Computers with cadence

[Paulie]

Hi Bikers,

Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used a Cateye Astrale for 4
years, no problems really except that it doesn't like rain and the mileage cannot be preprogrammed
at battery change. Am considering the new Sigma 1600, looks good with a better $ than the newer
astrale 8. Does anybody have any suggestions/recommendations?

Cheers,

P

 

[Peter]

Paulie,

Have a look at the Shimano Flight Deck computer. Has cadence display without need for a separate
crank sensor. Can be fitted wired or wireless.

Peter

"Paulie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi Bikers,
>
> Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used a Cateye Astrale for
> 4 years, no problems really except that it doesn't like rain and the mileage cannot be
> preprogrammed at battery
change.
> Am considering the new Sigma 1600, looks good with a better $ than the
newer
> astrale 8. Does anybody have any suggestions/recommendations?
>
> Cheers,
>
> P

 

[Shabby]

Originally posted by Peter
Paulie,

Have a look at the Shimano Flight Deck computer. Has cadence display without need for a separate
crank sensor. Can be fitted wired or wireless.

QUOTE]

Then surely it isn't measuring cadence, it's just calculating it from the speed and gear you're in?

If you're going to bother getting a computer with cadence info, get one that does measure it.

 

[marty1]

Hey Paulie, have a good look at the Sigma. I have a BC1400 which has not been a success. Wires come off, the unit had to be replaced after three months. Have used Cateye before and would go there by preference.
Cheers

Originally posted by Paulie
Hi Bikers,

Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used a Cateye Astrale for 4
years, no problems really except that it doesn't like rain and the mileage cannot be preprogrammed
at battery change. Am considering the new Sigma 1600, looks good with a better $ than the newer
astrale 8. Does anybody have any suggestions/recommendations?

Cheers,

P

 

[G]

Shabby <[email protected]> wrote:

> Originally posted by Peter Paulie,
>
> Have a look at the Shimano Flight Deck computer. Has cadence display without need for a separate
> crank sensor. Can be fitted wired or wireless.
>
> QUOTE]
>
> Then surely it isn't measuring cadence, it's just calculating it from the speed and gear
> you're in?
>
> If you're going to bother getting a computer with cadence info, get one that does measure it.

Why does it matter? Its the same thing.

GK

 

[Andrew Morris]

I second that...

My original computer was a Vetta, which lived to a ripe old age of 12, before it succumbed to too
much time in the sun, and the LCD **** itself...

I'm on my second FlightDeck (first one was stolen with the bike it was on), and they're pretty
bloody good.... I train on the local velodrome, and the lap count feature is pretty handy... I ran
my FlightDeck, and my Vetta for a while on my old bike for comparison, and the virtual cadence is
just as accurate as the crank sensor cadence....

"Peter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Paulie,
>
> Have a look at the Shimano Flight Deck computer. Has cadence display
without
> need for a separate crank sensor. Can be fitted wired or wireless.
>
> Peter
>
> "Paulie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Hi Bikers,
> >
> > Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used a Cateye Astrale
> > for 4 years, no problems really except that
it
> > doesn't like rain and the mileage cannot be preprogrammed at battery
> change.
> > Am considering the new Sigma 1600, looks good with a better $ than the
> newer
> > astrale 8. Does anybody have any suggestions/recommendations?
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > P
> >
>

 

[Paulie]

Andrew Morris <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I second that...
>
> My original computer was a Vetta, which lived to a ripe old age of 12, before it succumbed to too
> much time in the sun, and the LCD ****
itself...
>
> I'm on my second FlightDeck (first one was stolen with the bike it was
on),
> and they're pretty bloody good.... I train on the local velodrome, and
the
> lap count feature is pretty handy... I ran my FlightDeck, and my Vetta
for
> a while on my old bike for comparison, and the virtual cadence is just as accurate as the crank
> sensor cadence....

Andrew,

How would a Flight Deck go in regard to Campag shifters? I have Record carbon - ? compatibility. I
think the price of Ergo Brain 10 is excessive.

Paulie
>
>
> "Peter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Paulie,
> >
> > Have a look at the Shimano Flight Deck computer. Has cadence display
> without
> > need for a separate crank sensor. Can be fitted wired or wireless.
> >
> > Peter
> >
> > "Paulie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > Hi Bikers,
> > >
> > > Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used a Cateye Astrale
> > > for 4 years, no problems really except that
> it
> > > doesn't like rain and the mileage cannot be preprogrammed at battery
> > change.
> > > Am considering the new Sigma 1600, looks good with a better $ than the
> > newer
> > > astrale 8. Does anybody have any suggestions/recommendations?
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > P
> > >
> > >
> >
>

 

[Shabby]

Why does it matter?

I just like to see my actual cadence, rather than the cadence.

What happens when you roll down a hill without pedalling? Your cadence would still read 120, even when you weren't pedalling.

