View Full Version : I Just Removed my Computer !
ti_boi
10-08-2005, 11:45 PM
I recently took my Legend Ti out for it's maiden run. It is a bit faster on my 'home course' than the Cannondale Saeco that it is replacing. My ride was twice the length that it usually is, because I was so enamored with the 'ride' itself. The plush handling and the floating over rough patches in the road.
But suddenly it occurred to me that I am tired of being chained to a measuring device. I also love the look of a bike without the little box on the handlebar and fork.
I am returning to my youth! So to speak. The time when I would ride for hours without a clue how far or how fast I was going. Other than the seat of the pants measurement.
Don't get me wrong, I love technology, but I am suddenly less interested in the 2 or 3 extra miles per hour down this or that hill and more into the ride.
Anyone else scrapping the computer? Can you relate to the urge?
Kevan
10-08-2005, 11:59 PM
My computer popped off the bike hitting a pothole while in a paceline. As I was negotiating a turn around to retrieve it I heard the sickening " k-tink..k-tink" sound of a car tire rolling over it. I knew it was a goner even while administering cpr, but I tried.
Anyway, I never replaced it and agree the bike looks better without the extra hardware.
FierteTi52
10-09-2005, 12:26 AM
I don't use a computer on a few of my bikes and find it more enjoyable. Last week I went on a club ride on my older 91 NHX and realized I didn't have a wheel magnet on the wheels I was using. The ride felt fast and I found out after words our average speeds were quicker than I thought. I rode well and experienced none of the head games looking at a computer plays with how you perceive being able to survive at a certain pace. In otherwords, my computer didn't tell me I was about to blow up at the pace we were riding.
Other times when I'm stressed from work and don't feel like competing with myself. I tape over the display and go out and ride without looking. I find out I ride faster without knowing how fast I'm really going.
Try it without a computer, it makes riding way more enjoyable.
Jeff
Most of my bikes have the simplest possible computer. Shows current speed, ride distance, total odometer distance, and a clock. No average speed, max speed or anything else to measure your performance. Just enough to follow a cue sheet and track seasonal mileage basically. Psychologically, it's about like riding without a computer, which I've done plenty of. The average speed function is the thing that makes a difference - if its there, I can't help riding to satisfy that little bugger to some degree.
My main bike, though, has a relatively fancy Polar CS-100 which tells you everything, including cadence and heart rate and can time different parts of the ride separately with a lap timer. Sometimes I really like having all of this information. No idea why, since I don't go any faster, but sometimes the data is sort of interesting. Other times, though, I just wanna ride and don't want to know. So I take the computer out of the mount and ride without it. The bike's still sort of cluttered but my mind isn't.
-Ray
Sandy
10-09-2005, 06:20 AM
My computer popped off the bike hitting a pothole while in a paceline. As I was negotiating a turn around to retrieve it I heard the sicking " k-tink..k-tink" of a car tire rolling over it. I knew it was a goner even while administering cpr, but I tried.
Anyway, I never replaced it and agree the bike looks better without the extra hardware.
Next time I will make the pothole bigger...... :rolleyes:
Your Bud
Lifelover
10-09-2005, 06:22 AM
2 out of 3 of the bikes I ride don't have a computer and I have zero urge to put one on them.
However, for certain rides I really want one.
Go with the flow.
yeehawfactor
10-09-2005, 08:54 AM
a buddy up here has black electrical tape over the speed display portion of his screen. not a bad idea.
rePhil
10-09-2005, 09:31 AM
They work best for me holding speed in a paceline...as well as letting me know when I am about to get spit out the back.
I took the computer off my commuter....
BumbleBeeDave
10-09-2005, 10:26 AM
. . . on my mtb also popped off about a month ago and now the speed display doesn’t work and I agree it’s very tempting not to replace it. The other functions still work, so I can still keep track of mileage, av. Speed after the ride, etc. The pace arrow still works, too, so I can see if I need to go faster to keep the average. But it really IS nice not to have tha number not staring me in the face all the time.
The Flight Deck on my Serotta also has a setting where it shows you (virtual) cadence but not speed. That’s great, too.
