Marinoni 95

Hey fellow cyclists- I am interested in going the wirless direction for aesthetics sake and am overwhelmed by options. I'd like the usual-speeds of varying kinds, current, average, top, times, distance, maybe total and trip, GPS, but not necessarliy for directions. But the main question relates to one factor which for the life of me I can;t seem to ascertain from any site so far: I realize how the phone does the usual app thing for various things, but, do does this mean having your phone with you when you ride? I'm not addicted enough to my phone to have it with me every second so it may end up being a factor for me in choosing. Thanks in advance for any and all help with this.

njkayaker

Cycle computers don’t need to have your phone when riding.

Some may use your phone to change
settings or upload/download data.

(There was such a “computer” that served as a display for your phone but it was a short-lived product.)

Marinoni 95

Thanks, amazing that wasn't clear or evident. I've got the Cateye Padrone digital but not put it on yet. Not sold on it yet, any suggestions? I'm not interested in super expensive ones, seems plenty have lots to offer under $100.

Steve B.

That looks like an OK unit, my primary data displays are Speed, Distance and Ride Time, which that seems to do. I have more info on my Garmin, mostly as I can, but not everyone cares to know more data.

And as BTW thought, probably good to have a phone with you, you might witness or have a mechanical and need a ride. I always or have a medical emergency and need to call 911, I always have my phone with me and never look at it.

Iride01 

For devices that include GPS such as Garmin and probably for others, the phone app isn't a requirement. It does usually make transferring data, such as your ride activity to the website you use to view your information easier. It also enables the ability of some features on those devices to work. Things like live tracking, that sends your location to those you specify such as a spouse that might want to be certain you are still moving or not. Mine assumes if I'm not moving then I must have crashed. Also, inbound text messages can be seen on your device instead of pulling the phone out of your pocket and if a call comes in you get the name or number that appears on your phone so you can decide to ignore or take the call.

If you do decide you want to look for a cyclometer that includes a GPS, then for the more reliable brands that will last you years, they'll cost a little more than some of the cheaper that you see on Amazon. But the better brands are likely to last quite a few years. Not just a year. Or two..... IMO. Also you'll find even the lower cost models and brands probably do way more than you want them too, but you don't have to use those features if you don't want. But you do need to make certain that it will do the things you think you may want in the near future. Otherwise you'll be SOL and if you spent $200 or more then you'll be spending that again to get those new features when you probably could have gotten the next model up back then for $50 to $100 more.

John Valuk

Out of curiosity, what product was that?

Cyclemeter is showing their Cyclemeter Bike Display to use in conjunction with their app (currently only available for iPhone).

It seems like sort of a niche product to me, but here we are.

njkayaker

Wahoo RFLKT. I'm not sure if it work very well. Wahoo did come out with a second model (RFLKT+).

In any case, it wasn't a long-lived idea. I suspect it was an easy way for Wahoo to get into the cycle computer market.


Didn't know about that one.

It's an unusual case. Not one the OP has to worry about. I didn't go into it because it wasn't really relevant to the OP. I mentioned that such products did exist because I was heading-off any body who wanted to point out that I was wrong! (You didn't do that.)

Marinoni 95

As usual,, thanks guys, a riding friend of mine gave me a Garmin Edge 130 Plus, all set up, in less than a day, Amazon dellivered the cadence and speed detectors that go on a hub and crank! All good! Way beyond what I will ever need or want now.