With or without... cycling computers that is?

[saab2000]

Folks, I am wondering how many of you out there ride without computers.

I have been computerised since the early '80s when I started riding. I have always loved keeping track of distance and time and total distance for the season.

But I have recently done a lot of work on bikes and have not always re-installed the computers. I do not really miss them either. Of course, I know more or less how far my various routes are, but it becomes unimportant.

I have never been a regular user of a heart monitor and I cannot imagine training with a watt meter.

Anyway, the only thing I really miss is the clock function. I do not wear a watch when I ride, but I might start and just get rid of my computers all together.

What about you people?

If nothing else, the bike looks better sans computer. And it weighs about 50 grams less, too!! And it is more aerodynamic!!:banana:

[Elefantino]

I use both a wireless computer (Nashbar, 15 bucks on sale), and a heart-rate monitor (CardioSport Club, free).

I'd love to have a Polar s720i, but because there is no Mac software from Polar, I won't buy one.

(Yeah, that's the reason.)

Can't imagine riding retro grouch. I monitor the HRM, watch my speed and do the cadence in my head via the timer.

If this is low-tech heresy with my CSI, then I plead guilty.

Mike

[pbbob]

I have 1 computer shared among 2 bikes. If I remember to switch it fine, if I don't or ride a different bike then I don't use one. I wear a watch since I have never bothered to set the time function on the computer. never have kept track of total distance for a year. don't really miss having one. I did have a cheap heart monitor for a while. wore it for a few time trials.

[bulliedawg]

I ride with a computer but have recently been riding with it turned off. My computer is a Vetta. It has the little arrow point that tells me whether or not I am above or below my average speed. I found that I was spending entirely too much time looking at the little arrow, rather than the beauty around me. So, I only turn it on when I'm absolutely sure I want to push myself.

[Kevin]

I ride with an Ergobrain and a Polar HRM. I can't imagine riding without them.

Kevin

[froze]

When I raced I used a bike computer a lot and I still ride with one (a wireless Cateye computer) so I can keep track of miles and average speed info. Do I need to? nah, but it gives me something to do while riding if I get bored.

I also don't use HRM's, just the old fuddy duddy in me that refuses to bend over for new technology ream jobs. Not to say that I think HRM's are useless, but I never used them back when I raced...of course they were not out yet either...but we all got along just fine without them. Will I ever buy one? I keep thinking about adding a new toy but I just keep procrastinating over it.

[Russ]

I use decent quality, but cheap ($16.00 on eBay) Sigma BC 1600 computers on all my bikes... I also use a HRM, the S720 from Polar, which I also got below retail on eBay.

But I really do not pay too much attention to these toys when I am ridng, unless I am doing intervals or some structured workout. I like to check on the mileage of my computer to monitor tire usage (sometimes my tires look somewhat bad, but in my training history, I can see that I could squeeze more miles out of them).

When I am feeling tired or if it is very windy, I tend to look at the HRM to see what's happening under the hood....

Could I ride without these toys? You bet! But then again, is way too flat down here and the ride could get a little boring...

Cheers!

[Ray]

...Early on, I was obsessed with computers and all of the data they could show me. Then I realized that all I was doing was gaining an incredibly detailed understanding of just how friggin' slow I was. And that little average speed indicator really turned into a nasty little fascist that I grew to hate with a passion. So I stripped the computers off and rode nekkid for a couple of seasons, which was quite liberating, particularly at first. But I sort of missed being able to follow a cue-sheet and having a rough idea of my overall mileage at the end of the year.

So now I ride with computers on my longer distance bikes, but all they track are current speed, trip distance, and overall distance, and they have a clock so you'll know when you're late for dinner. Not even a trip time feature, which would allow you to surreptitiously figure out your average speed after the ride - I don't want to know and I don't want to be able to know when I want to know! They're really low end Sigmas that cost me about $10 apiece at nashbar a couple years ago. This works for me - just enough data to follow a cue and have a pretty good idea how many miles I rode at the end of the year, but not enough to interfere with the freedom or pleasure of a ride. Not enough data to obsess about.

Oh yeah, I use heart rate monitors on group centuries to help assure myself that I don't go too hard early and blow late. I hate 'em, but have found them pretty indespensible in that limited role.

-Ray

[jpw]

Less is more.

Let your body tell you how it is rather than a computer.

Computers are for your desk to write messages on this forum.

Bikes are for something else.

[Kevan]

I ride with my head in the clouds.

Loving the freedom of no computer. I'm a kid again. If I need to know how fast I'm going I'll ask the guy nearst me. How far I've traveled waits until we return to the parking lot and everyone talks miles and averages.

