Phamilton

Hi folks, relatively new to commuting and the forums. There is much talk about commuting mileage, and some riders put incredible amounts of distance on their bikes in any given day/wk/year etc, and some for decades on end. On one hand, I most certainly aspire to such achievements, on the other hand I sort of find it a burden to try and keep track, especially when the weather is nice and I have an opportunity to just jump on the bike and run some errands I would have previously used the car for. I have a cycling app on my phone and it's great, but (possibly in the excitement of going on a ride) I invariably forget to load it up. I use a couple different bikes to get around and can't financially justify the purchase of a computer for each one (I know they're pretty cheap, but I'm cheaper). I only ever kept track of mileage in my car to calculate economy. Whether this is a poor attitude or not, I feel like I deserve to brag based on my decision to commute by bike despite having a car, and am mostly happy when asked to simply explain where I live and where I work and let them figure it out. I think I am still a little cocky about commuting because I wasn't sure I could even do it at first. I digress. So even if I choose not to get even one computer and keep forgetting to use the phone app and surrender all mileage bragging rights, are there any other benefits to consider when tracking mileage? I appreciate your feedback.

TenSpeedV2

I do it for personal knowledge. Not competing with anyone, just want to know where I end up for the year. I track it over 3 different bikes using a GPS based computer that I can just easily put in my pocket if I am on a bike without a mount. The knowledge is worth it to me, so I take the time to make sure it is charged, on, and registering.

kickstart

I like knowing how far I ride, and average speed, but really the knowledge doesn't have any practical application for me other than estimating how long it will take me to get to a destination.

GovernorSilver

Even when I don't personally care exactly how far I rode, somebody will ask the inevitable "how many miles?" so it's nice to have the info at hand.

I'm not sure how accurate these tracking apps are, for certain data. For example, Cyclometer GPS says I burned 750 calories on a 7 mile ride yesterday, but man my appetite was out of control that evening. Last month, MapMyRide said I burned 1250 on a 23-mile ride, but I was nowhere near as hungry by dinner time.

ShortLegCyclist

I keep track mainly because certain components like Rohloff and Alfine hubs require maintenance at certain mileage intervals.

With multiple bikes, all you need are multiple mounts and one computer to move back and forth.

I recommend the base models Garmin Edge 200 or Cateye Stealth 10, both of which you should be able to find online for less than $100. Multiple mounts are cheaper for the Garmin but it is also the more expensive computer.

If you are going to use a phone app, even easier, you just have to get used to the idea of pressing the button on your Strava app when you ride and pausing it or ending your ride when you pause or finish. It becomes second nature very quickly.

mcours2006

I started keeping track of my running miles years ago, before GPS tracking and all that, using the USATF website with a map. It was easy enough as I rarely ran more than 11 or 12 miles.

I still don't own a GPS device, nor a computer on any of my bikes, so I track the miles using the same website. I am okay with not knowing how far I rode as I enjoy plotting the route, either before hand or afterwards. Another reason for using the google map function is that it gives you a streetview of the route if you are unfamiliar with it. It's more time consuming, but it's something I enjoy doing, and look forward to it.

As for bragging, there's no one to whom to brag. I ride to the store and all round the neighbourhood running errands. It's just something I enjoy doing instead of using the car.

ItsJustMe

I don't really keep track. I don't see much point. I know how long my commute is, and I kind of keep track of how long it takes to ride it.

I was thinking about buying a used Fitbit from a friend, but I realized it was just a toy, and no matter what it said, I wasn't going to change my behavior, so there's really no point.

If you're into the quantified life thing, knock yourself out. Maybe some people are actually seriously in training, or maybe it's what you enjoy. Don't sweat it too much just getting around town though.

ThermionicScott 

I enjoy tracking it. Plenty of people don't, too, so just do whatever makes you happy.

lost_in_endicot

I like to keep track. I like to see how far I ride. Both of the bikes I use for commuting have Sigma cyclometers, and I use the docking station and the Sigma Data Center software to sync them with my computer at home. Piece of cake!

ElJayGee

It's nice to know if your fitness is improving based on times over a fixed route. If you're into that sort of thing. Some men don't care about fitness metrics, Some Men Just Want To Watch The World Burn.

Phil_gretz

So, I don't keep track of mileage at all. Not at all. In fact, the only reason that I have odometers on some of my bikes is so that I can navigate using a route card or following a map.

But there have been some good responses above. Preventative or scheduled maintenance are terrific reasons for knowing mileage on a particular bike. The technology has made recording and tracking pretty effortless, depending on your own ...um, proclivities when it comes to gizmos.

Me, I cannot be bothered in the least. I ride until I reach my destination. It took the time and mileage that it did...

globie

I change chains every 2,500 miles and cassettes every 5,000 miles. I also like to know how many miles I get out of a set of tires, for example.

icyj

I record for several reasons (some already mentioned):

* I have weekly goals set and tracking easily helps me verify I met those goals.
* It is fun and only takes several minutes. Online programs with heatmaps and other stats can be fun to view and analyze.
* Track mileage on a bike so when I sell/trade I can give a good approximation of miles to the buyer.
* Maintenance and analyzing lifetime of items like tires.
* Checking performance metrics against friends, again this is more for fun.
* Comparing metrics with complete strangers. Cycling can be very social. How often and with what other activities can you meet up with complete strangers online (BF, Strava, and others) and feel like comrades without knowing anything about each other? I have done this on a few occasions. In this case, it again comes in handy to compare my stats against theirs gives me a good idea how slow/fast/easy/tough the ride will be.
* Compile and provide more data for road authorities to use to better design roads in the future. Okay, this is probably more visionary and won't be realized until some point in the distant future, but my thoughts are that eventually cloud services like Strava/Mapmyride will be used to get a feel for road usage by bikes and runners for design aid. This is the engineer and millennial in me dreaming.
* Recorded GPS data that gives a fairly full picture of my riding history and ability to follow the rules of the road. Whether this will ever be useful is beyond me, but hey, we live in the golden age of data collection, at least this data collection is voluntary, fun, and legal.