 

[Lindsay Rowland]

Shabby <[email protected]> wrote:
: Why does it matter?

: I just like to see my actual cadence, rather than the cadence.

If you're so concerned about cadence, why not make up tables of cadence according to current speed
and gears selected and write those values on index cards. Whip out the cards when you need to
monitor cadence. You could even memorise some key values and not need to look at the cards at all! I
think it's a great idea and will save you the cost and the obvious agony you are undergoing about
buying just the right computer ;-)

: What happens when you roll down a hill without pedalling? Your cadence would still read 120, even
: when you weren't pedalling.

Well, if you aren't pedalling, why not just tell yourself to ignore the cadence readout at that
moment, then, when you start pedalling again, you can tell yourself, 'Ah, yes, the true speed of my
cranks'. Seems easy to me.

For entertainment you can shift to your lowest gears while coasting downhill and marvel at how fast
you could be pedalling if you actually did at that moment. Cycling can be such fun if you focus on
the right things, however, deciding which are the right things is half the fun too.

Life is full of tough decisions, but you still have to make them. Please forgive my sarcasm but this
thread needed a reality check.

Cheerz, Lynzz

 

[Kingsley]

On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 23:44:48 +0000, Peter wrote:

> Have a look at the Shimano Flight Deck computer. Has cadence display without need for a separate
> crank sensor. Can be fitted wired or wireless.

So if you cruise down a hill, does it show a high cadence, or 0 like it should ?

And if it shows 0, how does it know ?

cheers, -kt

 

[Andrew Swan]

Shabby wrote:
> Why does it matter?
>
> I just like to see my actual cadence, rather than the cadence.
>
> What happens when you roll down a hill without pedalling? Your cadence would still read 120, even
> when you weren't pedalling.

In some situations, I can see that the virtual cadence would be even more useful than the real
cadence. Imagine you are coasting down a hill in a tuck (i.e. pedals level) in top gear, trying to
work out when it makes sense to start pedalling again (given that above a certain speed you have run
out of gears and will probably go faster by staying "aero") ... simply peek at the "virtual" cadence
from time to time as the hill flattens out, and when it drops to a cadence at which you can pedal
smoothly, you know it's worth pedalling again ....

On the other hand there are times when the virtual cadence is just plain misleading, e.g. when you
are pedalling slowly relative to the bike speed and gear selection, i.e. the freewheel is
operating (unless you have a fixed-gear bike of course, in which case the Flight Deck would always
be spot-on).

&roo

 

[Andrew Morris]

It'll show a high cadence....

And to the best of my knowledge, the Flightdeck is not compatible with the Campy groupsets...

"kingsley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 23:44:48 +0000, Peter wrote:
>
> > Have a look at the Shimano Flight Deck computer. Has cadence display without need for a separate
> > crank sensor. Can be fitted wired or
wireless.
>
> So if you cruise down a hill, does it show a high cadence, or 0 like it should ?
>
> And if it shows 0, how does it know ?
>
>
> cheers, -kt

 

[G]

Shabby <[email protected]> wrote:

> Why does it matter?
>
> I just like to see my actual cadence, rather than the cadence.
>
> What happens when you roll down a hill without pedalling? Your cadence would still read 120, even
> when you weren't pedalling.

You think you can ever see your actual cadence? The computer seems to work on a rolling average of
the last few pedal strokes and since cadence is so low (1 per second roughly) there is a 2 or 3
second delay before it shows on the screen, then see readings like:
67..98..86.. ie. all over the place, unless you keep it constant for more than 9 or 10 seconds.

So rolling down hill.. you need a computer to tell you you're not pedalling??

Frankly, virtual can't be any worse than "actual". But at the end of the day, you get to remember
things like 34.9km/h in the 39/14 gear is 100rpm (virtual but dead accurate) and you will find you
don't bother reconnecting those pesky wires from the chainstay after your last rebuild/spring
clean. And you can even remind yourself when you are coasting downhill, that your cadence is zero,
if you have to..

cheers GK

 

[Etxy]

Marty, I can't say I agree with you- I adore my BC1400. I have never used any brand besides Sigma and I love all of the models I have used. I can't recommend Sigma highly enough.

Originally posted by marty1
Hey Paulie, have a good look at the Sigma. I have a BC1400 which has not been a success. Wires come off, the unit had to be replaced after three months. Have used Cateye before and would go there by preference.
Cheers

 

[Adrian Tritschl]

Etxy wrote:
> marty1 wrote:
> > Hey Paulie, have a good look at the Sigma. I have a BC1400 which has not been a success. Wires
> > come off, the unit had to be replaced after three months. Have used Cateye before and would go
> > there by preference. Cheers
>
> Marty, I can't say I agree with you- I adore my BC1400. I have never used any brand besides Sigma
> and I love all of the models I have used. I can't recommend Sigma highly enough.

I've got a Sigma BC800. Just over 16 months old, last week it passed 10,000km.