Nope, this year I'm smellin' the flowers, looking out for the pretty girls, and just sittin' back and laugh at all the fun.

[Andreu]

Right now I feel like a pile of crap so there is absolutely no point (piles of mucous.....probably too much information already) with computers to show me how badly I am going. When I have my enthsuiasm back, I ride with a fancy Polar monitor which shows time on bike, average speed, height profile, and miles done (oh and stuff about heart rate) too. Then I download the info to a spreadsheet via an IR link and gaze admiringly at all the data which I then ignore until I go out again and repeat the process.
A

[Jeff N.]

I have a need to know exactly how far I ride. And max speed. So riding without a computer is no longer an option for me. I have several bikes, all with computers (WIRELESS! I hate all that ugly wire going all over the place with wired models). Topeak Panoram, CicloSport , FlightDeck. They all work fine and are all within a few tenths of a mile from each other with regard to measurement. Jeff N.

[Ken Lehner]

I always ride with my Power Tap computer. As one who does triathlons/duathlons and time trials, it is important to monitor the power I'm putting out when I'm training. And I'm always training, unless I'm commuting to work. Then I use another wheel, and don't bother with a computer.

[Ken Robb]

Right up front: I am not nor ever will be a racer. I have several bikes and most have computers. The CSi doesn't. It's my wife's and we usually ride together and I'm often on a bike with a computer so she can get the info from me. She thinks it would be fun to have one on it so I bought a Cateye 7 wireless for it. The darn thing would work sporadically no matter how I installed it so I returned it. While the lack of wires was nice aesthetically the sending/sensor unit was a big clunky thing so I'll probably get her a wired one sometime.
I've got wired and wireless computers on most of the others. The Rambo has Filght-Deck and it works like a charm. I first put a computer on my MB3 back in 1989 because I was riding around Big Bear, CA. with crude maps/directions that would direct me to take the left fork at 3.3 miles, etc. I found that an old flatlander riding up at 6,000+ feet tends to overestimate how far he has ridden by quite a lot so I got the computer for navigation purposes.
One of my favorite bikes ( heck they're ALL favorite bikes or I get rid of them) is my "NO Worries Bike". Rivendell Allrounder w/ 3x7 friction shifting+no woriies about indexing getting out of adjustment/breaking; cantilever brakes=no worries about fitting tires,fenders, wobbly wheels; Schmidt Dynohub/Lumotec lighting so no worries about getting home by dark or dead batteries, 36 hole wheels=no/very little worries about broken spokes; 32mm or bigger tires for little/no worries about flats; and NO COMPUTER so I don't worry about whether I went fast enough or far enough. It's probably a good safety booster for me too because on my computered bikes I am very tempted to see if I can hit some new speed record going down hills where slower would be safer and more sensible. Without the computer there's not much temptation to let it all hang out. If I ever took this bike touring, for which it is well-suited, though I would probably put a speedo/odometer on it for navigational purposes. I can see how serious racers-in-training would want to know about wattage and heartrate but for recreational riders like me: who cares?

[Dr. Doofus]

Timex watch.

Cheap one.

Sometimes.

[CarbonTi]

Avocet with cadence - all the time - there's a mounting harness for it on every bike. Always in tandem with a Polar HRM.

Whether I pay any attention to it or not depends on what the workout is that day. For endurance/Zone 2-3 and strength work I wear it out of habit but don't really need it.

For intervals and tempo work almost always with the SRM, especially early in the season. During the height of the season the SRM is used sporadically to benchmark outputs.

These are just tools. Speed is the addiction - will do most anything to feed that monster.

[Too Tall]

Yea and nay. Used to be only if I was riding a brevet or queued route eg. can't afford a wrong turn. Otherwise never. Did not need it or care. These days I'm WIRED UP! Data from each (pathetic) ride goes to coach....I try not to stare.

[keno]

I'm so slow I use a sundial for my bike computer.

keno

[amg]

After Ergo Brain died, I haven't re-installed a computer since, don't miss it either. The way I see it is I'm at a computer crunching numbers all day, when I ride, I want to RIDE. My riding buddies have computers and we pretty much stick to the same routes, so a computer has become unneccesary to me.

I'd like to get a Tag-Heur Monaco? square-faced watch, just like the one that Merckx wore! :)

Antonio :beer:

[Balf]

I use a CicloSport HAC4. It has occured to me more than once that I ride better when I ignore it. I would really appreciate a "display off" function. Does any computer offer it?