UKH

cycling computers- again- last thread from 2019

recommended -pros and cons

In reply to gergorlan:

What do you want it to do?

In reply to Marek:

and how much do you want to spend?

In reply to gergorlan:

Element bolt is the answer.

In reply to gergorlan:

Something from Cateye?

https://cateye.com/data/resources/CatEye_computer_comparison.pdf

In reply to gergorlan:

I'm happy with the functionality of the Edge Explore 2.  Good touch screen interface and good battery.  All the features I need.

In reply to gergorlan:

If you have a smartphone just get a phone mount and use your phone which is probably much more capable than even the most expensive cycling computer? 

Can recommend the quad lock, pricey but much cheaper than most cycling computers.

In reply to gergorlan:

You can't go wrong with the Garmin Edge series, particularly if like me you're a slave to the numbers and like having lots of data screen options. 

A few of my friends have Wahoo Elemnt Bolt's/Roam's that also seem very good. 

In reply to gergorlan:

I've got a Wahoo elemnt bolt2. Does what I need it to and would buy again. I bought it for navigation on longer rides.

In reply to stemill:

Works great for me,

In reply to gergorlan:

I've got a Cateye on nearly all of my bikes - mainly Strada wireless slimline. I like a quick glance at time, distance and speed and it's very neat and low profile. I've then got Strava on my phone in my pocket, along with various mapping if I need it.

I tend to just go out with a mental idea of my route and/or make it up as I go along, so this is usually fine.

Will watch this thread, though, as I have been toying with a Garmin/Wahoo for a while for sticking in a definite destination or uploading the GPX for organised rides, rather than relying on signage/other people.

In reply to gergorlan:

I've always had Garmin and like my current Edge 530.  Although it's at the lower end of their range I can't think of any additional features I want, battery life is good and it's easy to use.

In reply to gergorlan:

Elemnt Roam for me - i had a Garmin for years and both of us lost the will to live.  I'm not much into data - just Heart rate, so I didn't need anything more complicated, and good navigation

In reply to gergorlan:

Elemnt

However CRC currently have a really good deal on a Lezyne unit.

In reply to Marek:

have a decent map/navigation

In reply to gergorlan:

I have a Wahoo Bolt (original) and its excellent. The new ones have a colour screen. Its small though, so if you struggle to read without glasses, you ight want something slightly bigger like a Wahhoo Roam.

Friends have mine have jumped from Wahoo to hammerhead Karoo's and love them so worth a look.

Dcrainmaker is your friend here...he does comprehensive reviews of all the cycling tech including everything mentioned in this thread ...

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/11/best-cycling-gps-computers-recommendati...

In reply to gergorlan:

Wahoo ELMNT Bolt, I had a mk 1 that the screen failed on within the warranty period. Wahoo replaced it under warranty, when the new one arrived, I discovered they'd upgraded me to  the V2 with the colour screen. 

Pros

• Great Battery life
• Easy to customize screens with the companion app
• No touch screen
• Real buttons
• Dedicated buttons to zoom in and out of screens
• Wahoo's customer service is excellent, have heard awful things about Garmin's.

Cons

• Doesn't have a touch screen if that is your thing

In reply to gergorlan:

Depends if you need it to connect to a power meter or want good mapping...

However, I've had a couple of Garmin's which were both fine for a out 6-9 months but then developed niggles that turned quickly in to problems....quite similar to a Garmin watch I had...

I'm currently using a Bryton rider 420....it's simple, good battery, ok to use and in 18 months has never missed a thing....pretty cheap too compared to Garmin's.

If you want something straightforward it's definitely worth a look...

In reply to gergorlan:

I've used both an element bolt and an older Lyzene macro gps.

I prefer the Bolt and have had good customer service from Wahoo. The screen decided to turn black during lockdown. I contacted Bolt and they asked for some videos and evidence then sent me a replacement. I'd had it for 23 months at that point. The replacement is still running perfectly.

A couple of slightly older friends have updated to the roam as the screen is larger and their eyesight is getting a little worse! 

- The battery life is really good, I've cycled a number of 125 miles rides without having to recharge during the ride.

- It's easy to link to Strava and Ride with GPS which are my main route mapping services

- Very easy to customise the screens and there are a good number of screens to choose from. 

In reply to stemill:

Personally I would recommend getting a computer. Some problems with using a smartphone as your cycle computer...

