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Best bike computer...?

In general

I have
garmin edge 305 (HR Cadence GPS)
isport (cheap somewhat accurate power meter)
cateye micro wireless (Cadence)

I use
none.
I just like my bars clean and it sounds silly but I spent alot of money to shed grams off my bike so I dont want to put anything on that will make it heavyer!
I know how far I went based on a rough estimation of how much time it took or it is a ride I have used a cpu on prev. or I just look @ mapmyride.com

Cadence helped me the most when starting out. I never had an idea of how fast I should spin to be efficent until I used a computer with cadence.

gps is ok, but mostly fun after the ride is over in my case. My garmin 305 is difficult to place routes onto, however anything newer than the 305 has better gps capabilitys and if you want detailed routes it will save you time over pulling a map out every 5k.

power is fun at first because you can train your consistency but unless you are really training for racing I dont think it is nessecary as it is expensive.

heart rate is also fun to look at after your ride is over and also helps with base training to set the bar for LSD but I put more weight on RPE, basically how you feel over what any computer can tell me

hope that helps

I always preferred the ease of use in wireless models. One shop I worked at only carried wireless cause we didnt want the hassle!
 
CatEye TR300 v3

The cateye is just WAY to small and when I need to see the data its just WAY to much information on that small little screen. The calorie data is way off. Not worth the money.

iSport GT

A very good computer, very bulky, not water resistant but for bang for buck a pretty accurate power meter if you are willing to set it up properly and calibrate before each ride. Large screen so you can see the data and the GT version will talk with Garmin Ant+ products and computers and share information.

Garmin 700 Edge

An amazing bit of kit.... good battery life, great functions and totally customisable screen allows you to see exactly what you want. Using UpUpDown maps and brilliant when learning new routes. Can be very slow when calculating directions but there are work arounds to speed things up.

However its bloody huge and like having a block ofcement on the front ofthe bike.

Garmin 500 Edge

This little thing is a power house and i love it! does everything i want it to do and with a 3 page100% customizable screen you can get the data up for your particular riding at that time. I have a climbing screen showing Cadence - Heart Rate - Gradient. Trip Screen showing the essential such as Av Speed - Distance - Time Riding - Calorie Consup. The 3rd screen is Power data - Av Wattage - Cadence

It doesn't have mapping function but you can program it to follow "Bread Crumb" trails.

iPhone 3GS

Excellent for innercity riding and trying to find a shop or location. Type it in to Google maps and askit to give directions. Only really useful if you have a mount on the bike. Totally useless outside of the city and in the hills as you lose signal and the GPS stops working :(

Conclusion

I use the Garmin 500 Edge the most, small, robust and has everything I want and need it syncs perfectly with the Power Tap and Training Peaks software.

For big rides where I need to have mapping functions to get home then I break the 700 out.
 
Awesome thanks guys. I was looking at the garmin 500. Its a big wad of cash though. I want something with heart rate as well as all the usual (cadence, speed etc). At the moment I am torn between the Polar CS500cad and the garmin 500.

aslo i was wondering if my bontrager ant+ speed and cadence sensors on my other bike would work with either one of these. saving me having to buy a second set of sensors for both bikes.
 
It will work 100% with the Garmin.
 
Best Cycle Computer

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I am very happy with mt Ciclosport CM 4.4 HR, which I am using now for three years:

http://www.ciclosport.de/statische/...,id=959,,,2&sessionid=2020446195#_taboverview

Reliable (much more than the predecessor, HAC 4), good battery life and theree display lines, one always showing speed and the other two can be switched to the data you need. Easy to operate.

On top of the usual stuff, it has a heart rate monitor, cadence and barometric altitude which I believe is the most important feature and hard to find with other devices.

Drawback: No GPS and PC Link.

But then again, look at the cost:

Ciclosport:
80 euro main unit plus 13 Euro for the cadence set at Bike24 (incl. 19% VAT): 10.800 Yen
http://www.bike24.net/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=9359;page=1;menu=1000,5,144,13;mid=47
http://www.bike24.net/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1000,5,144,145;product=7014

Garmin Edge 500 at Wiggle: 29.400 Yen
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/garmin-edge-500-with-heart-rate-and-cadence
 
Really thought it all depends what you want it for. If it is only to see how fast you are wanging it down hills or on the flats then just a Cateye Strada will suit you fine.
 
Really thought it all depends what you want it for. If it is only to see how fast you are wanging it down hills or on the flats then just a Cateye Strada will suit you fine.

to be honest i want something to give me decent workout feedback and so that has me torn between the polar cs500cad and the garmin 500. do i fork out the extra for the ability to post my routes on the net after ive ridden. The cateye is deffinatley a bit too simple for me i think. Of course simple is good but i like the idea of the polars heart zone function. just cant decide between the two is all.
 
The garmin is brilliant.... the virtual training partner is a god send in the winter and also when doing hill climb TTs

I knowa few people with the Polar and they are happy with them.
 
The garmin is brilliant.... the virtual training partner is a god send in the winter and also when doing hill climb TTs

I knowa few people with the Polar and they are happy with them.

the virtual training partner is on the 500 too ?
 
I just saw the price of the 500 on wiggle. Im decided. it will still function in Japan right ?
 
Out of the two, I`d go for the Garmin as that is ANT+ which means it can communicate with many other proudcts from other manufacturers, whereas the Polar is just W.I.N.D. meaning it will only communicate with other Polar devices.
 
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