What's your favorite electronic gadget?
 

looking for suggestions on what accessories I should get to go with my bike gadget wise when it shows up later this year

garmin 1030 plus with Garmin Varia RTL515 Rearview Radar Taillight


It's a great combination together.

Bright Lights For Day Safety Riding.

Power meter is most loved if we're talking part of the bike gadget, Varia radar if accessory, and GPS watch for exercise generally. 🙂

thank you guys for the suggestions I will have to go research all of these. I want a great way to monitor my fitness and miles. I am also trying to decide what camera I would like to capture some footage along the way

on bicycle vid camera

My setup is also a Garmin Edge 1030 Plus and a RTL 515 rear light/radar unit. Love the info the 1030 Plus provides and the safety/peace of mind the RTL 515 provides. They work great linked to each other.

Garmin Varia RTL515 light with radar.
Hands-down the best money I ever spent on a bike accessory.

Anything that provides a good detailed weather forecast, must include wind speed and direction, probability of precip and estimated quantity of precip, temp and dewpoint estimates are good too.

Boring answer, but it's got to be my Garmin 830 head unit (other price range models, both up and down, are good too)

If you're tracking your rides, a GPS head unit makes life very easy. Hit record, hit stop, automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, Strava, etc.


Other brands available, check out Wahoo and Bryton also.

🙂

I recently discovered this intense climate tool. Both iPhone & Android apps available too. I find it a keeper.

A Garmin watch is hard to beat. The Enduro measures all sorts of metrics (pairs with chest HRM, cadence/speed/power sensors/etc.) and the battery lasts forever (70hrs+ on standard GPS, 200hrs+ in ultraTrac mode). I mount mine on the stem. Much much much better than Edge or smartphone.

I ride to escape the electronic grid of today (yeah I don't buy it either)

a good way to carry your phone
cameras (yes plural)
lights (yes plural)
bike computer

Most important for me: bike horn to catch the attention of those who don't pay attention.
Bike computer, mine is a iGS50E from IGPSPORT, together with a cadence sensor from the same mfg.
Head and tail lights that can be switched to strobe mode for daylight riding.
Cameras along with a power bank for long rides.
And make sure sure you phone is fully charged!!!

Thanks for posting but I am going to stick with what I use for now.

I use weather service for very specific detailed locations. On their forecasts you can click on a graphical analysis and that plots lots of parameters on graphs up to six days out.

And also look at HRRR and NAM models on Pivotal and Tropical Tidbits. Couple examples, below.
https://www.pivotalweather.com/model...s_mw&dpdt=&mc=

https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/anal...pos=0&ypos=175

I have never had any formal traiing in meteroloty, but I am a retired scientist. And I can usually figure out a lot from looking at weather maps several days in advance on NAM models, and most of a day in advance on HRRR models.

Canoe or kayak trips where I am out of cell range, I bring a marine band radio that has weather bands.

1. Long riding days on tour requires electronics with good battery endurance. After being disappointed in the battery life in several rechargeable gps devices, bought a wrist mounted Garmin Foretrex 601 as my biking and hiking computer. Outstanding battery life using two AAA batteries (we use either Eneloop brand rechargeables or Energizer Ulimate brand lithium disposables) Can pair using Ant+ to heart rate straps (and other things that we don't use). It's something of a general purpose GPS unit but meets most of our needs and I am very happy with it.

2. Dynamo hub wheels and LED lighting. We have bikes with Schmidt, SP and Shimano dynamo hubs. All three brands work well and make bicycle lighting something that requires little attention. Yes, they add weight and sap a bit of speed but, in our case, it's an acceptable trade.

3. JBL Wind bluetooth speaker, radio receiver, mp3 player. I'm not much for audio entertainment while riding, but my tandem partner enjoys listening to music or an audiobook. We picked up the JBL in the Auckland airport duty free shop when leaving NZ for about $30 which was a good deal. It does have a sealed rechargeable battery, which I consider to be less than ideal, but it works and when it dies, I get the silence I prefer.

Garmin does offer an extended battery that will mount below a Garmin GPS unit on an out-front mount that works very well. It also has a USB output port you can connect to any USB charged device. Anker makes auxiliary power supplies. I use one that is about the same diameter as my seat post, and attaches to it with 1/4 turn mounts. A USB cable can charge my Varia unit if the internal battery gets low.

True. but in my experience the Edge touring barely makes it through the day in mapped navigation mode, which seems to be what others report. The claimed 12hrs applies if you display the data screen. The battery capacity is apparently 1 000 mAh. In comparison, the Enduro lasts 70+ hrs on a 550mAh, i.e. about 20 times more efficient. Which may not matter in many cases, but is a consideration for others. Recharging the computer and the external battery, every day, is no fun, and may pose problem if you do not have readily access to the power grid.

Nice but very expensive ($130).

These (at about $10) are likely going to be a better choice for more people.

wow thanks for the great suggestions and outside the box ideas. Im not too concerned "yet" with having something that is going to last all day as being 40 and out of shape, and new to riding it will be some time before im taking very long extended rides. I am sure that will be something I build up to. I do know however i perfer to spend more and buy once instead of upgrading later. With that being said I already own battery power banks for my cell phone so I could probably get by with one of those at least at first.

my Garmin 530 performance bundle, wish I had bought one sooner!

Link, please.
Couldn't find on Anker's site.

Here you go:

PowerCore 5000 - Anker

A Garmin 1/4 turn mount with bands fits perfectly around it. You can either use another Garmin 1/4 turn banded mount with two phone case adapters stuck back to back, or Shapeways makes a banded Garmin mount, with male fitting.
Here it is mounted, with the GoPro camera, Flare RT tail light, and Varia.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e11476ef56.jpg

I have a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt that I like. I prefer it because I am using everything else Wahoo and a Wahoo Kickr Snap trainer.

Appreciate the prompt response. Can't believe I missed it. Thought it was a flashlight!