BBDave
Fixed
10-09-2005, 12:35 PM
bro I've never had one except on a t.t. bike I like to ride by feel.Cheers :beer:
stackie
10-09-2005, 02:44 PM
Never put the wireless sensor for the flight deck back on my Vanilla roadie when I changed to the steel fork. I'm leaving the head unit on, since the mount is wired under the tape. Besides, it does make a convenient clock, since I rarely wear a watch. No computer at all on fixie. Strange, from a guy who used to swear by the numbers of HR mon, ride data, etc. These days it's all about just being on the bike and enjoying the ride!
Jon
ti_boi
10-09-2005, 02:50 PM
I'm pretty new around here, but I can see by the responses, that there are some 'like minds' in the crowd. Thanks for the responses! Great to be here among friends.
I do not have a computer on any of my bikes not even my CSI and I like it just fine and have fun riding without.
Frankwurst
10-09-2005, 05:28 PM
I had a lady ask me why I don't have a computer on my Atlantis and I replied that when I was on that bike I didn't care how far I'd been or how fast I'd gone,ect,ect. It's carrying over to the other bikes as well. I guess I've reached a point to where it doesn't matter I just want to enjoy the ride,be it at 10 miles per hour or 110 miles per hour. :beer:
spiderman
10-09-2005, 06:05 PM
and when the computer on the ottrott fails
...and it will eventually...
that'll be it!
thanks for the inspiration!
Ahneida Ride
10-09-2005, 07:32 PM
The only reason I have a Computer is for Maintenance. and then really
for one purpose. When do I change my chain ?
Ginger
10-09-2005, 08:27 PM
Computer? I rode without a computer on the bike for years. I did finally mount a wireless computer on my Kirk. I usually ride without the display on the bike though. It's new and it beeps...very annoying. (yes...I know...turn the sound *off*)
I do find the computer useful for tours with cut sheets. And it was cool to see that I did 39.5mph on the a Michigan tour. (Our hills are short, but steep.)
BumbleBeeDave
10-09-2005, 09:02 PM
. . . You can ride at a HUNDRED-TEN miles per hour?!?!?!?!?!
Holy SH*T!
BBDave
4 bikes, no computers. I took em all of when I stopped racing. Put the HR monitor in the closet too.
bironi
10-13-2005, 11:30 AM
I too removed computers and heart rate monitors from all my rides. I figured I would never surpass my max speed of 58 mph sucking a tandem wheel, and could make up my own numbers at the end of a ride when others check their stats, of course I always add a 100 miles and up my average speed by 10. As a former racer and tour leader said, "none of them has a fun-meter".
Byron
Samster
10-13-2005, 11:44 AM
Stopped using a computer years and years and years ago. But I just got a heart rate monitor last year as a xmas gift from wifey. Mostly, I used it to check out my rest pulse when I wake up. I've used it on rides once in a while, but it's more of a distraction than anything else.
But then again, my racing/training days are long past.
So yeah... less time looking at a screen = more time looking at the scenery.
--sam
i had one once...it used to laugh at me. i bought this old danger unto itself cannondale and i went right out and got a computer. after six months it said 400 miles...( it was like you are a nonriding loser)i really should have switched it to kilometers atleast. one day it stopped working and then i got a fierte instead of a new computer. i ride many more miles now...i just don't know how many...so to draw this story out even more i usually ride alone and on my way back in one day i join in with this group. they said they go out every sunday at 8 oclock. not having a computer - i ask so how long do you go out for...he says oh 40 - 60 miles depending on the group. ... i still wonder how long they go out for....then again i give my bike measurements in inches....dave
Frankwurst
10-13-2005, 07:10 PM
. . . You can ride at a HUNDRED-TEN miles per hour?!?!?!?!?!
Holy SH*T!
BBDave
Only on a good day! Proper tire inflation is essential.
Fixed
10-13-2005, 07:14 PM
bro such liberated souls next thing throw out the t.v. .cheers :beer:
coylifut
10-13-2005, 07:26 PM
no computer for me either. I do use a HRM though, but not always.
vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.