Bike computer guide

Bike computers add an interesting extra dimension to cycling. In their simplest form they tell you your speed and the distance you have travelled. The more complicated ones will give you much more information such as your pedal revolutions. They can be useful for improving performance or simply for curiosity sake to see how many miles you have covered this week or whether one route is shorter than another.

Plus it’s a lot of fun to keep beating your highest speed!

What to look for

Setup process – Often where bike computers stumble is in the setup process when you need to input your wheel size for accurate calculations.

Wired vs. wireless – a lot of the newer bike computers are now wireless. This makes them slightly more expensive but is usually worth it for simplicity. Avoid the cheapest wireless ones as the accuracy is likely to not be very good.

Mount – It should be possible to very quickly remove the bike computer when you reach your destination. Also the mount should be easy to fit and not wobble whilst cycling.

Display – You want a clear display so you can check stats without taking your eyes off the road for too long. The larger screens usually mean you can fit in more statistics which is a bonus.

Functions – Checkout the list of functions to see if it provides you with the statistics you need. Ask yourself which ones you are genuinely interested in.

Well recommended bike computers

Cateye Strada Wireless Cycle Computer (£39.99)

Towards the higher end of the bike computer scales is the CatEye Strada. You’ll fall in love with the nice slim design, the ease of use and the big clear screen. Rather than fiddly buttons you simply press the body of the computer towards the base of it. This ends up working really well, even with cycling gloves on. The setup process has been well thought out and is easy to do. On the downside the lack of backlight means in the dark it is tough to read the display. Whilst the list of functions will be perfect for most, more advanced riders may be looking for more.

Bryton Rider 50E GPS Biking Computer (£179.99)

Bryton Rider 50 is a GPS cycling computer designed for cyclists of all levels. You can personalize your preferred settings with 33 options of display information. Brytonsport.com provides you a cyclist's playground where you can share cycling and training results, join teams for games or competition and explore new horizons.

I’m surrounded by equipment that knows where it is. My phone, iPad, and heart monitor. The new POV camera. The latest Timex. A personal Lojack to tuck into your backpack. And then across my desk comes a press release came across my desk from Garmin, maker of the gold standard in GPS. Even though sales increased 15 percent in the outdoor market, the company’s most recent fourth-quarter earnings dropped in half. The reason? Smartphone navigation is eroding the demand for stand alone GPS units.

Garmin doesn’t see that trend ending soon and has warned Wall Street to expect continuing weakness in personal navigation. Meanwhile, it’s focusing efforts on integrating GPS into devices like its terrific Edge 500 cycling computer and hoping that the currently small (£90 million in 4Q sales) portion from outdoor gains ground quickly on the foundering dashtop segment (£340 million in 4Q).

Not that long ago, the standalone GPS seemed like the killer device. But then manufacturers scrambled to add traffic, weather, streaming radio…and in Cupertino, Apple was doing the same thing, but better. And so now if you’re an outdoor person who wants electronic navigation assist, you have a myriad of choices, from the iPhone and Droid to dedicated units from Garmin, Magellan, and others. Do you carry GPS and leave the waterphobic phone at home? Rely on the battery-sucking phone and save the money you’d spend on GPS? Use the phone GPS in the car and an outdoor-specific GPS on the trail? Unless you eschew technology altogether, there’s no easy answer.

So, that brings us to this week’s poll:

Anyone who has used a GPS for the first time probably did so in a car. More and more people are now discarding the OS map and firing up a GPS reciever. If your using a E-Trex GPS for the first time we suggest you have a look at www.firstwaypoint.com and you will be adding waypoints in no time.