Simple none GPS computer with odometer which also has gradient readings?

[Ming the Merciless]

Newer Garmin bike GPS have a feature called climb pro. It has a handy scale from green to dark purple. This is calibrated to the colour of your face as the hills get steeper.

 

[figbat]

Newer Garmin bike GPS have a feature called climb pro. It has a handy scale from green to dark purple. This is calibrated to the colour of your face as the hills get steeper.

Wahoo has a similar feature, with increasing dark red as the measure. It does the same for your heart rate too, which has a matching colour spectrum but goes to blue at the lowest level. I hope I never have a HR so low I turn blue!

 

[Dogtrousers]

It's the complete opposite of the bare-bones approach that the OP wants (which I can appreciate) ... but I do like ClimbPro very much.

It's a bit of digital frippery that definitely adds something my rides. Even if it does tend to enthusiastically announce "climb completed!" when it very fecking obviously isn't

 

[bighipspeddler]

Only passively reading, not really communicating.

It doesn't send anything out at all. Can you imagine the amount of processing power the satellites would need if GPS devices (of which there are millions just in the UK) were sending data back to them? Or the battery power your device would need to send signals.

The ONLY thing using GPS does is to sense the relative positions of any GPS satellites whose signals it can "see".

Like when you listen to BBC Radio 4 radio using on Long Wave (or Medium Wave) an aerial. Receive only through airwaves.

Thanks for the explanations, it does demystify it somewhat however it does not change me position.

To me it takes some of the wonder out of riding, similar to digital navigators instead of paper maps. Those ways to me somehow make the world suddenly seem small. Just my preference. Not knocking anyone who chooses the bells and whistles approaches.

 

[bighipspeddler]

Ok to update. I only just got around to fitting it and going for a quick ride today due to it taking a couple of weeks to arrive then having other priorities to deal with.

Very happy! This is just what I was after! The odometer is as expected and the gradient seems super accurate to me. Hard hills were in the teens and not so hard in the single digits. Could not have asked for more really. Thanks for the great rec!

Also it immediately showed its use in the data I got from that short ride. Average speed of 5mph having gone about 3.8 miles in about 40 minutes. So I can know how long I could expect to be out for a given ride I have not done yet but know the general distance.

I still don't understand how the altimeter can be so sensitive to know the difference between a few meters? It is impressive for a relatively cheap device. I know it works on air pressure or whatnot but how can it tell the difference of such small increments seemingly so accurately?

 

[Dogtrousers]

@bighipspeddler what was it that you got in the end? Was it the Sigma https://sigma.bike/product/bc-14-0-wl/?v=15fc885b9ab6

I did try to read back through the thread to see what you decided but it was full of people rambling off topic. People like ... er ... me.

 

[bighipspeddler]

@bighipspeddler what was it that you got in the end? Was it the Sigma https://sigma.bike/product/bc-14-0-wl/?v=15fc885b9ab6

I did try to read back through the thread to see what you decided but it was full of people rambling off topic. People like ... er ... me.

Hehe. Yes I got the Sigma, but the wired version.

 

[presta]

a contour count from 25 km mapping

Back in my fellwalking days I used to do that for every walk.

they won't even ship from Germany - thanks brexiteers

I used to buy a lot of my bike stuff from Roseversand in Bocholt, but they pulled out of the UK the day we left the EU. They were a lot cheaper than the UK too, in 2007 my new 9 speed transmission was about two thirds of the UK price. They used to produce a huge free glossy colour catalogue.

Very happy! This is just what I was after! The odometer is as expected and the gradient seems super accurate to me. Hard hills were in the teens and not so hard in the single digits. Could not have asked for more really. Thanks for the great rec!

What I find fascinating about riding with a clinometer is the occasions when you're convinced you're going the opposite way to what you actually are. It explained why a lot of roads felt inexplicably easy or hard to ride, small gradients are commonly subject to optical illusions.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

It's the complete opposite of the bare-bones approach that the OP wants (which I can appreciate) ... but I do like ClimbPro very much.

It's a bit of digital frippery that definitely adds something my rides. Even if it does tend to enthusiastically announce "climb completed!" when it very fecking obviously isn't

On turn by turn route my 1050 gets the climbs "right" in terms of where they are. But when riding no route Garmin seems to assume you are always going straight ahead irrespective of road. One local place a few 100 m before a junction where road bends to right but you can turn "left" (physically straight ahead) up a hill and Climb Pro flashes in until you stay on the roads and it then changes its mind.

Another local road where road does a sharp right hand bend but physically straight ahead is a bridle way and 1050 assumes you won't stay on road and pops-up "Warning: Unpaved Road Ahead".

Garmin don't seem to consider junction prioritisation. Not a massive issue as it quickly corrects itself once you've passed the turn.