally crap customer service / mercenary business practices (like withdrawing support for older products, essentially rendering them obsolete).

I'm not sure what else is on the market but if you wanted to buy used it seems that V650s are going for around £40-80 on ebay, which seems pretty good providing they're in good nick / still working and there are no issues with transferring the support to the new owner.

Providing support remains I suspect it'll be battery failure that eventually kills mine, however I'm careful to keep the charge within the ideal window for Li-Ion batteries (60-80%) and so far it's given sterling service over the 3.5yrs I've owned it, so based on this experience I'd not be unduly concerned over battery life of used units..