Cyclometers & presbyopia



F

foldedpath

Guest
My vision is fine beyond about 5 feet, but I need reading glasses for
anything closer. It's classic old fart presbyopia, a little worse than
average because I started out farsighted. I use half-frame reading glasses,
but I don't want to wear them on my bike. I'd rather use normal sunglasses,
and I'd like to avoid having to buy expensive bifocal sunglasses.

My current (10 year old) Cateye has a very small, somewhat low contrast
display, and it's getting to the point where it's very tough to read
through my fuzzy closeup vision. So I'm looking for a replacement. I know
it's always going to be blurry with my eyesight being what it is these
days, but there has to be something that's a little easier to read through
the blur.

Which current brand and model has the biggest, clearest numbers in the
display? I saw someone mention the Planetbike Protege series in another
thread. It looks good in the web site photos but I haven't seen it in
person, and I can't tell if the numbers are actually bigger, or they're
just using the display area to show more information. Maybe there is
something else that doesn't have a huge display area, but has very large
numbers? It's hard to tell from looking at web site photos of all the
different brands, and my LBS only carries a few of them.

Also, display issues aside... what do y'all think about alternative
mounting locations to put the cyclometer in my range of focus? I've thought
about mounting it down on the front fork, but that's probably a damage-
prone location. Another idea might be to put fenders on the bike (I've been
thinking about doing that anyway), and then sticking the computer on top of
the front fender.... assuming I could see it past the handlebars. That
would be a more protected location, compared to the fork. Has anyone here
tried something like this?

Yet another goofy idea would be to get clip-on aero bars (which I really
don't need, and would look a little silly on this bike), just to have a
place to stick the computer out where I could read it.

--
Mike Barrs
 
On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 16:29:34 -0000, foldedpath
<[email protected]> wrote:

>My vision is fine beyond about 5 feet, but I need reading glasses for
>anything closer. It's classic old fart presbyopia, a little worse than
>average because I started out farsighted.


Sounds too familiar. I'm getting close to this.

[snip]

>Also, display issues aside... what do y'all think about alternative
>mounting locations to put the cyclometer in my range of focus?


There's not much in the way of choices, but there may be a different
option, at least for daylight rides. I've seen someone who has a
piece of Fresnel lens bracketed about an inch above his display's
face; it makes the whole thing appear about 25% larger, and seems to
have made the difference for him.

>Yet another goofy idea would be to get clip-on aero bars (which I really
>don't need, and would look a little silly on this bike), just to have a
>place to stick the computer out where I could read it.


Or maybe at the tip of an mtb bar end clamped on at a strategic
location?
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.
 
foldedpath wrote:
>>

> Which current brand and model has the biggest, clearest numbers in the
> display? I saw someone mention the Planetbike Protege series in another
> thread. It looks good in the web site photos but I haven't seen it in
> person, and I can't tell if the numbers are actually bigger, or they're
> just using the display area to show more information. Maybe there is
> something else that doesn't have a huge display area, but has very large
> numbers? It's hard to tell from looking at web site photos of all the
> different brands, and my LBS only carries a few of them.
>

I have the Protege 9.0. The numbers are actually smaller than the one on
other make/models. The idea of the Protege series is to pack more info
on one screen so you don't need to press buttons.

Topeak Panoram v12 seems to have a large display with large numbers.
http://www.topeak.com/2004/products/computer_001.html


> Yet another goofy idea would be to get clip-on aero bars (which I really
> don't need, and would look a little silly on this bike), just to have a
> place to stick the computer out where I could read it.


Or a piece of Fresnel magnifying glass mounted 2" above the display?
 
foldedpath <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> I'd rather use normal sunglasses,
> and I'd like to avoid having to buy expensive bifocal sunglasses.


FWIW, I'm in the same shape (bifocal), but I use less expensive single
vision persc. sunglasses for riding.

--
Peder (Please reply to group only, email invalid)
 
Peder wrote:
> foldedpath <[email protected]> wrote in news:Xns951F6084455-
> [email protected]:news:Xns951F608445549mbarrsNOSPAMni-
> [email protected]:
> > I'd rather use normal sunglasses, and I'd like to avoid having to buy
> > expensive bifocal sunglasses.

