Bottom line. Use a small smartphone and a Bluetooth heartrate xmitter. Try a few fitness apps and find one you like. Use a Bluetooth heartrate xmitter.
It took a few tries, but I think I finally broke the code on this.
Charms. Cheap GPS based bike computer. Huge range of functional choices because you can pick the app that gives you the functions and display features you like. Old and need reading glasses? Choose a display that is big. Don't need cellular data, just use home wifi. But if you do get cellular data, that will give you realtime mapping on your "bike computer".
What works.
--Buy a Samsung S4 Mini ($30 ebay).
--Extended battery pack ($25 Amazon).
--Fitness software. Free or cheap.
--Bluetooth HR xmitter ($40 Amazon).
--Best bike mount I found is some rubber bands and this rubber spiderweb looking thing. The plastic mounts I tried all looked clunky. This link shows you the rubber spiderweb. Wrap it around the corners of the phone and then under your handlebar. Ignore the mount in the link. https://www.cdw.com/...-holder/3021996.aspx?
Things that didn't work so well.
--Any of the common bike computer solutions. Now that I'm old, I use reading glasses. Don't want to wear reading glasses on the bike.
--Samsung S3 Mini. There's 3 models. The early one uses an early OS that doesn't work with a lot of apps. The middle one doesn't seem to have an extended battery available. The late one is very expensive for no reason I understand.
--Nothing Apple works. This is because Apple devices only have one button. Nothing important can really be done with one button.
Discarding the issue that I'm old and blind, this solution is still the most flexible for the least cash.
Of the various phones I bought on ebay to experiment with, I never paid any attention to locked/unlocked, or a specific carrier. Home wife will give you everything you need up until you want realtime nav mapping.
W/o the extended battery, keeping your phone on full brightness all the time will cause it to crap out prior to 3hrs. Besides, it's a used phone. It's battery is prob worn out anyways.
Related. A couple months ago someone pointed me towards stick-on lenses. These allow you to sort of turn your cycling glasses into bifocals. I bought a set, stuck them on to my favorite cycling glasses and cut them a bit to fit. They work surprisingly well. If my cell phone idea had not worked out, I'd have bought stronger stick-ons and made a normal bike computer work.
Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
It took a few tries, but I think I finally broke the code on this.
Charms. Cheap GPS based bike computer. Huge range of functional choices because you can pick the app that gives you the functions and display features you like. Old and need reading glasses? Choose a display that is big. Don't need cellular data, just use home wifi. But if you do get cellular data, that will give you realtime mapping on your "bike computer".
What works.
--Buy a Samsung S4 Mini ($30 ebay).
--Extended battery pack ($25 Amazon).
--Fitness software. Free or cheap.
--Bluetooth HR xmitter ($40 Amazon).
--Best bike mount I found is some rubber bands and this rubber spiderweb looking thing. The plastic mounts I tried all looked clunky. This link shows you the rubber spiderweb. Wrap it around the corners of the phone and then under your handlebar. Ignore the mount in the link. https://www.cdw.com/...-holder/3021996.aspx?
Things that didn't work so well.
--Any of the common bike computer solutions. Now that I'm old, I use reading glasses. Don't want to wear reading glasses on the bike.
--Samsung S3 Mini. There's 3 models. The early one uses an early OS that doesn't work with a lot of apps. The middle one doesn't seem to have an extended battery available. The late one is very expensive for no reason I understand.
--Nothing Apple works. This is because Apple devices only have one button. Nothing important can really be done with one button.
Discarding the issue that I'm old and blind, this solution is still the most flexible for the least cash.
Of the various phones I bought on ebay to experiment with, I never paid any attention to locked/unlocked, or a specific carrier. Home wife will give you everything you need up until you want realtime nav mapping.
W/o the extended battery, keeping your phone on full brightness all the time will cause it to crap out prior to 3hrs. Besides, it's a used phone. It's battery is prob worn out anyways.
Related. A couple months ago someone pointed me towards stick-on lenses. These allow you to sort of turn your cycling glasses into bifocals. I bought a set, stuck them on to my favorite cycling glasses and cut them a bit to fit. They work surprisingly well. If my cell phone idea had not worked out, I'd have bought stronger stick-ons and made a normal bike computer work.
Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
Last edited by:
RangerGress: Jun 13, 17 12:49