wired or wireless?

As a beginner planning a first 4 day cycle trip, I want to buy a bike computer. I'm wondering what folks out there think about the wired vs wireless option. I understand that if u go wireless, there is a contraption which requires its own batttery. What computers are reliable and stand up to rain? Just looking for a basic model which will show the distance travelled. Thanks in advance for any help.

Happy cycling!
WW

WW-
I've used a Specialized wireless computer for about four years now and I'm very happy with it. You say you want a basic model, and mine isn't the most basic there is, but it tells me all the stuff I want to know, doesn't have a lot of extras that I don't use, and it's waterproof.

As far as a battery goes, I think all computers require some kind of battery. Mine uses the tiny flat kind that's mostly used for watches. Even if you ride a lot, you can get a lot of use out of one of those tiny batteries. And they're simple to change.

I've heard there can be problems unique to wireless computers, such as false or disappearing readings when the weather is very cold. Well, I live in north Florida, so very cold weather's not usually an issue, but you should be aware of the potential problem if you plan to go wireless.

Probably others will have suggestions about less expensive computers that work just as well and are just as durable as the Specialized, so don't just go with my suggestion right away. The more you know about your choices, the wiser a shopper you'll be.

Here's my main caution: don't let the computer control your ride. Some people get new computers and then become obsessed with increasing average speed and racking up miles, just because it's now being electronically recorded. I guess that's not so bad if you're training to race. But if you're not, you can lose some of the joy of cycling that way, so resist becoming a creature of the computer.

Just my 2 cents.
--J**

I have a Cateye Wireless on one of my bikes and it works well. (I was trying to keep the bike "elegant" and I didn't want to have wires.) I have ridden with it in near-freezing weather and I didn't have a problem with it. I do have several Specialized wired computers on some of my other bikes and I like them very well also (I like their functions better than that of the Cateye Wireless). I believe that the Specialized wireless computer has similar or identical functions to the wired computer, so I think if I was getting a new wireless computer, I would get a Specialized, primarily because it has a resettable odometer which the Cateye doesn't have. (I have accidentally set my Cateye back to zero twice, bummer.) If you don't need a wireless, I highly recommend the Specialized Speed Zone Comp. I've used several other brands over the years: Cateye, Avocet, Vetta & Specialized and I like the Specialized the best so far of the ones I've tried.

Thanks for the help...It's always better to hear from those who have experienced products first hand.

:)

I forgot to mention that one problem if you decide to go with the Specialized is that they may be hard to find. I finally had to order one directly from their website, which meant I had to pay for shipping--not a big problem, but a little irritating. They do run special sales from time to time, so you may want to watch for one of those.

A salesman told me last year that Specialized requires merchants to carry a certain percentage of their whole line, so that may be why it's hard to find their stuff at bike shops. Anyway, check out their website--I like their Body Geometry gloves also--lots of padding right where you need it and none where you don't need it. And they stand up well to frequent washing also.
--J**

I have the Vetta RT88 wireless bike computer, and it’s great. My serious bikin’ sweetie’s had his for years longer, and it has held up over his thousands of miles ridden. The benefit of the Vetta RT88 is that while it can be used in a downpour and holds up over time, it was the cheapest wireless computer we found. Most places carry it for $50, but we both bought ours at REI for $40. It’s great to eliminate a cord that could become entangled or get snagged on passing brush and twigs, plus with wired, you have to keep adjusting it until it reads accurately, but not with wireless, you simply enter your tire size. My advice though is to have it installed on your bike right then when you buy it at the bike shop, as the package insert suggests. I bought mine when REI was slammed with a 20% off sale on a sunny weekend day, and the lone salesman I was able to dig my claws into to help me convinced me that I could take it home and do it myself (for some reason I couldn’t do the initial programming right). I ended up taking it and my bike back on a rainy weekday, showed them the Vetta’s receipt, and they snapped it on and took care of it.

Note:

Whether a bike computer is accurate or not has nothing to do with whether it is wired or wireless. Each tire & wheel combination is a little bit different, so no matter what kind of computer you use, you will have to adjust it if you want it to be highly accurate. Also, the weight of the rider makes a difference. Light riders depress the tires less than heavier riders and will have a slightly larger effective tire diameter. So, to get the best accuracy, you have to RIDE a course of known length and adjust you computer so that it reads identically with the known measurement.

