Halfords Cycle Computers (Cycling Equipment in general)

Member Name: LegendaryMrDude

Product:	Cycling Equipment in general
Date:	02/04/02 (4759 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You know how fast you're going, You know how far you've gone, You know how long it took you to do it

Disadvantages: It's something else to break when you fall off

A quick guide to choosing a Computer for your bike...

Why would you want one? You would want a cycle computer if you are riding your bike and have a desire to know:

- how fast you are going;
- how fast you have been;
- how far you have travelled;
- your average speed;
- how long you have been riding;
- what the time is.

How do they do it? All cycle computers work on the same basic principle, you attach a magnet to a spoke on the front wheel and a sensor counts how fast the wheel is turning. Once you tell the computer the size of your wheel it can calculate how fast you are going. Counters are maintained to record distances etc. Cycle computers can be broadly grouped into two categories, "Old Fashioned" and "New Fangled".

Old Fashioned cycle computers connect the sensor to the computer using a wire. This has the advantage that the sensor is a passive part of the system, taking it's power from the main unit. On the down-side it means that if your bike has front suspension forks, you will have to allow enough wire between the sensor and the computer to cope with the forks at full stretch yet keep it tight enough that the wire doesn't foul when the forks are fully compressed.

New Fangled computers are wireless and use a weak radio link between the sensor and the computer. This is great news for people with front supension as you don't have to worry about slack wire when the fork is at maximum compression but it does mean that the sensor needs a battery of it's own.

I prefer the wireless flavour as I have suspension forks on my bike and didn't want to worry about the wires. It's seen some pretty rough times, the sensor has been caked in mud and drenched in water and has carried on transmitting throughout. It washes clean at the end of a ride and is ready to do it's thing next time without a problem. I've no news on the sensor's battery li
fe, it's done more than a few hours so far but I suppose it might be useful to carry a spare in case it runs out during a ride if it's that important to you...

Halfords produce two models of wireless Cycle Computer. One has 9 functions, the other has 12. The difference in price (at the time of writing) is £5 with 9 functions costing £20 whilst 12 functions costs £25. What do you get for the extra fiver? Not a lot! Both models provide the standard array of features (see list above) which should be more than enough for everyone. The 3 extra functions are Maintenance and Lubrication counters along with the ability to use the head-unit on a second bike. The maintenance/lubrication counters are nothing more than countdowns from an arbitrary number, when they reach zero you should carry out the relevant service. If you are serious about riding your bike you should be doing this regularly enyway. The ability to use the head-unit on a second cycle is not that useful either considering you would have to re-fit the mounting bracket/sensor etc on the new bike anyway.

So the verdict is to keep it simple and save yourself a fiver. If you are in the market for a computer for your bike, you could do worse than the 9 Function Wireless model from Halfords. It does everything you need with none of the extras that you don't and it's £5 cheaper to boot!

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