Trying to give up computer - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

09-02-2003, 08:47 AM

I just switched bikes, and the new one has no computer. I'm
considering not getting one -- I have a tendency to look down
at the little speed number, to the detriment of paying attention
to cycling.

How many of you have ridden with a computer and then decided to
get rid of it? Do you miss it?

Do people use computers in nontraditional ways? For example,
taping over the display or mounting upside down so it's way
inconvenient to read while riding but you can get cumulative
stats, etc?

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ].cs.umn.edu * [Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ] * 612.624.8372)
*** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

09-02-2003, 09:20 AM

I have a polar monitor that has cycling features. Back when I just had an
Avocet computer, I found myself running through the displays all the time,
probably to the detriment of my riding. Now, I only have three functions
that I am interested in: elapsed time, heart rate, and cadence.

Generally, I can tell my cadence pretty well at this point without looking
at the computer, and I'm getting better on heart rate. So, I check mostly
to remind myself to drink water now. I could probably set the thing to ring
every 10 minutes and not have to look at it at all. But its nice to be able
to download all the info later.

Duffy
"Dan Cosley" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].edu> wrote in message
news:bj2e25$guk$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].umn.edu...
> I just switched bikes, and the new one has no computer. I'm
> considering not getting one -- I have a tendency to look down
> at the little speed number, to the detriment of paying attention
> to cycling.
>
> How many of you have ridden with a computer and then decided to
> get rid of it? Do you miss it?
>
> Do people use computers in nontraditional ways? For example,
> taping over the display or mounting upside down so it's way
> inconvenient to read while riding but you can get cumulative
> stats, etc?
>
> -- Dan
>
> --
> Dan Cosley ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ].cs.umn.edu * [Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
> GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ] *
612.624.8372)
> *** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

09-02-2003, 10:26 AM

Bicycle computers all can be removed from their mounting hardware quite easily.
You can take it out when you don't need it, or snap it back in when you do.

Dan Cosley wrote:

> I just switched bikes, and the new one has no computer. I'm
> considering not getting one -- I have a tendency to look down
> at the little speed number, to the detriment of paying attention
> to cycling.
>
> How many of you have ridden with a computer and then decided to
> get rid of it? Do you miss it?
>
> Do people use computers in nontraditional ways? For example,
> taping over the display or mounting upside down so it's way
> inconvenient to read while riding but you can get cumulative
> stats, etc?
>
> -- Dan
>
> --
> Dan Cosley ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ].cs.umn.edu * [Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
> GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ] * 612.624.8372)
> *** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

09-02-2003, 10:38 AM

Dan Cosley writes:

> I just switched bikes, and the new one has no computer. I'm
> considering not getting one -- I have a tendency to look down at the
> little speed number, to the detriment of paying attention to
> cycling.

> How many of you have ridden with a computer and then decided to get
> rid of it? Do you miss it?

I don't look at my Cyclometer unless I'm trying to measure a distance
or how much farther it is to some place. I use it to keep track of
how long a ride was and what the maximum speed was. It does that
without my intervention or scrutiny. Proof of that is that I often
fail to read the distance at the end of a climb that I was measuring.

> Do people use computers in nontraditional ways? For example,
> taping over the display or mounting upside down so it's way
> inconvenient to read while riding but you can get cumulative
> stats, etc?

Most people have enough self control to direct their vision to that
which is important and are able to ignore selected trivia. Maybe you
need electrical tape over your glasses.

Jobst Brandt
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

09-02-2003, 11:24 AM

I like to track my mileage over the course of a year, mostly out of
curiosity, so I have computers on three of my bikes. It's also
interesting, to me, to see what my average speed was after a ride.
Since the computers have clock functions, it's a convenient
alternative to wearing a watch.

My other bike is only ridden occasionally, and for short distances, so
I don't bother.

Seems pretty much like a non-issue.

