As part of the HTRC Training Rides #5 and #6 we took the liberty of photographing several specimens of bike computer being used by the hardy souls of the HTRC training mob, you may or may not be surprised by our findings…

Specimen #1 – Bikehut

 

A nice and simple computer with an old school pixel art look, fairly practical, though that pixel array display went out of fashion according to expert art historians in the 1700s. This model is bizarrely displaying ODO is this indicating some kind of smell it gives off, maybe give this model a miss.

Scores (0 Bad … 5 Great)

Looks: 2 – a little plain Jane (sorry Jane)
Handling: 2 – one medium sized button, potentially fiddly to press
Eco: 1 – Wireless with two batteries needing to be replaced every year or two, not a great option, though better than being charged every 5 mins.

Specimen #2 – Sigma 509

Only the Germans could make such a square and boring looking computer, they are cheap and according to (and this is a very genuine quote from a local bike shop) “Bomb Proof” two pretty good attributes in my book. With a conventional looking display, maybe 1980’s LCD nothing to get too excited about, though a bit of Bauhaus design would potentially make it a little more pleasing on the eye, Sigma refers to it a classic. I’m not sure I would.

Looks : 1 – Yawn
Handling: 4 – no visible buttons
Eco: 4 – Wired – a single battery lasting a few years
Potential use as a mirror: 0 – too small/square.

Speciment #3 – Atom

A nice straightforward specimen, with an almost Art Deco style typeset and shape, quite pleasing on the eye. For a basic model maybe a little on the pricey side.

Looks : 4 – Pretty good
Handling: 4 – no visible buttons
Eco: 2 – Wireless with two batteries needing to be replaced every year or two, not a great option, though better than being charged every 5 minutes.
Potential use as a mirror: 0 – far too small.

Specimen #4 – Bryton

Ahh, the Bryton. This model looks like it does everything including making you a cup of tea (I’m pretty sure it doesn’t). A fabulous looking screen, though showing probably a little too much information I’ve a feeling it’s trying a little too hard. This computer does have excellent potential to perform as a mirror, with it’s long portrait-proportioned size and shape, excellent.

Looks : 4 – Pretty good, though the screen could maybe use a bit more of those thick borders
Handling: 4 – lots of knobs and buttons, looks like video games would be good to be played on it.
Eco: 1 – Wireless and GPS – regular recharging will be required.
Potential use as a mirror: 4 – if you’ve a long-shaped face.

Specimen #5 – Garmin

I’m afraid I’m too distracted by the bike this bike computer is mounted on, being a fan of the Cube range (good value, good looking and great to ride) I was almost brought to tears to find the owner of the Garmin was using the attached Cube Litening as his winter bike. I do have one thing to say about the Garmins, please Garmin owners can you turn that bloomin little irritating noise they make off!

Looks : 4 – Pretty good, though again trying too hard to squeeze to much info into a small space
Handling: 3 – lots of buttons, potentially fiddly
Eco: 1 – Wireless and GPS – regular recharging will be required.
Potential use as a mirror: 5 – good size, and I hear owners of these devices probably spend a lot of time looking at themselves.

Specimen #6 – RSP EX 3

I’ve quite an amusing (true) story for this computer, as a user of this computer during the 2013 160K Big G I’d set my goal time of 05:59:59 or quicker.  I trained in the Pyrenees, smashed the Tourmalet, PBd all of my local rides.  I was feeling pretty confident about getting my time. Climbing Life Hill during the Big G, as part of a small fast group, things were looking good until my poor little RSP EX 3 managed to fall off its mount. My first thought was to stick with the group and leave the computer, then I remembered the computer was given to me by my better half, and it wasn’t particularly cheap.

I decided to turn back. I quickly found the computer but the fast group was long gone I reckoned I’d lost around 1 min and 37 seconds. What was my finish time? You guessed it, 06:01:36.  I nearly cried ;-).  The computer is now attached to bike with piece of string along with the standard mount!

Looks : 4 – Pretty good, plenty of white space around each piece of information
Handling: 3 – lots of buttons and menus take a bit of getting used too and often lots of button presses to navigate menus.
Eco: 1 – Wireless meaning batteries to be replaced every year!
Potential use as a mirror: 0 – as if one could be so vain!

This concludes the bike computer review.  I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

 

Mike McAllister