Bike computers

[redrhodie]

I just came back from a fabulous ride. At the start, my computer stopped registering. Obviously the connection is off from transporting the bike in the car to the place where I rode. I'm sure it's a simple adjustment to fix. Anyhoo, the ride was great. I'm thinking that knowing my speed, fastest speed, etc. is not as much fun as not knowing. Maybe I don't want to have it fixed?

Has anyone else taken their computer off? Has it been a positive experience? Thanks!!!

[Zen]

I think most of us like having the 'puter for goal setting purposes like improving avg. speed or reaching a certain #of miles per time frame.

If you don't care about that then you don't need it, go according to you preference or goals.

[sandra]

If nothing else, I like knowing the number of miles total I have on the bike.

[short cut sally]

I'm with Sandra, I use it basically for amount of miles each trip and what my total mileage if for the year. Oh, and I set it for the time display while riding so I can keep track of my time if I'm on a schedule or something. I didn't have a little computer my first year of biking, and I was constantly asking whoever I rode with for the mileage, go home and keep it logged. PIA. You should do whatever makes you feel comfortable and if it's riding w/o a computer, then go for it..

[Torrilin]

I don't use a bike computer. For most of my routes, I can get a shortest mileage value out of Google Maps, so I use that. If I'm following the suggested route, it will be accurate miles, and if I'm veering off route, chances are I won't be adding serious distance. I do keep rough track, because it's nice knowing how far I can go. But I don't see the need for a computer, since it's a bit more of a temptation for a thief than my headlight and taillight.

If I want a speed estimate, I ride a known route and time it. I can pick different length routes to get different sorts of estimates. A short fairly flat 2 mile route is good for a top speed estimate. A long hilly route would work better to find my average speed.

[indigoiis]

I was on that same fantastic ride this morning (thanks red!) and my computer is also not working. But I did use a mapping system beforehand so knew approximately how we were doing mileage wise.

But, I think it would be nice to see how my speed is going, and whether we have improved since we started.

I'm guessing we were about 14/15 like last time, save for the stops.

[bmccasland]

Sounds like my computer is doing the same thing. I've wiggled wires, replaced the battery, and it still registers "0" when I start out, then bounces around - 3.2 mph, 17 mph, 9... every second or so. Driving me batty. Eventually it seems to settle down. I think I only bought it last year when I bought my new bike, so I need to find the paperwork and check the warranty. I do like to know how fast I'm going, especially when I'm riding the levee. And on the MS training rides it gets to be important to know approximately where the next rest stop is. Especially since I'm counting on them for water to refill my bottles.