Two minutes later the plastic push button snapped in half and fell out! It still works, but I need
to use a pin to push in the hole to change modes.

I think over the last five years I've ended up having to buy a new bike computer three times.
Considering I can buy a $10 digital watch that'll last longer, its ridiculous that bike speedos seem
to fall apart so often. Gets expensive when you think that its about $40 a year.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Adrian Tritschler mailto:[email protected] Latitude 38°S, Longitude 145°E,
Altitude 50m, Shoe size 44
---------------------------------------------------------------

 

[lincolnr]

I've got the Sigma on one bike and Flight Deck on the other. I prefer actual cadence to estimated cadence. Half the time I don't trust what Flight Deck is telling my anyway, it's a clunky computer and not intuative at all. Every battery replacement is a serious pain, having to reprogram all of the gears...maybe they fixed the friendliness in the latest versions...I dunno. Only criticism with the Sigma is it chews batteries.

The Campy uses a real cadence sensor.

 

[Malcom]

Originally posted by Paulie
Hi Bikers,

Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used a Cateye Astrale for 4
years, no problems really except that it doesn't like rain and the mileage cannot be preprogrammed
at battery change. Am considering the new Sigma 1600, looks good with a better $ than the newer
astrale 8. Does anybody have any suggestions/recommendations?

Cheers,

P

Hi Paulie
I have an Astrale and an Echo F2.
The Echo works great except you can't move the display around like the Astrale. I prefer the cadence in larger size numerals.
The Echos are about the same price and might be worth a look at though.

 

[John Staines]

Hi,

I have a Sigma 1200 (you have to buy an attachment (about $16.00) to display cadence) it's been
great. I got caught in a total downpour not long ago and it didn't miss a heart beat. It's also
packed with useful features.

My only gripe, and it's a small one, would be that it doesn't have a sleep function to maximise
battery life but other than that it's great!

John

Malcom wrote:
>
> Paulie wrote:
> > Hi Bikers, Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used a
> > Cateye Astrale for 4 years, no problems really except that it doesn't like rain and the
> > mileage cannot be preprogrammed at battery change. Am considering the new Sigma 1600, looks
> > good with a better $ than the newer astrale 8. Does anybody have any
> > suggestions/recommendations? Cheers, P
>
> Hi Paulie I have an Astrale and an Echo F2. The Echo works great except you can't move the display
> around like the Astrale. I prefer the cadence in larger size numerals. The Echos are about the
> same price and might be worth a look at though.

 

[lincolnr]

Originally posted by John Staines
Hi,

I have a Sigma 1200 (you have to buy an attachment (about $16.00) to display cadence) it's been
great. I got caught in a total downpour not long ago and it didn't miss a heart beat. It's also
packed with useful features.

My only gripe, and it's a small one, would be that it doesn't have a sleep function to maximise
battery life but other than that it's great!

John

Malcom wrote:
>
> Paulie wrote:
> > Hi Bikers, Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used a
> > Cateye Astrale for 4 years, no problems really except that it doesn't like rain and the
> > mileage cannot be preprogrammed at battery change. Am considering the new Sigma 1600, looks
> > good with a better $ than the newer astrale 8. Does anybody have any
> > suggestions/recommendations? Cheers, P
>
> Hi Paulie I have an Astrale and an Echo F2. The Echo works great except you can't move the display
> around like the Astrale. I prefer the cadence in larger size numerals. The Echos are about the
> same price and might be worth a look at though.

John, I have the 1200 too. How much battery lif are you gettig out of yours? Mine is atrocious, around 6 months.

 

[John Staines]

Hi,

I've read that others have had problems with the battery only lasting 6months but I've had mine for
9-10 months and it seems to be still going strong.

Cheers

John

lincolnr wrote:
>
> John Staines wrote:
> > Hi, I have a Sigma 1200 (you have to buy an attachment (about $16.00) to display cadence) it's
> > been great. I got caught in a total downpour not long ago and it didn't miss a heart beat.
> > It's also packed with useful features. My only gripe, and it's a small one, would be that it
> > doesn't have a sleep function to maximise battery life but other than that it's great! John
> > Malcom wrote:
> > >
> > > Paulie wrote:
> > > > Hi Bikers, Looking for a good bike computer with cadence for my new road bike. Have used
> > > > a Cateye Astrale for 4 years, no problems really except that it doesn't like rain and
> > > > the mileage cannot be preprogrammed at battery change. Am considering the new Sigma
> > > > 1600, looks good with a better $ than the newer astrale 8. Does anybody have any
> > > > suggestions/recommendations? Cheers, P
> > >
> > > Hi Paulie I have an Astrale and an Echo F2. The Echo works great except you can't move the
> > > display around like the Astrale. I prefer the cadence in larger size numerals. The Echos are
> > > about the same price and might be worth a look at though.
>
> John, I have the 1200 too. How much battery lif are you gettig out of yours? Mine is atrocious,
> around 6 months.