- Robustness. Personally I would not risk putting my £400 I-phone on my handlebars, its not designed for impacts or to be waterproof.

- Smartphone LED screens are dismal in sunlight. Some bicycle computers also use LED screens, like the Hammerhead Karoo 2 and its also dismal in sunlight (I know this as I made the mistake of buying one). Garmin/Wahoo and most other use LCD screens which work with bright sun on them.

- Battery life will be worse. Running down the battery on your phone is potentially more problematic than running down your cycle computer whilst your phone is in your back pocket (e.g. if you need to call for a rescue)

- Wont have buttons for lap, switching pages etc.   

- Form factor - my Garmin screen in 2.1" and thats about as much as I want hanging off my handlebars, (the Karoo has 3.2" and to me that was a bit on the large/bulky side - I most definitely dont want a brick sized smartphone there).

In reply to Richard Horn:

thanks good info

In reply to Uluru:

thanks very helpful

In reply to gergorlan:

As someone else said, DCRainmaker has the best in depth reviews - I would look there. Elsewhere (like here) you'll people who swear by Garmin and others who swear at Garmin. same to some extent about every other make.

For non-navigation use I have an old Garmin 200 which is fine. For proper navigation I use a relatively cheap (was ~£100) Ulefone Armor 7x running LocusMaps. It's cheap, waterproof, armoured, battery last >18-20 hours while doing turn-by-turn navigation. It's mounted on a standard Garmin mount. It has few buttons, but being geeky I made a remote control for it which cover all the function I might want whilst moving. It also isn't my 'phone'. That's tucked away somewhere safe. Perhaps not a solution for everyone, but works well for me.

If I had to pick an off-the shelf alternative, I'd probably go for a Garmin 530 or a Touring V2. Reputed to be much more reliable than some of their other models.

In reply to gergorlan:

Should also point out my current computers:

- My first (which I still have kept) is a Garmin Touring, still decent but old tech now - no wireless download etc.

- Wahoo Bolt (V1), in some ways my favourite - it just works so well, the main drawback being the limited navigation capability (the monochrome screen is not a problem so much as the lack of ability to give you turn-by-turn directions when pulling routes from Strava or being able to re-route). That limitation prompted me to buy a...

- Hammerhead Karoo 2 - for navigation its really quite good, great mapping and fast re-routing. Also buttons useful, but I have to say it was 18 months of frustration. If the Bolt V1 is weak h/w brought to brilliance by great s/w, then the Karoo 2 is the opposite, it has never felt like a finished product and in fact some s/w releases just seem to make it worse. Every reviewer gushes about the screen but its awful in direct sunlight and the battery life is also pretty poor. So earlier this year I got a..

- Garmin 830 (cheaply as the 840 was about to be released). Really a device that can do everything, feels like a mature sorted product. Battery life is great. Really found only a couple of issues - the rerouting algorithm isnt great, and it doesnt have page buttons which is a pain when wearing full gloves (some reviewers actually prefered the 530 because of this, and its something that has been added on the new 840).

In reply to stemill:

Disagree.  Using the phone for primary navigation runs the battery down and removes your 'back up' option.  Its interfaces are also not optimised for use with thick gloves in the rain.  The phone is also useful for phone calls and photos when it's conveniently stashed in your back pocket.

In reply to gergorlan:

Maybe my requirements are different from others? I use Komoot for navigation and recording the route, I'm not interested in heart rate/cadence/power ouput etc. I carry a power bank in a small frame bag and just plug it in so no worries there. The phone is waterproof so again no worries there. I have Bluetooth earpods to listen to tunes off the phone which get automatically paused when I get turn by turn voice directions from Komoot.

Komoot displays the map and lets me easily flick between all the stats I need but tbh all I'm really interested in is distance to end and upcoming elevation profile.

The quad lock has a custom case for the phone it's absolutely not falling off. I've taking a couple of tumbles and the phone has been fine.

I mainly do long MTB rides and this setup suits me fine.

I guess if you're a roadie, bothered about all the other stats, the extra weight or nervous about your phone it might not work for you. Just trying to point out you don't necessarily need a dedicated bike computer and could maybe save a few quid.

In reply to GrahamD:

I get 18-20 hours on mine. How much do you need?

Not really. Just have a phone in your back pocket. Think of it as just something which runs Android navigation apps rather than as a phone. I don't even fit a SIM in mine.

But that's true for many GPS bike computers with touchscreens (rather than buttons) too.

