Cycle odometer

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
User avatar
andrew_s
Posts: 5795
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 9:29pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by andrew_s »

geocycle wrote:I’ve not found a gps that has enough battery life that you can just leave on all the time.

Garmin Etrex 20x, or one of the other general outdoor GPSs like a GPSMap 64 or Oregon.
They are AA powered, and last about 16-24 hours on a pair, depending on model and screen backlight setting. I just carry a spare pair of rechargeable AAa, and swap if it goes beep for low battery, but you may care to be more organised than that.
You do have to remember to turn it on/off.
MikeF
Posts: 4339
Joined: 11 Nov 2012, 9:24am
Location: On the borders of the four South East Counties

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by MikeF »

thelawnet wrote:
elduderino wrote:
simonhill wrote:Why not just buy a basic cycle computer. It will be permanently attached and no need to remove when leaving the bike. Trip distance and odo will give you the info you want.

I have one on each of my bikes.


Can you tell what make you have on your bikes please.


If you just want a cheap cycle computer look for a cheap wired model such as the Cateye Velo 7. It has auto start/stop, and battery life is around 3 years.

I use Cateye7 and Cateye5 and the batteries on mine are over 5 years old. I also have an Avocet from 198?. However they can all be detached from the bike so depends where you leave your bike. :wink:
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
thelawnet
Posts: 2736
Joined: 27 Aug 2010, 12:56am

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by thelawnet »

geocycle wrote:
simonhill wrote:Why not just buy a basic cycle computer. It will be permanently attached and no need to remove when leaving the bike. Trip distance and odo will give you the info you want.

I have one on each of my bikes.


Yes that’s what I do as well. I use a cat eye Strada wireless on my commuter bike. I’m not sure why but I just like to know how far Ive ridden each month and how long components last. I’ve not found a gps that has enough battery life that you can just leave on all the time.


If you use your phone's GPS via the Wahoo Mini or the Cateye Strada Digital (plus) then the computer battery will last many months. The phone of course will need regular charging....
geocycle
Posts: 2177
Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 9:46am

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by geocycle »

thelawnet wrote:
geocycle wrote:
simonhill wrote:Why not just buy a basic cycle computer. It will be permanently attached and no need to remove when leaving the bike. Trip distance and odo will give you the info you want.

I have one on each of my bikes.


Yes that’s what I do as well. I use a cat eye Strada wireless on my commuter bike. I’m not sure why but I just like to know how far Ive ridden each month and how long components last. I’ve not found a gps that has enough battery life that you can just leave on all the time.


If you use your phone's GPS via the Wahoo Mini or the Cateye Strada Digital (plus) then the computer battery will last many months. The phone of course will need regular charging....


That's quite interesting, this generation of devices does begin to give the necessary battery life. I suppose the advantage of the old cateye models is that they are cheap and can be left on the bike in most situations without attracting attention.
User avatar
Mick F
Spambuster
Posts: 56359
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by Mick F »

andrew_s wrote:
geocycle wrote:I’ve not found a gps that has enough battery life that you can just leave on all the time.

Garmin Etrex 20x, or one of the other general outdoor GPSs like a GPSMap 64 or Oregon.
They are AA powered, and last about 16-24 hours on a pair, depending on model and screen backlight setting. I just carry a spare pair of rechargeable AAa, and swap if it goes beep for low battery, but you may care to be more organised than that.
You do have to remember to turn it on/off.
+1
Mine's a Montana.

If I was riding long distance with it, I'd get it powered by my hub dynamo in parallel with the battery. The unit comes with a Li battery that will charge even when you'r using the GPS, so it seems the best idea to me. It takes AA batteries too of course.
Mick F. Cornwall
simonhill
Posts: 5226
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by simonhill »

I use the wireless Cateye 7. Halfords were doing them for just over £20 with discount. I think they are discontinued and replaced by one with more functions. The 7 has everything I need.

My oldest was working well at over 5 years when someone stole the display unit in Sri Lanka.

When the display starts to get faint, I move battery from sender to display unit and put a new one in sender. This lasts more than a year when I only had one bike, so hardly an expense. My logic is that sender uses less battery power and you can't tell when it's low, so good to have new battery there. You know when display battery is low because the display goes faint.
User avatar
MrsHJ
Posts: 1823
Joined: 19 Aug 2010, 1:03pm
Location: Dartmouth, Devon.

