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I feel similarly about computers on bikes, even though I've had them for years before ditching them. There's another facet to the problem of bike computers and

I feel similarly about computers on bikes, even though I've had them for years before ditching them. There's another facet to the problem of bike computers and I don't know if others feel this way but for me at least quantifying the time on the bike distracts from the joy of riding. Every time I turned on the bike computer it felt like I was "time-trialing" against myself, my previous rides, and randos whose stats I saw on Strava. It started to really make me miserable especially because as the years passed my "performance" more or less continuously degraded. I feel differently about electronic shifting, though I probably will never experience it as my bike still has 2000's "vintage" Campy 9-speed and I see no need to ever change that unless I wreck it. The Shimano alfine internal hub has some models that use electronic shifting. It might be good on a utility bike-- if it's easy enough to deal with.

pmontra 4y ago
You can use an old style computer: speed, time, distance. No internet, nothing else. The ones with 7 segment LCD digits. They are cheap, battery lasts years and you still get the information that matters most.
- javajosh 4y ago
  For me the information that matters most is subjective: how do I feel? What is my output? Do I feel that my pedal rotation is too fast or too slow? Do I feel fast? The one exception is when there's a strong headwind, for some reason I find a velocity display to be very motivational. Distance is useful sometimes. But everything else is distraction.
  - asdff 4y ago
    Its bewildering all the consumer products that go on to track things like watts, etc. I played competitive sports in school and we never bothered with anything like that even if it was available. You run until you are exhausted then you run some more. Same thing with a bike ride if you are trying to put work in imo. Want to train for hills? forget the Peloton, just go and ride up some hills until your legs are cooked, and next week you will be able to ride longer.
- nightski 4y ago
  Yeah for me power & heart rate are far more important than any of those metrics. Once I started paying attention to those two metrics my biking ability increased significantly.
ubermonkey 4y ago
For some reason this feeling you have about GPS ride data reminds me of people who leave their phones home because they don't want to be bothered (or who otherwise hate their phones). I've never hated my phone, or deliberately left it behind, because I've also always been 100% willing to ignore it if I felt like it. The phone works for ME. It's not a tether, and I don't really allow other people to treat it that way. I always use a GPS (these days, a Karoo) because I freakin' LOVE the data. I know when I'm stronger and when I'm not, but I'm also a 52 year old dude with delusions of athleticism; fast for me is not fast for everybody. Mostly, I just love to see the miles pile up, I love to see my heat maps ("where'd I ride last year?"), and I love to be able to see my route so I can go back and look at a map and figure out where that neat house was, or that restaurant I wanted to try, or whatever. I realize it's not always a choice, but so FAR at least I've been able to avoid letting the data part take over in a toxic way. Re: your bike, there's a lot to be said for "if it ain't broke..."
1-more 4y ago
The ability to do structured intervals on my bike with a computer has completely changed the way I train. I cannot ride to an RPE, I can only ride to a power target for an interval. I'd probably be better at sports if I could do the former, but it'd take me forever to get that ability.

pmontra 4y ago

You can use an old style computer: speed, time, distance. No internet, nothing else. The ones with 7 segment LCD digits. They are cheap, battery lasts years and you still get the information that matters most.

javajosh 4y ago
For me the information that matters most is subjective: how do I feel? What is my output? Do I feel that my pedal rotation is too fast or too slow? Do I feel fast? The one exception is when there's a strong headwind, for some reason I find a velocity display to be very motivational. Distance is useful sometimes. But everything else is distraction.
- asdff 4y ago
  Its bewildering all the consumer products that go on to track things like watts, etc. I played competitive sports in school and we never bothered with anything like that even if it was available. You run until you are exhausted then you run some more. Same thing with a bike ride if you are trying to put work in imo. Want to train for hills? forget the Peloton, just go and ride up some hills until your legs are cooked, and next week you will be able to ride longer.
nightski 4y ago
Yeah for me power & heart rate are far more important than any of those metrics. Once I started paying attention to those two metrics my biking ability increased significantly.

ubermonkey 4y ago

For some reason this feeling you have about GPS ride data reminds me of people who leave their phones home because they don't want to be bothered (or who otherwise hate their phones). I've never hated my phone, or deliberately left it behind, because I've also always been 100% willing to ignore it if I felt like it. The phone works for ME. It's not a tether, and I don't really allow other people to treat it that way. I always use a GPS (these days, a Karoo) because I freakin' LOVE the data. I know when I'm stronger and when I'm not, but I'm also a 52 year old dude with delusions of athleticism; fast for me is not fast for everybody. Mostly, I just love to see the miles pile up, I love to see my heat maps ("where'd I ride last year?"), and I love to be able to see my route so I can go back and look at a map and figure out where that neat house was, or that restaurant I wanted to try, or whatever. I realize it's not always a choice, but so FAR at least I've been able to avoid letting the data part take over in a toxic way. Re: your bike, there's a lot to be said for "if it ain't broke..."

1-more 4y ago

The ability to do structured intervals on my bike with a computer has completely changed the way I train. I cannot ride to an RPE, I can only ride to a power target for an interval. I'd probably be better at sports if I could do the former, but it'd take me forever to get that ability.