To second DoubleLori's comment, there are several computers that I know of that allow the user to just enter wheel size to calibrate the computer, but these manufacturers also caution that this is a rough calibration at best, and they recommend that if you want more accurate readings, you should use a more accurate measurement.

You can get this accurate measurement either by measuring the distance your wheels travel in one revolution with you sitting on the saddle (you need an assistant and a tape measure for this one), or, as DoubleLori suggested, you can ride a measured distance and adjust accordingly. If you have any rail trails in your area, you might find that they are marked off in miles.

Lots of sellers of biking accessories are now marking down their 2001 stuff to make room for 2002 models, so it might be a good time to look for last year's computers. They shouldn't change that much from year to year, and you could get yourself a bargain, which is especially good if you decide to look for a wireless one--they're generally more expensive than the wired kind.

Let us know what you end up with.
--J**

Wireless computers are great for looks, speed, mileage, etc. My only concern with them is when you are interested in cadence. My understanding is that the wireless computers estimate cadence, while the wired ones actually measure it. I use a Vetta 77 (wires and cadence). It isn't as elegant as the wireless, but I know it's measuring exactly how fast I'm spinning.

Thanks for the posts about getting a truly accurate reading on a bike computer; those are great tips to calibrate my Vetta! :D

I agree with J** that measuring the length of one complete wheel revolution while you are sitting on the bike also works very well to calibrate your computer. You can do this by yourself by putting a dab of something colored on your tire, such as lipstick, and then riding a few wheel revolutions on concrete, then measuring the distance between two marks left on the concrete by the lipstick, etc. Measure carefully in millimeters. Most computers on the market today will use this measurement as the calibration number that you enter into the unit, e.g. one of my bikes has front wheel circumference of 2107mm and 2107 is the computer calibration number. I have used this method before and it does get very close to the same calibration number that you get by riding a known distance--I had a difference of only 1-2mm by the two methods, which would be 0.05 to 0.1% difference or about 2.5 to 5 feet per mile (not much difference at all).

What about the mathematical formula for the circumference of a circle? 3.14 X diameter. If you measure the distance across the middle of the tire from outside edge to outside edge, I think that that would work as well. I'm just loving all this advice and info.

Thanks all!
Cycling in beautiful British Columbia
WW

Measuring the diameter of the wheel+tire doesn't work as well because this is a much more difficult measurement to make. You would need to measure the "effective diameter", which is the diameter of the wheel+tire when properly inflated and weighted by your bike and body. Obviously you can't do this by yourself, and when done by someone else "parallax error" can come into play in which the measurement is off due to sighting errors--the measurement could easily be off by 0.5 to 1cm in either direction. This alone would be about 5-10 times more error than what you would get by measuring the "effective circumference" of the wheel directly by measuring the distance the bike travels in one wheel revolution, and then you have to multiply the measurement by Pi which would multiply the error by 3.14-fold, for a total error increase of about 16 to 32mm in the calibration number, which would work out to about 40 to 80 feet per mile.

A note on possible interference between wireless devices:

Just for fun I tried using my GPS on my road bike to generate a gradient profile of a ride. I found that the GPS interfered with my Cateye Wireless computer, causing it to read about 8 miles low for a 40 mile ride (the speed also fluctuated wildly even though I was riding at a steady pace). The GPS also interfered with my old early 1990's Polar heart rate monitor, causing it to read too high (frequently well above 200). I have used the GPS with my newer 2000 Polar heart rate monitor in the past and it doesn't seem to interfere with that.

I've never seen any interference with any of my wired cyclocomputers.

Now you've tweaked my interest! What kind of GPS did you buy and why did you buy it? What fun! I ended up with a low end wired Cat Eye computer purchased by my family for my birthday. So far, it serves me well. All the info on this post will be put away for a later date when I am sure I will be wanting bigger, better, more. The people who have responded to this discussion have been so helpful and give detailed, informed data. Thanks again!
WW
ps If anyone wants info about cycling in BC, let me know...