> FWIW, I'm in the same shape (bifocal), but I use less expensive single
> vision persc. sunglasses for riding.
> --
> Peder (Please reply to group only, email invalid)




How about thos self-adhesive non-perscription inserts you stick to the
inside of sunglasses? If regular non-perscription reading glasses work
for you, these will too.

They are reusable, just wash in water and use a drop of water to secure
to the next pair.

REI has them in various strengths.



--
 
"Weisse Luft" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> How about thos self-adhesive non-perscription inserts you stick to the
> inside of sunglasses? If regular non-perscription reading glasses work
> for you, these will too.
>
> They are reusable, just wash in water and use a drop of water to secure
> to the next pair.


The beauty of those is you can cut a piece, and make a small bifocal area just
on one lens. As for big displays, I think the Planet Bike has a large one.
 
foldedpath wrote:
> My vision is fine beyond about 5 feet, but I need reading glasses for
> anything closer.


I'm not that bad yet but I probably will be right there with
you in a few more years. :(

> Which current brand and model has the biggest, clearest numbers in the
> display?


I've been looking at a lot of computers lately (though I have
a different problem of trying to find a backlight). The
Specialized Elite Turbo Series appears to have large numbers
for the main display as does the Topeak Panoram V12.
 
On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 16:29:34 +0000, foldedpath wrote:

> Also, display issues aside... what do y'all think about alternative
> mounting locations to put the cyclometer in my range of focus?


Mirror on head tube arranged to reflect the cyclometer that's mounted on
the top tube/down tube/wherever it can be far enough?
 
David Johnson <[email protected]> wrote in
news:p[email protected]:

> On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 16:29:34 +0000, foldedpath wrote:
>
>> Also, display issues aside... what do y'all think about alternative
>> mounting locations to put the cyclometer in my range of focus?

>
> Mirror on head tube arranged to reflect the cyclometer that's mounted on
> the top tube/down tube/wherever it can be far enough?


That's a great "thinking outside the box" idea, but I think I would need
two mirrors to keep the numbers the right way around. But it might actually
work! I'd just have to keep the mirrors in alignment. I could even mount
the computer upside-down on the handlebars... hmmmmm.

BTW, thanks to everyone who jumped in with suggestions. There are a lot of
good ideas here, and I'll probably end up trying most of them. At some
point I may even try bifocal contact lenses, but I'm really trying to avoid
that.

Remember.... you'll all have to deal with this to some degree, if you stay
active long enough. Well, either that, or just ditch the computer. But that
doesn't solve everything. I've had to put a tiny pair of folding half-frame
reading glasses in the repair kit in my saddle bag, in case I have to deal
with a field repair of some small part, or a tube patch, when I'm out
riding.

There is a real marketing opportunity here. I can't wait to see the "Baby
Boomer Bike (tm)" with components and bike computer readouts that are EXTRA
LARGE, so you can see everything.

--
Mike Barrs
 
I've done that, finaly I just had my contacts set for mono-vision and after
a couple of weeks my eyes and brain adjusted to it to where I can race
comfortably with the difference in the two eyes.

"Weisse Luft" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Peder wrote:
> > foldedpath <[email protected]> wrote in

news:Xns951F6084455-
> >

[email protected]:news:Xns951F608445549mbarrsNOSPAMni-
> > [email protected]:
> > > I'd rather use normal sunglasses, and I'd like to avoid having to

buy
> > > expensive bifocal sunglasses.

> > FWIW, I'm in the same shape (bifocal), but I use less expensive single
> > vision persc. sunglasses for riding.
> > --
> > Peder (Please reply to group only, email invalid)

>
>
>
> How about thos self-adhesive non-perscription inserts you stick to the
> inside of sunglasses? If regular non-perscription reading glasses work
> for you, these will too.
>
> They are reusable, just wash in water and use a drop of water to secure
> to the next pair.
>
> REI has them in various strengths.
>
>
>
> --
>
>
 
"Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<iaZGc.39654$MB3.37635@attbi_s04>...
> "Weisse Luft" <[email protected]> wrote
> >
> > How about thos self-adhesive non-perscription inserts you stick to the
> > inside of sunglasses? If regular non-perscription reading glasses work
> > for you, these will too.
> >
> > They are reusable, just wash in water and use a drop of water to secure
> > to the next pair.

