[Yak] One, Two, Three, Four or Six cycle computers

[Dean Wisleder]

I'm not aware of any bike computers that will allow you to achieve any of your three
preferred options.

To the best of my knowledge:

  a.  No bike computer holds three trip distances.  That eliminates options 1 and 2.
  b.  No computer displays km and miles simultaneously or easily switches between km
and mi.  Eliminates preference 3.
  
The key question is how do you define "need"?  If you are looking for continuous
display of km *AND* miles at all times while you ride, I'd be curious to know why.  I
think that means mounting two computers on each bike as you have already assumed.

How about one computer that you switch between two bikes, plus a second computer for
the third bike.  Set both computers to always read in the same units.  Let's say they
both always display distance in kilometers.  In your head, you can convert to
approximate miles by using the formula, displayed value times x 0.6.  If you
occasionally need more accurate reading in miles, carry a small pocket calculator and
multiply by 0.62.  Your cell phone probably has a calculator function.

If you prefer that the computers always display miles, multiply the readings by 1.61
to convert to kilometers.  You can think of it as: the displayed value plus 0.6 times
the displayed value.

Please allow me the obvious suggestion that no amount of computer watching or mental
calculation should detract from your attention to traffic, pedestrians, road hazards,
and the enjoyment of the ride.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Dean Wisleder
--A separate computer on each bike always displaying miles traveled.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: yak-bounces at bikefriday.com [mailto:yak-bounces at bikefriday.com] On Behalf Of
> Andy Heath
> Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 7:07 AM
> To: yak at bikefriday.com
> Subject: [Yak] One, Two, Three, Four or Six cycle computers
> 
> I have:
> 
> a) NWT
> b) Tikit
> c) Another bike
> 
> I need, simultaneously or dynamically-switchable, for all three bikes:
> 
> x) km
> y) miles
> 
> If I were to use cateye vectra (of which I have one - used
> to have two but lost one) then I would need six computers
>   - ax, ay, bx, by, cx, cy.  Yes it will do km and miles
> but not dynamically, only by changing the settings in
> a fiddly way.
> 
> There are some computers that do two bikes - using such
> a model I could get it down to four, say abx, aby, cx, cy.
> That's still four computers - difficult to manage.
> 
> I need one of the following (in order of preference):
> 
> 1. a computer that does three bikes and two units dynamically
> switching between units or displaying them both simultaneously.
> REQUIRES: 1 computer
> 
> 2. computers that do three bikes but single units setting
> REQUIRES: 2 computers, 1 for km and one for miles
> 
> 3. computers that do multiple units settings with dynamic
> changing of units (press the button) or simultaneous
> km and miles
> REQUIRES: 3 computers, one for each bike.
> 
> BUT
> 
> the best that I know of are the cateye computers
> that will do two bikes.  This would still leave
> me needing four computers - km and miles for
> bikes a and b, km and miles for bike c.