RubeRad

I enjoy numbers generally, so tracking mileage is fun for me, but I have to admit it doesn't really serve much practical purpose. For instance, I know that I installed my tires when the odometer said 5666 mi and now I'm in the 8K range so I have about 3000 miles on them, but I could get close enough to the same ballpark by looking up the eBay email receipt from when I bought them and estimating mileage by time multiplied by daily commutes plus like 10% for recreational riding.

But it's exciting (to me) when I get to see the odometer roll over another 1000. I also like to see my max speed on steep descents (I once hit 50mph!). If I were more dedicated to fitness, it would be useful to quantify my current/avg speed while I ride, but I really never make use of that info.

For most cyclocomputers, you should be able to buy a second-bike mount for a lot cheaper than a whole nother cyclocomputer. Mine is an old Cateye Mity 3 (Mity 5?), I can swap it between my commuting/road bike and my hardtail, just switch between A/B tire sizes and I'm good to go.

velocity

Numbers motivate me.
I also use apps that are social in their make up- like Garmin Connect and Strava. Both can update without anything more than you stopping it when the ride is done (For that session).
I also like to know how much it saves me to ride over driving everyday. Fitness gains, health and wellness of mind is probably the most valuable thing I get out of the motivation. Also my son likes to know how far and fast he's gone. It is all in your priorities. Now go get you some!
V

PatrickGSR94

Gosh I have over 5K miles on my current Ultegra cassette and KMC X10L chain and both seem to be doing just fine. I measured the chain recently and did not see any discernible stretch over 12 inches.

I track miles because I'm a numbers junkie. I prefer having an odometer for each bike, so I have a Bontrager wired computer on each bike, which comes on automatically when the wheel magnet moves past the pickup. So I never have to remember to turn it on, unless I want to reset the trip distance. Otherwise it's always keeping track of the bike's overall miles, and on my road bike I've been tracking it since it was brand new from the LBS.

I also use Strava mainly to track overall miles ridden throughout the year. Works great for the National Bike Challenge, also, other than not being able to change Strava miles between Recreation and Transportation within the NBC site. Oh well. Another nice thing about Strava is that you can add bikes as well as parts on bikes. So I can quickly look to see how many miles are on any given part, based on install date.

Matt144

I used to track every little ride, because I was training for a long ride and wanted to keep track of my training goals. When the ride was over, I stopped doing that. Like you, I just wanted to jump on the bike and go. I know how long my commute is, so I can easily multiply if I'm curious, and estimate any other rides or errands I run. Also, I got too lazy to open the app on my phone and hit record and save. If you don't care about looking at your metrics, than don't worry about it.

GovernorSilver

The Cyclemeter GPS map automatically pauses when you stop. I'll probably stick to Map My Ride Plus though because when I get home, it's easier to see what speed I hit on what split of the route. I'm only working on my speed to fit in more safely with the motorized traffic on the first and last legs of my work commute route - my more experienced bike commuting coworkers gave me a minimum speed to work towards. Thus, I'm looking more at top speed than average speed.

Good point on maintenance.

PatrickGSR94

Pausing a ride on a phone app is important if you spend any time at a destination somewhere, like a store or something, otherwise the app will try to track all your little movements throughout the store until you leave, which can throw off the numbers pretty drastically.

ItsJustMe

On my old hybrid, which I rode on gravel roads every day, I never got more than 1800 miles before the chain "needed replacement." On the road bike I ride in the summer now, which never goes on gravel roads and never sees road salt, I have > 4000 miles and the chain still isn't up to 75% worn.

Even on the old hybrid though, I tried a meticulous cleaning regimen and it made essentially zero difference - the chain gets completely filthy within a mile of home - even if I cleaned it carefully twice a day I would still chew through the chains.

So I just gave up. I let the chain and cassette wear each other out until they didn't shift well anymore. I found this happened at about 9500 miles. So in the end it saved me a TON of money just letting them get extremely worn out.

On that bike, the chainrings were very average, so if I looked for sales and closeouts I could get entire cranksets for about $15, so even if I had to replace that as well I'd still come out ahead.

GovernorSilver

That's true. I've had some hilarious Map My Ride numbers by forgetting to pause it when I got to the grocery store, did my shopping, etc. Didn't pause it at all actually. Got a bad average speed and whatnot. But I'm looking more for top speed on a split than average speed anyway.

globie

Yeah, it may be a little premature, but I ride in all conditions and am not obsessive about cleaning and lubing.
But changing them out together sure makes it shift like brand new, and I like that feeling. Plus, it's easy and cheap.

no motor?

I use map my ride every now and then to see how far my rides are and how long it takes but I don't want to worry about trying to be too accurate. Last time someone asked me how far I went I was able to tell them because I'd just measured the trip the day before, but more of the time I'm going to the same places and I'm more worried about arriving on time than on how fast or how far I went.

no motor?

I did that once and it recorded a trip I made in the car as part of a bike ride. Those numbers weren't very accurate, but there were interesting!

alan s 

I don't track how many times I take a dump or how far I ride bikes. What possible useful information could be gained?