My riding buddy has his phone and a wireless computer on his bike. He tells me the mileage, I write on my calendar hanging on the fridge by a Riv superconducting magnet, by hand, with ink. Or trace it out on google map.
Mike SLO CA On Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 2:51:15 PM UTC-8 jmlmu...@gmail.com wrote: > It’s been great hearing about how people are keeping track of miles. From > what I’ve gathered, some sort of journal or spreadsheet seems to be the way > to keep track of long term data. As far as collecting data, there are many > options and pros and cons to all. > > My current method of tracking via GPS watch allows me to see the metrics > of individual rides but since I’m not synced to Strava or another service, > I’m not easily seeing the grand totals and at this point in my life, that’s > all I’m curious about. I used to use a Garmin watch which sends the data to > their own service as well as syncing to my Apple iPhone health app. I can > look back and see data from individual rides but can’t see the grand > totals. Maybe it’s hidden somewhere but I haven’t found it. I now use an > Apple Watch which shows all the same data as the Garmin but has the added > benefit of asking me if I’m on a bike ride and if I want to track if I > forgot to start the watch. This is annoying when I don’t care about > tracking. And its annoying when I want to track but forgot to hit start as > I’m usually a mile or two in when it senses that I’m on a bike ride. I’d > say I track 75% of rides because it’s so easy, why not. I look back at > maybe 3% of those rides! > > If I want to see an odometer reading which sounds like fun to me, I need > to be diligent about starting and stopping the GPS. The same would go if I > were to use a Garmin bike GPS with navigation, etc. These devices are all > great but they require diligent starting in stopping which in my experience > has always been some sort of failure. (I’ve tracked many a hike only to get > in my car and drive halfway home with the watch still tracking.) And if I > want to swap one between bikes and know the total mileage for a particular > bike, I have to manually log that info which is way more work than what I > currently want to put into it. > > Using my iPhone to track with apps like Strava, Ride With GPS, or > Cyclemeter (BTW there appears to be two versions of Cyclemeter in the Apple > App Store and one is Russian and looks like a rip off of the original) > might be the way to go to get tallies. As several folks mentioned they have > used these apps to their success. I used to track with my phone and a DIY > mount and it was great and not great. Super easy to navigate with maps and > receive calls or texts. Not great because I was forced to receive all calls > and texts! Most of the time I don’t want to be connected to the outside > world when riding. But there are times when it’s inevitable and I guess > that’s just the world we live in these days. > > The biggest problem I faced with the phone was that it would overheat in > the sun rendering it completely useless until it cooled down. Yes I can > start it and toss it in a bag but then it’s chewing through battery. Yes I > could use a battery brick but I don’t want to go to all that trouble! I > have a beacon light on my Hillborne and I guess I could keep it plugged in > to the built in USB charger but again…more effort than I wish to put into > all this. > > The simple bike computer is something I haven’t considered in 20 years. I > remember how excited I was as a kid in the early 90’s to get one on my > bike. I think I only used it to bomb the biggest hill in my neighborhood > and see how fast I could go. It was really simple and sparkly > blueish-purple to match my Mongoose. > > With all the fancy metrics GPS apps and devices offer, the simple bike > computer seems to offer nothing of useful value Tim this day and age. But > alas, hearing everyone’s methods has helped me to realize some really > strong points. The simple bike computer (which I’ll now call the SBC since > I’m typing this on my phone) does something I love—it starts tracking the > moment my wheel starts spinning regardless of whether I want it to or not. > I can’t think of a better way to keep track of total mileage over the > course of a bike. The batteries last for years and I can set the odometer > after battery changes to pick up where it left off. Of course it needs to > go on the bike when it’s new (or new to me) and I can’t swap it from bike > to bike. I have to run a cable and put an ugly sensor on my fork or I can > spend more and get a wireless one that’s 90% as ugly but more complicated. > I don’t want a wire on my fork especially since I go to the trouble to > internally route my dynamo cables so that’s a big con. > > I can track individual rides with the tripometer or it will automatically > track how long since I last cared about how long an individual trip was. I > can’t see my GPS course or my elevation gain or loss but I can turn the > phone or watch on if I want that data. For my desire to learn about how > much I ride in a year or over the course of owning a bike, this might be > the simplest and most reliable option given how little effort I want to put > into tracking. Logging total mileage in a year in a little journal sounds > like fun. > > At the end of the day I want to get out and ride so that I’m driving my > car less, staying active, and giving my mind a break from the go-go-go > lifestyle I live in Los Angeles. I want to enjoy the (subtle) changing > seasons, landscapes, and neighborhoods. I want to ride with friends and > family and I want to ride just to ride. Riding is fun and for some, being > able to look back at where one rode, for how long and how far, is part of > that fun. And sometimes it’s fun to not know. Some days I like knowing, > some days I don’t. > > So I bought a $27 SBC. We’ll see if it earns itself a permanent fixture on > one of my bikes! Maybe I’ll mount the sensor near the rack mount and run > the cable and computer into a bag so it’s inconspicuous and I can see it > only when I want to. I think it would be fun to glance at it every month or > so and see how much I rode. Maybe I’ll attach it to a tiny Voille strap and > throw it on the bars from time to time. > > Ben—if you read this far I’m down to go on a group ride. I think Brian may > have texted you to say that I met him this morning as we ran into each > other on our commute and he yelled “Hey I have a Hillborne too!” Always fun > running into other Riv folks on the road! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e87e1229-033b-45db-9c0f-74d1235c00e6n%40googlegroups.com.
