Computers... whats your choice?

CarlosK

Hi all,

Im new to all this cycling malarkie and I'm looking forward to really getting into it. I'm sure you're all pretty bored by now with all the new folk on the road due to the cycletowork schemes on the go now... So I'll apologise in advance for any ignorance and lack of knowledge.

Anyway, I've been researching quite a bit on computers for my setup. I was looking for something reliable and wireless if possible, I dont want to spend an absolute fortune either. I'm looking for all the usual stuff like time, distance, speed (as I'm sure are all standard nowadays) but also cadence if possible. I already use a polar heart rate monitor when running and have had no problem with it. I was looking into the Polar CS200CAD for the bike. However, feedback on this has been very mixed. I realise that people will leave a bad review a lot quicker than a good review, so I'm not sure how to take the negative feedback on it.

This computer comes in at around €115, I was wondering if any of you have any other recommendations in or around the same price range???

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance.

Carl

crashoveroid

CarlosK wrote: »

Hi all,

Im new to all this cycling malarkie and I'm looking forward to really getting into it. I'm sure you're all pretty bored by now with all the new folk on the road due to the cycletowork schemes on the go now... So I'll apologise in advance for any ignorance and lack of knowledge.

Anyway, I've been researching quite a bit on computers for my setup. I was looking for something reliable and wireless if possible, I dont want to spend an absolute fortune either. I'm looking for all the usual stuff like time, distance, speed (as I'm sure are all standard nowadays) but also cadence if possible. I already use a polar heart rate monitor when running and have had no problem with it. I was looking into the Polar CS200CAD for the bike. However, feedback on this has been very mixed. I realise that people will leave a bad review a lot quicker than a good review, so I'm not sure how to take the negative feedback on it.

This computer comes in at around €115, I was wondering if any of you have any other recommendations in or around the same price range???

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance.

Carl

Go with the polar i used it for two years and never had one problem with it

Leroy42

I'd second ther CS200CAD, it is a very good computer.

Mount is very secure, readout is very, well readable! on the go.

It gives a great deal of data, so if like me your interested in reviewing the stats after rides this does gives a grwat deal. HR, AHR, Max HR, Max Cad, Avg Cad, time in zones etc all all in cluded. A nice element is the laps feature which allows you most of the above data for specific 'trips' in the cycle, I usually use laps for climbs. When looking back over time on climbs it can be seen if the time is down to higher effort of hopefully better efficiency. Gives both total program time and cycling time (when set on auto start/stop) which is good as it lets you see how much time your spending actually eating cake!

Does have a few downsides. Can get trip time during a lap, get access Max speed until the program is stopped. Speed seems to be a bit choppy at times, particularly when stopped. Mine regularly says a few KPH for a few seconds when stopped at lights etc.

Overall I am very happy with it, and never had a problem with it. Had it for over three years now.

JacksonHeightsOwn

is the CS200 the computer where you need a microphone to transfer data via airwaves? ala, in a Titanic SOS stylee

blahblah06

I've got two of these and am selling one brand new if your interested

http://www.bbbparts.com/cyclingcomputers_bcp32w.php

irishmotorist

I have the CS300 with Cadence which doubles as a watch so you can impress the ladies with your MHR at dinner parties and the like.

I think it's aimed at triathletes but I do like it as a watch. It's a little more expensive AFAIK.

Leroy42

ARRGGHHH, so it's MHR that impresses the ladies, and here I was trying to all suave and sophisticated.

Looking back I can see that my lack of an MHR device was the root cause of my abject failure in that department. To think, I wasted years, and tons of money with shrinks, trying to work through my feelings of inadequacy and low self esteem when it was all down to the watch I was wearing.

Tell you what, I heading into cycle shop now to pick up one of those and then it's straight into Lilly's for some action!!!!

Better call my mam now and tell I may not be home

Chips Lovell

I'm on my second Polar. Had the CS100 for a few years and then last year switched to the CS600. Both have been flawless in terms of reliability.

CarlosK

Many thanks for all the help people. There are so many products out there and the mind can get seriously boggled when it comes to picking something out. The Polar CS200CAD is more than likely what I'll go for, all I needed was some gentle persuasion. I think this particular computer has all I'll ever need. I heard about the kph readings sometimes being slow to react but I read somewhere that this is because it averages your wheel turns over a few seconds. As I said before, I'm already using a Polar F11 watch and chest strap for running and I've been happy with it. I've also been using runkeeper on the iphone for tracking routes, distances and speeds. Im not too bothered with loading data onto my laptop via the "titanic style sos" method, I'll more than likely manually do this where I can lay out exactly what I want to display.

Any other advice or comments, please keep em coming .... thanks again everyone...