Is the Ergo-brain a good idea?

[Mark Schecter]

[email protected] wrote:
> You're obviously a committed rider, upgrading your ride to 10 speed.
> Your machine is current - state-of-the-art. You're done, Mark.
> Well... maybe not.
>
> Monitor the motor not the machine... spend the $$$ on a HR monitor
> w/USB download feature. You'll learn more about yourself, your fitness
> and cycle MPH faster than watching an LCD in realtime. The HAC4 has
> MPH/Cadence/HR/Timers/Zones/Countdown/Altitude/Grade/etc... built-in
> and graph your ride profile by alt-HR-cadence/time to really fine tune
> your on-bike fitness.

This sounds like an interesting unit. Who makes it?

> Anything less is just playing around on a bike.

Well, I don't feel like it's quite that black and white. I'm not really
training to race, though fitness improvements are part of my interest.
But in fact playing is good, and it's one of the aspects of cycling that
I love, and that keeps me doing it.

Anyway, I appreciate your recommendation, and I hope sometimes you "just
play"!

-Mark

 

[Mark Schecter]

A Muzi wrote:

> The magnet's included in the Ego Brain packet. Any small magnet will do
> - even the ones in 'magnetic' socket wrenches - some of which just fit
> the Campagnolo pedal

I didn't know about these - is the magnet embedded in the socket to
retain a bolt head on its way to start threading into the hole?

-Mark

 

[Paul Kopit]

On Thu, 12 May 2005 19:34:55 -0700, Mark Schecter
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Is the Ergo-brain worth 3-4x the price of other full-featured
>cyclometers ($150-225USD) just to have the cool built-in switches in the
>brifters?

Most I know are no longer installed. It's a complex system and the
wires break. Additonal harness co$t is almost what a new unit costs.
The unit itself is heavy and getting to a simple function like
TimeOfDay can be tricky.

When you first get them you think they are great.

If you want a great toy, get a Garmin Forerunner 101 and measure your
speed/distance/altitude via GPS.

 

[Mark Schecter]

Paul Kopit wrote:
> On Thu, 12 May 2005 19:34:55 -0700, Mark Schecter
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Is the Ergo-brain worth 3-4x the price of other full-featured
>>cyclometers ($150-225USD) just to have the cool built-in switches in the
>>brifters?
>
>
> Most I know are no longer installed. It's a complex system and the
> wires break. Additonal harness co$t is almost what a new unit costs.
> The unit itself is heavy and getting to a simple function like
> TimeOfDay can be tricky.
>
> When you first get them you think they are great.
>
> If you want a great toy, get a Garmin Forerunner 101 and measure your
> speed/distance/altitude via GPS.

Thanks for this review. I looked at Garmin, and they have some
interesting gizmos. The Forerunners and the Foretrexes look useful. I
recently misread my map, missed a turn, and went quite a few miles off
course. But for a very helpful and friendly fellow cyclist, my wife and
I could have been stuck, lost in the dark in a pretty remote area. So a
GPS is not a completely hare-brained idea to me any more.

If I go with a regular cyclometer, I'm thinking now of adapting the
Cateye Double Wireless to the Campy brifter switches. But I'm still
thinking - there are many possible choices. Thanks again for your thoughts.

-Mark