Testing The New Bike Computer Means You Are Never Sure

Athletes.  Once you get to a certain level, you get quite a bit of OCD.

I found that I am always trying to compare where I am today to where I was yesterday.  Or the last workout, at the very least.

The problem is the old saying:  The man with one clock knows the time, the man with two never is really sure.

Or woman.  I know plenty of woman athletes that are serious about their chosen sport.  

At any rate, I got into that OCD problem a long time back.  I have always, always counted my distance on inline skates.  If I ever get to the point where I am no longer scared about being on the contraptions, I will finish my lifetime goal of approximately the distance of once around the world on skates at the equator.  Adding a few miles for "sloppy accounting", I figure that 25,000 miles will be hit soon.

If I ever get back on them.  The problem is that I fell on my skates twice, hard.  I don't have any more Clavicles to give for the sport.

The fall I took on the bike when a "tourist" came into my lane and knocked me off convinced me that Sports are really just a matter of finding a level of pain you can tolerate and staying just below that.

My Orthopedic Surgeon attributes my falls to his being able to get a new luxury car.

I have always been into Biometrics - the practice of measuring performance in a way that you can compare your current ability to your prior ability.

You know, "How well did I do today?"

On a bike, it's done through a gadget you mount on the bike and measure distance.  

Once you have distance, you have speed since a clock is easy to bring along.  

GPS plotting on a map gives you where you were.

There are now a whole host of things you can add to the process.  I measure heart rate from start to finish.  My software reads my monitor and talks to me verbally.  I try for a specific heart rate and can tell when I am in need of a rest.  I get an average speed and instantaneous speed.  I know that at my break on the bike, I expect to have an average of 14 MPH plus a little bit, an average heart rate of 150 plus BPM.  Peak speed is usually in the high teens but it has gone over 20 MPH.  If I am feeling feisty, all of those numbers increase.  Winds in the wrong direction and all bets are off.

But this disposable electronics mindset we have means I strive for redundancy.  Best two-out-of-three to determine what the "real" distance is.

It can be frustrating.  You can't take a scientific approach to something that is being measured by consumer grade electronics.

The old bike computer agreed completely with the sport watch, both this watch and the one before it.  They all run GPS.

The software on the iphone is wildly inaccurate so I use it as a verbal report of running Heart Rate, only.  

Distance on the phone at the end of a workout can be off by one mile with a basis of 27 miles.

The watch and the bike computer are within feet of each other.

Throw in the new bike computer and now we're never really sure.

The problem with all of this is that the bike computer is about as accurate as it will get for distance.  The new one is a little off from the distance.

New bike computer has a new processor so it gets more accurate readings from GPS so all the math is thrown off.  It is faster, so speed changes more frequently on the display.

If I could replace the battery in the old bike computer I would have been happy to crack the thing open and solder in a new battery.  Lithium "Pillow" Batteries are sold based on physical size. "Length, Width, Height."  My own electronics skills would be sufficient to repair and replace, but the little white bike computer is so tightly welded together that ... "E Waste" would result.

Why I am going to put up with the inaccuracy of the new bike computer is that I am not competition class on the bike, and do not intend to be.  Having records of my performance are great, but do not need to be perfect for anyone but myself.

Sorry, Guinness Book Of Records, I won't be inviting myself in.  My spreadsheet is sufficient for my purposes of record keeping.

All of this is to say that if you are depending on what the little box on the handlebars of your bike, or what your sport watch is reporting back to you, you are going to be frustrated. It just is not that accurate.

At least the case of the new bike computer can be opened with a tiny screwdriver.  I have those.  I have taken many things apart that I should not.  

With varied results.  When things break here, E Waste is the kindest thing you can call it.