On Tue, 2 Sep 2003 15:47:17 +0000 (UTC), Dan Cosley
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].edu> wrote:

>I just switched bikes, and the new one has no computer. I'm
>considering not getting one -- I have a tendency to look down
>at the little speed number, to the detriment of paying attention
>to cycling.
>
>How many of you have ridden with a computer and then decided to
>get rid of it? Do you miss it?
>
>Do people use computers in nontraditional ways? For example,
>taping over the display or mounting upside down so it's way
>inconvenient to read while riding but you can get cumulative
>stats, etc?
>
>-- Dan

09-02-2003, 12:11 PM

I gave up my bicycle computer and now ride without one. It took a little getting
used to because I thought I needed all the numbers. Now that I am used to not
having the computer, it is nice. I no longer train; I simply enjoy the rides. I
have to admit, however, that there are times when I use my watch to time myself
up my favorite climb.

Dan Cosley wrote:

> I just switched bikes, and the new one has no computer. I'm
> considering not getting one -- I have a tendency to look down
> at the little speed number, to the detriment of paying attention
> to cycling.
>
> How many of you have ridden with a computer and then decided to
> get rid of it? Do you miss it?
>
> Do people use computers in nontraditional ways? For example,
> taping over the display or mounting upside down so it's way
> inconvenient to read while riding but you can get cumulative
> stats, etc?
>
> -- Dan
>
> --
> Dan Cosley ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ].cs.umn.edu * [Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
> GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ] * 612.624.8372)
> *** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

09-02-2003, 01:10 PM

In article <bj2e25$guk$1@lenny.tc.umn.edu>,
Dan Cosley <cosley@cs.umn.edu> writes:
> I just switched bikes, and the new one has no computer. I'm
> considering not getting one -- I have a tendency to look down
> at the little speed number, to the detriment of paying attention
> to cycling.
>
> How many of you have ridden with a computer and then decided to
> get rid of it? Do you miss it?
>
> Do people use computers in nontraditional ways? For example,
> taping over the display or mounting upside down so it's way
> inconvenient to read while riding but you can get cumulative
> stats, etc?

The damn thing's an albatross. There has been many I time
when I've been tempted to skip it like a stone across some
body of water. But it was a gift, and I'm superstitious
about diss'ing gifts.

I can't even read it while on the move, thanx to my
reading-glasses-necessitating far sightedness. My
addiction is manifested in using the numbers to
journalize all my rides. Oh well. I guess nothing is
really stopping me from packing it up and stowing it
in the Precious Momentos drawer. Just between you, me
and the steering wheel, I kinda wish she gave me a camera
instead.

Cateye Astrales are remarkably resiliant against
Vancouver's notorious rain.

cheers,
Tom

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09-02-2003, 04:00 PM

In article <_z45b.17629$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>, [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] wrote:
>
> Most people have enough self control to direct their vision to that
> which is important and are able to ignore selected trivia. Maybe you
> need electrical tape over your glasses.

I, in fact, do have trouble with self control of that nature sometimes,
which is why I'm asking about strategies that help deal with that.
Tape over the glasses seems like a risky strategy, but I'll ponder it.
Thanks.

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ].cs.umn.edu * [Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ] * 612.624.8372)
*** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

09-02-2003, 04:03 PM

In article <jgt2jb.sgc.ln@bud.garden.local>, Tom Keats wrote:

> I can't even read it while on the move, thanx to my
> reading-glasses-necessitating far sightedness. My
> addiction is manifested in using the numbers to
> journalize all my rides.

There's something seductive about quantifying progress/effort.
Not always a useful thing, though -- the primary example from
my daily life is the notorious use of "lines of code" as a
measure of programmer productivity. Bad idea.

> Cateye Astrales are remarkably resiliant against
> Vancouver's notorious rain.

You sound almost wistful.

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ].cs.umn.edu * [Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ] * 612.624.8372)
*** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

09-02-2003, 11:41 PM

"Tom Keats" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:jgt2jb.sgc.ln@bud.garden.local...

>
diss'ing
>

diss'ing? Tom, please don't encourage the language mongrels. And with such
a fine literary name...