Commuter cycle computer feature: maximum in-trip stop time



dimonomid

New Member
Jun 13, 2013
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Hello everyone.

I look for cycle computer with one easy feature, but can't find any.

The problem: I often commute by bicycle through the city. I often need to wait for green light, and trip time doesn't count while I wait. Or, sometimes I need to put on/take off some jacket or something, and, of course, trip time doesn't count too. So, real trip time and average speed are actually wrong.

There could be really easy feature as a solution: we need to add new setting: maximum in-trip stop time. Say, I would set it to 5 minutes.

Then, computer should behave like that, consider the scenario:
  • I ride for 10 minutes, and then stop at the red light. Computer shows that trip time is 10 minutes.
  • I wait for 2 minutes (i.e. I stay at place), computer still shows that trip time is 10 minutes.
  • I start riding again. Now, computer should check: is that stop time (2 minutes) less than max in-trip stop time? In my example, this is 5 minutes. Surely, 2 minutes less than 5 minutes, so, computer adds actual stop time to my trip time! So, once I started again, my trip time should become 12 minutes.
And so on. Let this max in-trip stop time be zero by default, and computer will behave exactly like it does now. But, for people like me, this would be extremely useful feature.

I looked for such computer, but I really can't find. Instead, there are really useless "features" sometimes: say, my Sigma BC 12.12 counts saved fuel, i.e. how much fuel did I save by riding a bike instead of driving a car. There is a special setting: litre/hour, and a special page. This is completely useless, this "feature" is just a toy, and, unfortunately, it pollutes device menu, which is annoying for me.

There is also "CatEye Commuter" model, which is designed exactly for commuters, but is doesn't have desired feature; instead, it calculates carbon offset.

I believe that max in-trip stop time is much more useful feature.

I don't want to use for that any iPhones, Garmin navigators, Android devices, etc: I like "usual" cycle computer, that has huge battery life and is always on my bicycle.

So, is there any computer with such feature? And, please, participate in the poll above.

Thanks!
 
There are computers that keep track of total time (or elapsed time) and ride time. Garmin is at least one company whose bike computers do as much. Finding stopped time is just a matter of subtracting ride time from elapsed or total time. Note that many computers allow you to set a minimum speed below which it doesn't record. For instance a person might set it for 2 km/h, so that at any speed less than 2 km/h, the computer isn't recording. It's acting as if the bike isn't moving. Of course if you have computer with that feature you can set that speed to 0 km/h.
 
Gamin computer's battery life is about 18 hours, because of GPS. I believe I don't need GPS for my needs, and I already wrote about Garmin in my first post.

Minimum speed below which computer doesn't record isn't the answer too, because there's not the way to detect only short stops.

Algorithm I proposed detects only short stops, and user should be able to set this value.