>
> The beauty of those is you can cut a piece, and make a small bifocal area just
> on one lens. As for big displays, I think the Planet Bike has a large one.


Dear Weisse and Peter,

What do you call them? And where the hell are they?

These non-prescription inserts for sunglasses sound
like the perfect gift for a friend who's become immune
to my cruel jokes about his early radial keratotomy and
now can't read restaurant menus when he forgets his
reading glasses, but I can't find whatever you're talking
about at the REI site or at www.planetbike.com.

(Honest, I don't need them yet--I just take my goggles
off and peer at small things with one eye closed. Of
course, if I had these wonder inserts, maybe I could
see them on the screen.)

Carl Fogel
 
"foldedpath" wrote...
> My vision is fine beyond about 5 feet, but I need reading glasses for
> anything closer. It's classic old fart presbyopia, a little worse than
> average because I started out farsighted.


Oh jeez, for a moment I thought you were talking about narrow minded, retro
Presbyterians who refuse to use bike computers.
 
"Jim Flom" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:TG3Hc.12008$eO.2239@edtnps89:

> "foldedpath" wrote...
>> My vision is fine beyond about 5 feet, but I need reading glasses for
>> anything closer. It's classic old fart presbyopia, a little worse
>> than average because I started out farsighted.

>
> Oh jeez, for a moment I thought you were talking about narrow minded,
> retro Presbyterians who refuse to use bike computers.


I didn't think of it that way originally... but maybe the phrase "see no
evil" applies here. Maybe this is a sign from God, that I should stop
paying so much attention to those numbers?

--
Mike Barrs
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> My vision is fine beyond about 5 feet, but I need reading glasses for
> anything closer. It's classic old fart presbyopia, a little worse than
> average because I started out farsighted. I use half-frame reading glasses,
> but I don't want to wear them on my bike. I'd rather use normal sunglasses,
> and I'd like to avoid having to buy expensive bifocal sunglasses.
>
> My current (10 year old) Cateye has a very small, somewhat low contrast
> display, and it's getting to the point where it's very tough to read
> through my fuzzy closeup vision. <snip>


If the battery is old, contrast is usually reduced. Try a new battery
and you may find that your eyes have improved!

I have the same problem, but I can still read my Cateye Mity 3? I can't
read a GPS on tour anymore, so being an old fart and completely unaware
of how I look, I dangle a pair of 2 dioptre small half frame $3 reading
glasses around my neck on a cord. For short periods, they fit on the end
of my nose even when the sunglasses are still on. A great way to annoy
my wife, who retains some vestigial vanity.

Bruce Graham
 
Bruce Graham <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>>
>> My current (10 year old) Cateye has a very small, somewhat low
>> contrast display, and it's getting to the point where it's very tough
>> to read through my fuzzy closeup vision. <snip>

>
> If the battery is old, contrast is usually reduced. Try a new battery
> and you may find that your eyes have improved!


Alas, I've tried that already with no improvement. Actually, I can't see if
it's improved or not.

> I have the same problem, but I can still read my Cateye Mity 3? I
> can't read a GPS on tour anymore, so being an old fart and completely
> unaware of how I look, I dangle a pair of 2 dioptre small half frame
> $3 reading glasses around my neck on a cord. For short periods, they
> fit on the end of my nose even when the sunglasses are still on. A
> great way to annoy my wife, who retains some vestigial vanity.
>
> Bruce Graham


Now here is someone I can relate to. Half frame drugstore glasses on TOP of
sunglasses. I haven't tried that yet, but I will. Thanks! I have definitely
reached the point where I'm unaware of how I look on a bike.

