Measuring Your Performance

Do you love your riding but want to set yourself goals that you can measure? At its simplest you can see what time you leave home and return over your favourite ride but a purpose built bike computer can make this easier and give you so much more.

At their simplest bike computers can give you the speed you are travelling now, the time of day, the length of your current trip in time or distance and consequently your average speed. Some computers are clever enough to include or exclude the time you spent stationary on this trip for those situations where you get caught up by traffic lights for example. With better models you can also set average speed targets and the computer will tell you if you need to go faster or slower to maintain your chosen target.

As you spend more you can other additional features such as pedal cadence which is a great help in maintaining better cycling technique and avoid cranking along in too low a gear which can make you tired quickly. Similarly you will also find that mid range bike computers will offer “wireless” models which eliminate the wires that would otherwise run between the computer on the handlebar and the sensors near a wheel and or the pedals. This is great for a sense of style but is also useful for off road riders as it means there is one less thing to get caught by the nearby flora.

At the top of the tree there are superb units such as the Garmin range of GPS enabled bike computers which can give you all the traditional measures such as speed and distance (verified by GPS) but also elevation, hill grade, temperature, mapping (just like your GPS in the car), cycling power (with an appropriate power sensor like the Power Tap and heart rate. Best of all you can create exercise routines using any of these features and the computer can track your performance which is downloadable for review and posterity. Do you want to prove you did that climb in 9 minutes? Garmin is your witness.