In reply to Marek:

Each to their own, I guess.  I only have one phone.  I'm impressed you get 18 hours of constant recording / navigation on your phone, though.  That's about the battery life of my phone in normal use.

I can't speak for other bike computers, but my Edge Touring 2 does work with thick gloves.

In reply to Marek:

You get 18-20 hours with the screen on and GPS recording?

What phone is this? Because my Iphone will run down in about 5 hours of live tracking and that isnt even with the screen on

In reply to gergorlan:

As others say, it depends what you want it to do and what you want to use it for. I took the plunge a couple of years ago and went from a wired cycle computer with strava on my phone in my pocket to a garmin edge 530, and I think it's great. Mapping is good, battery life excellent (I've done 150 miles and still had 30% remaining), and I like being able to customise profiles (screen layouts etc.) depending on the type of riding I'm doing. Works well in bright sunlight too, and I even like the garmin app. I'm sure there are alternatives, but I don't really have a bad word to say about it. I was surprised at how much of a big upgrade it is over having the route in my head - particularly for gravel riding where there are so many little tracks and lanes, or when I'm in holiday and don't know an area. 

In reply to Richard Horn:

Not quite: My phone typically uses ~5% per hour running verbal+visual turn-by-turn nav and recording, but it only switches on the screen (for about 30s) as I approach a 'turn'. I suppose the screen is on for ~10-20% of the time (depending on the route). I also have buttons on my handlebars that overrides the screen on/off, zooming, rotation etc.

Ulefone Armor X7. They (or similar) are <£100 on ebay. 

In reply to Green Porridge:

I've found that satnav of any sort is a great boon, but there is a downside: When I relied on paper maps I tended to be much more aware of what was in (say) a 10 miles radius around me. Sometimes it would look interesting enough to take a detour. With satnav I now just do what it says and have little idea of what's beyond eye-shot unless I make a special effort to stop and browse around (which sort of defeats the object of the satnav a bit).

In reply to Marek:what buttons are these that you can use to override the phone pls??

tia 

In reply to stemill: I’ve found my phone gives less accurate/reliable ascent/descent data than my Garmin Edge. My Garmin Edge has been reliable and accurate for the 10 years I’ve had it. I’ve changed my phone a few times over that period 

In reply to kevin stephens:

Another vote for Garmin Edge. I've had mine for a similar length of time and not had any major problems with it 

In reply to obi-wan nick b:

Homebrew: I use LocusMaps which can be controlled from a standard keyboard, so I just made a small cluster of buttons that live just under the handlebar top and emulate a bunch of keystrokes via an arduino micro powered from the phone usb. Bluetooth connection was also possible, but would require a battery in the remote. It think there are also commercially available remotes that work with LocusMaps.

In reply to kevin stephens:

Depends on where you get the elevation data and the horizontal resolution. GPS is not very accurate (elevation) so Garmin post-process with data from the SRTM elevation dataset. But if you want better accuracy you can get Lidar data from the gov website which is an order of magnitude better than SRTM. I do that with my phone derived GPX track. When I'm bothered. Garmin or phone doesn't make any difference really.

In reply to Marek: It’s a while since I used my phone to track a ride, but the problem was that the phone greatly exaggerated the total ascent due to its altitude measurement oscillating up and down 

In reply to Marek:

My Garmin also uses barometric pressure to help with elevation accuracy.   I'm pretty sure my phone can't do that.

In reply to GrahamD:

not a patch on SRTM data, never mind LIDAR.

In reply to gergorlan:

I'm happy with my Wahoo Elemnt, first generation. It syncs seamlessly with Strava, RWGPS, Komoot and my phone. Syncing is via Bluetooth or WiFi depending on circumstances and use. I don't think I've tried using mobile data, rarely have a need for that.

I know that popular choices include Garmin Edge series, Wahoo ELEMNT/BOLT, and Bryton Rider models. But I think it is important to consider features like GPS, connectivity, battery life, data metrics, and ease of use when making the choice.
I also remember that I read some info on the computers here https://www.bikertricks.com/ Maybe it will be useful for someone.

In reply to Nimax:

I also have a first generation Wahoo Elemnt Bolt. Great battery life easy to zoom out on the maps and divert your route if needed, shows gradients and % of that's your thing. Also easy to connect heart rate monitor, power monitor etc.

Never had to charge on rides up to 200kms/125 miles for longer rides I carry a small battery pack