--
Mike Barrs
 
On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 04:01:55 GMT, "Jim Flom"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>"foldedpath" wrote...
>> My vision is fine beyond about 5 feet, but I need reading glasses for
>> anything closer. It's classic old fart presbyopia, a little worse than
>> average because I started out farsighted.

>
>Oh jeez, for a moment I thought you were talking about narrow minded, retro
>Presbyterians who refuse to use bike computers.
>


Dear Jim,

No, we may be narrow-minded and retro, but we embrace the
cyclocomputer technology and the spreadsheets that go with
it.

Technically, a good friend and I are both still anointed
members of the First Presbyterian Church and plague our
godly mothers about how it's going to hell. There's
something not quite kosher about women in the pulpit!

(In our day, the requirements for full membership were
somewhat less stringent than those of the Puritan
colony--instead of an inspired consciousness of inward
grace, the ability to recite the names of the books of the
Bible in order was judged a sufficient outward sign of our
predestined salvation. Nowadays, the ability to capitalize
"Bible" may be enough to admit applicants to the glories of
full membership.)

(Is there a Second Presbyterian Church anywhere?)

Even more technically, presby-opia means old-age
bad-vision--with age, the lens stiffens and loses its
ability to contract enough to focus up close.

Presbyterians are merely the sole true church based on
government by elders/olders (who never bothered to explain
to me or my friend what the hell distinguished us from
Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, Lutherans, Catholics, or
other varieties of infidels).

PRESBYTERIAN, n. One who holds the conviction that the
government authorities of the Church should be called
presbyters. --The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce

Carl Fogel
 
<[email protected]> wrote...
>
> (Is there a Second Presbyterian Church anywhere?)


There's a Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. And for that other
stuff, I dare not go there, tempting as it is. That's a whole 'nother
newsgroup.

Jim "never heard of anointing Presbyterians for membership" Flom
 
On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 06:12:43 GMT, "Jim Flom"
<[email protected]> wrote:

><[email protected]> wrote...
>>
>> (Is there a Second Presbyterian Church anywhere?)

>
>There's a Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. And for that other
>stuff, I dare not go there, tempting as it is. That's a whole 'nother
>newsgroup.
>
>Jim "never heard of anointing Presbyterians for membership" Flom
>


Dear Jim,

Possibly they just have a more accurate divine cyclocomputer
that reads in tenths?

Anointedly,

Carl Fogel
 
On 2004-07-08, foldedpath <[email protected]> wrote:
>

[snip]

> Now here is someone I can relate to. Half frame drugstore glasses on TOP of
> sunglasses. I haven't tried that yet, but I will. Thanks! I have definitely
> reached the point where I'm unaware of how I look on a bike.
>


Getting slightly OT here, I have a problem with one eye which becomes
sore in the wind. I also have prescription glasses. Recently I've tried
wearing protective wraparound plastic glasses, of the kind sold in DIY
stores, outside the glasses. Seems to be working well so far.

Anthony

--
<<|
| http://www.acampbell.org.uk/cycling/
_________ ,___o / \
__________ _\ <;_ / \ OCD Cycloclimbing
___________ (_)/ (_) / \ http://www.ocd.org.uk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
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In article <[email protected]>,
foldedpath <[email protected]> wrote:
>"Jim Flom" <[email protected]> wrote in
>news:TG3Hc.12008$eO.2239@edtnps89:
>
>> "foldedpath" wrote...
>>> My vision is fine beyond about 5 feet, but I need reading glasses for
>>> anything closer. It's classic old fart presbyopia, a little worse
>>> than average because I started out farsighted.

>>
>> Oh jeez, for a moment I thought you were talking about narrow minded,
>> retro Presbyterians who refuse to use bike computers.

>
>I didn't think of it that way originally... but maybe the phrase "see no
>evil" applies here. Maybe this is a sign from God, that I should stop
>paying so much attention to those numbers?
>


_ Well, I purposely mounted my cyclocomputer where I can't see it
when I'm riding. The only reason I got one is know how far I've
ridden after I'm done. I just find them annoying and distracting
for the most part. Besides it's really hard to pretend you're
still in shape when you have the evidence blinking away at
you...

_ Booker C. Bense

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