Mountain bike computers

**runningteach** · 05-12-2009, 04:50 PM

I need a computer for my mountain bike and not sure what to get. Would a Garmin work in the woods? or should I just get a cheap wireless one? Help me decide. Thanks!

**Irulan** · 05-12-2009, 06:18 PM

well, what do you want it to do? I just like mileage, so I get whatever Perfomance has on sale. They do make MTB specific ones that have heavier wiring....

**Aggie_Ama** · 05-12-2009, 08:47 PM

I see a lot of Garmins at DH's mountain bike races. I also see a lot of Garmins pop off handlebars at the races. For a handlebar mount I wouldn't do it because they aren't cheap and I am frugal. But I have heard people carry them in their packs.

DH has a Cateye wireless for his bike, I am still computerless but will probably get one. I like his wireless for simplicity of install and lack of wires to catch on anything. Not sure which one he has but it was about $50.

**SadieKate** · 05-12-2009, 09:29 PM

My Garmin Edge 305 is mounted on the stem and has traveled there just fine for hundreds of miles of singletrack.

But I'm with Irulan. Without knowing more, we can't really recommend anything.

**pinkbikes** · 05-13-2009, 03:44 AM

I had the Cateye Micro Wireless on all my bikes. They were cheapish, easy to install and worked really well and I didn't realise how many bikes and computers I was going to buy before I finally caved in and bought a Garmin!

I never had a moment of drama with the Cateyes over 18months of single track use and plenty of cartwheeling action as I learnt to ride and fall off the MTB! So I can certainly recommend them. Has the usual features - I guess it just depends what you want in a computer?

I have since caved and bought the Garmin Edge 705. I seem to have been blessedly free of any issues whatsoever with it (this is me running to touch some wood right now) and it has faithfully recorded my every ride since I bought it at Christmas time.

It has been reliable in the forests and has sat quite happily on the bracket on my handlebars through almost 5months of single track, including a dusk till dawn race (where I went over the bars twice) and a 6hour race (where coincidentally I went over the bars twice) and it also lived through the 40km cycle leg of the Mooloolaba Triathlon in the pouring rain and howling wind (where I did not - thank heavens - go over the bars at all!) so I'm feeling pretty happy with the reliability of both the unit and the bracket. I have however, due to my inherent and apparent instability, put a screen protector on it to protect it from all those @#*(&%(*&^(*&(*&$@ trips over the bars!

**runningteach** · 05-13-2009, 04:22 AM

Thanks for the info ladies. I guess I should have been clearer. I want one for distance and speed. Not that stuck on knowing my speed but it would be nice. I was thinking of the Garmin because I tend to take the wrong path sometimes and thought maybe it would help me find the car, lol. I go biking by myself.

Think I will go with a Cateye Mico. My roadie has a Cateye on it.

**runningteach** · 05-13-2009, 04:33 AM

Wow, Pinkbikes you had a lot of crashes. Glad you are OK. I think the Garmin is out of my price range right now and I don't need a HRM. Thanks for letting me know how well the 705 held up.

**Cataboo** · 05-13-2009, 05:41 AM

I just use my gps while biking - I can get it a bike mount, but I'd worry about it there. So it just goes in my pack or seat bag. It tracks my path, my speed, and distance. If I have some readout on my handlebars telling me what i"m doing, I find it a bit distracting and spend a bit too much time looking at it instead of just riding, so having it in a bag is fine.

It doesn't give cadence, I'm not overly bothered about that.

And I use the gps hiking or kayaking, as well..

**PscyclePath** · 05-13-2009, 05:51 AM

I run a Cateye Enduro, the heavy-wired kind, on both my mountain bike and the commuter. Nice & simple for tracking time and mileage, and has a pace arrow feature, which I like to try and keep in the "up" position whien pedaling along ;-)

I have a mount on the left handlebar where I can mount my Garmin Vista handheld for when I'm running in trail-of-breadcrumbs mode.

Haven't been real trustful of the wireless versions just yet, but then I'mmore than a little bit of an old fogey about these things...

**Becky** · 05-13-2009, 06:14 AM

I have a cheap E3 wireless computer on the MTB. I find wireless easier to mount on a suspension fork, the computer been reliable, and it was cheap enough tht I don't care if I crash it.

**pinkbikes** · 05-13-2009, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by runningteach

Wow, Pinkbikes you had a lot of crashes. Glad you are OK. I think the Garmin is out of my price range right now and I don't need a HRM. Thanks for letting me know how well the 705 held up.

Yep - I'm OK (although opinions on that probably vary

). It's just that my transition from roadie to mountain biker was enthsiastic and messy! I think I've had more scabs on elbows and knees than most pre-schoolers!

Fortunately I am getting a bit more coordinated (I hope) and I seem to save my big indiscretions for races. Then I usually seem to be able to fly like Superman at least once!

**Andrea** · 05-15-2009, 06:29 PM

I just got a Garmin Edge 205, and my bf has a 705. His handlebar mount (on his road bike) actually broke and doesn't "snap" anymore, but I helped him fix it so that the computer stays on securely. I'm probably going to use the same type of "fix" on my MTB even if it doesn't ever break.

You can see it on his blog in THIS POST

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