There was no need for Rule #74 until the cyclometer showed up on our handlebars. According to the late Sheldon Brown, the cyclometer has been around since the early 1900s.
“Star-wheel cyclometers, such as the Lucas unit, suffered two serious problems. They made an annoying “tink-tink-tink” noise. At high speeds, the star wheel would sometimes turn too far when hit by the fast-moving striker, then, the next time around the striker would hit the tip of one of the star points, sometimes knocking the unit out of position.”
My thought is, these things have been annoying us for much too long. As a youth no one had any measuring device on their bike. There are no old black and white photos of racers staring down at their front hubs to the Lucas meters. Eddy had retired before the Avocet made its debut. He would have caused his to go to failure or he would have removed it because it was extra weight and rubbish.
I bought an Avocet digital cyclometer as soon as I could. It had two slightly inset buttons to better hold water to seep inside. It read speed and elapsed time. That was something to get excited about. Going from no data to data was big, this was going to improve cycling.
Thirty years and many cyclometers later I’m not convinced. My most recent model was a Cateye wireless cyclometer with heart rate and it demanded a new battery every two months…enough! I needed anything else, which made me ask an obvious question- why? Do I care how fast I’m going? I know it’s not very fast and no I don’t really care.
It’s more a question of how hard am I going? Hard or not so hard and again, I’m not trying to quantify this anymore. I’m no quant. I’m beyond quant. It’s not being too old as much as I’ve been riding for so damn long the numbers no longer interest me. Even if I was training for a specific event I have moved past the desire to have data. I did encourage my wife into upgrading to a Garmin 500 as she is into data. I encouraged her because I wanted to know the grades of some of our climbs. I should have kept quiet and emulated a friend who actually went out with a tape measure and long level and quantified the grades to the island’s most “interesting” climbs, bless his heart.
It’s been gratifying to look around on the Sunday group ride I’ve fallen into and notice that some of my cycling friends also have no cyclometers on their bikes. I’m not even sure it’s an interesting point of discussion amongst us. The people who are training with data don’t show up on this ride often because we spend the first 40 km gossiping, riding two abreast, riding a route too curvy, hilly and breath-taking for staring at a watt meter. The second part, I’ve heard*, turns sporty as the big guns get fired leaving bodies scattered along the route home. Training with data requires control of effort. Luckily my people have little interest in that. This Sunday ride is more pleasure than pain and I don’t need a meter to tell me a serious workout was logged.
I was visiting friends who worked and lived in Monaco and was told about the eighty year old owner of the building they rented in. Most every Sunday morning he and his buddies would kit up and go for a ride either east into Italy or west into France. I assume this had been the routine for decades. Eventually they would stop for a nice long Sunday lunch then they ride to the nearest train platform, roll their bikes on the train and return home via rail. Damn, I want to be one of those guys if I get close to eighty. And damn I wish I had a bike and kit when I was there, it would have been a riot to ride with them. I bet those old dudes have V-meters on their bikes.
*either I have turned back before the official turn around or I’m shelled out so early that all I hear are the distant reports. At some point the return always becomes a death slog and as such, a good training ride.
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During the fall/winter base mile season...I pull the computer and simply enjoy the ride
@Airless
The mental factor is exactly why I like not having the data to look at.
No computer. I don't count annual or weekly mileage from each ride. The hours and kilometers from yesterday (throughout the year) are already forgotten and the only hours and kilometers that I need to think about and ride are coming tomorrow. Ride, Rinse, Repeat.
i have no computer on my bike but I do usually have Strava running on my android phone in my pocket.
I like the way it works and the data it kicks out but I must admit that the main reason i use it is for the segments. For me its the cycling equivalent of territorial pissings.
absolutely Gianni, spot on. I am not a numbers man. Data is much of the time, meaningless. Sometimes helpful, but when I am on this bike, its always a hard ride. I cannot chose a gear differently (ok, on the ride) and distance doesn't even matter...its point A to point B. Enjoy it in the meantime
and yes, its a pinarello, the aluminum Paris model ergo '97 or so. It corroded on the TT (as many did), and the paint was less than good, so I blasted it, and painted it myself, no decals. There is no mistaking its MY BIKE! and she is still on the road and with purpose
@Nate
Super idea! I am an info data whore and I only started using strava this spring for about half my rides and not full time until this September. I must admit, I LOVE it!
But, during the ride, I do not need it. I really think that I will try the back pocket garmin on the next few rides. Do you ever have a signal problem with it being in your back pocket?
I have loved cyclocomputers since my first two button black Avocet in 1989. Felt like LeMan when I put that puppy on my bike! Nothing cooler back then.
@Souleur I love that you have a "bike room"....bookshelves with an absence of books, clean lines with a mere smattering of bike related literature and a couple of damn comfy chairs to be watching some of the best clips of Grand Tours and Classics from....I am assuming that you have a wall to wall flat screen there in HD just out of shot to view it on...and...that's a great looking paint job...even the seat post...love it!
@Buck Rogers
I think I've had one instance in a year where I accidentally stopped the Garmin by fishing about for something else in the pocket. That's an operator error; now I have the Garmin set to beep when it starts/stops, to make sure it's working. I don't think I've ever had signal problems.
I've never used a cyclometer, it's a pleasure feel and guess how fast (slow?) I am.
Being 'self aware' while cycling is very important to me.
I blew a wad of v-bucks on the original garmin 705. I was quant.
While I do like the unit, and put it on my bars for every ride, I am less quant now. While I do like knowing how long the ride was, and seeing where I went on my screen at home, the truth of the matter is I rarely look at the thing during the ride for numbers. Since my jawbones aren't progressive prescription (distance only) I actually can't see the display. And stay off my lawn.
I ditched the dumbfuck speed/cadence sensor. Don't give a Armstrong. (!) I ditched the dumbfuck HR monitor too, except for uphill time trials (like Mt. Baker.) On an extended climb, that is the one number on the bike I can use.
However, one function I really like on a planned ride is apre-programimed moving map. I really hate pulling out wet paper maps. I actually can see the highlighted route on the 705 GPS moving map, and this is cool. No need to drag out the iPhone for this.
Which brings me to Strava. My iPhone is an indespensible part of my ride tools. It is a safety device. I don't want to use its limited battery on recording quant or dealing with KOM horseshit. Fairly, the Garmin Connect web site basically sucks, but I can make do. Mostly, I just like posting the link to my rides to twitter and here in the V-comments as well.
Actually, it is rather shocking how bad the Garmin online system ("Connect") sucks given their investment in cycling. Go figure.