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by MrsHJ »

I got an old fashioned cyclometer off eBay, everyone here said not a good idea and they’re probably
right but here is the link in case this is what you are thinking of.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vintage-cycl ... 468e1c92b6
User avatar
freiston
Posts: 1504
Joined: 6 Oct 2013, 10:20am
Location: Coventry

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by freiston »

simonhill wrote:I use the wireless Cateye 7. Halfords were doing them for just over £20 with discount. I think they are discontinued and replaced by one with more functions. The 7 has everything I need.

My oldest was working well at over 5 years when someone stole the display unit in Sri Lanka.

When the display starts to get faint, I move battery from sender to display unit and put a new one in sender. This lasts more than a year when I only had one bike, so hardly an expense. My logic is that sender uses less battery power and you can't tell when it's low, so good to have new battery there. You know when display battery is low because the display goes faint.

I just did a quick search and Evans still have some Cateye Velo 7s and are selling them off as a clearance item for £12.

https://www.evanscycles.com/cateye-velo ... r-EV172586
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
thelawnet
Posts: 2736
Joined: 27 Aug 2010, 12:56am

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by thelawnet »

freiston wrote:
simonhill wrote:I use the wireless Cateye 7. Halfords were doing them for just over £20 with discount. I think they are discontinued and replaced by one with more functions. The 7 has everything I need.

My oldest was working well at over 5 years when someone stole the display unit in Sri Lanka.

When the display starts to get faint, I move battery from sender to display unit and put a new one in sender. This lasts more than a year when I only had one bike, so hardly an expense. My logic is that sender uses less battery power and you can't tell when it's low, so good to have new battery there. You know when display battery is low because the display goes faint.

I just did a quick search and Evans still have some Cateye Velo 7s and are selling them off as a clearance item for £12.

https://www.evanscycles.com/cateye-velo ... r-EV172586


I think that's the going rate for a wired cycle computer. Same price here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CatEye-CC-VL52 ... 007YV1GM4/
Brucey
Posts: 44521
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by Brucey »

MrsHJ wrote:I got an old fashioned cyclometer off eBay, everyone here said not a good idea and they’re probably
right but here is the link in case this is what you are thinking of.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vintage-cycl ... 468e1c92b6


not everyone! FWIW these gizmos tend to work more quietly/for longer when the striker is mounted on as small a radius as possible. One of the ways they fail is by overspeeding when going down hills; if the star-wheel turns more than it should it tends to overread and it will (sooner or later) get 'stubbed' by the striker which can break everything.

cheers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
User avatar
freiston
Posts: 1504
Joined: 6 Oct 2013, 10:20am
Location: Coventry

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by freiston »

thelawnet wrote:I think that's the going rate for a wired cycle computer. Same price here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CatEye-CC-VL52 ... 007YV1GM4/


I can't find the Velo 7 cheaper (I didn't look very hard) but you can get a wired computer for £8.99 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raleigh-FUNCTI ... 073RNSSXW?. Or you can pay £44.09 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-Sport-BC ... B0093GECYM?
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
simonhill
Posts: 5226
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by simonhill »

I was talking about the wireless, £20:99, cheaper if you get a discount.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/cyclin ... e-computer
User avatar
freiston
Posts: 1504
Joined: 6 Oct 2013, 10:20am
Location: Coventry

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by freiston »

simonhill wrote:I was talking about the wireless, £20:99, cheaper if you get a discount.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/cyclin ... e-computer

Whenever I follow a link like this and the website tells me (as in this case) "13 people are looking at this right now" - I wonder how many of them are reading this thread.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
elduderino
Posts: 16
Joined: 2 Jun 2016, 6:25pm

Re: Cycle odometer

Post by elduderino »

Many thanks to all who took the time to share there thoughts & info.
I have gone with a Halfords bike hut 9 function wireless cycle computer .
Easy to install & configure , & no need to turn on, starts as soon as the bike moves, & more than meets my needs
No phone app, but now realise, it’s not needed.

This forum is my first stop for cycling questions.
Regards
Post Reply