Conference noted::bicycle

    
    
    I only got a quick look at the new Vetta.  A guy in the club picked one
    up.  He has it working now but he had a couple of problems to start
    with.  When it is set up nothing can come between the two pieces.  One
    mounted on the end of the fork and the other on the handlebars.  When
    he first mounted the unit on the handlebars his handlebar bag was in
    the way.  He slid the unit towards the end of the bar and it would work
    until he started riding.  A strap from the bag would swing in the way.
    So he tried another position and his cantilevers were in the way.
    After a few hit and miss tries he got it working.  He ended up removing
    his bar bag.
    
    A magazine review said that information could not be traded by riding
    close to someone else.  But what if they crashed together?  
    
    						Norm
    
     
    
    

    Sounds like a lot of hassle to get rid of a piece of wire. And will it
    be vulnerable to interference? What if someone's pager message appeared
    on your screen? 
    
    My mind's still set on the Avocet 50 with integral altimeter so that I
    can explore in altitudinal detail all the lofty elevations of nearly
    600 feet that are to be found round Reading.
    
    
    Rod

    "But what if they crashed together?"
    
    In that case I don't think they'd much care how fast they were
    going. :-)
    
    ed
    

    
    
    If of the two that crashed one had a few thousand miles and the other
    was on a maiden voyage.  One rider would not be happy trading mileage.
    
    						Norm
    
    
    

    
    I've had a Vetta C-200 since January 1991 with no problems. 
    It's mounted on my mountain bike. I don't get interference, 
    and it's not possible to trade mileage. You must have a clear 
    shot from the fork mounted pickup to the computer, but the 
    alignment of the antennae ( the computer mount) doesn't have to be 
    perfect (it IS directional, but a few degrees one way or the other, 
    or and inch or two side-to-side won't affect it). 
    The front wheel pickup is very waterproof/mud proof. The display
    is very nice, but the computer is larger (and heavier) than
    most wired computers. On sale, it can be had for about $30. The 
    wheelsize can be set without resetting the odometer or removing 
    the battery. The shock of mountain riding doesn't seem to affect it. 
    
    doug
     

    Well, my Cateye is giving up the ghost and I'd like to get something
    else.  I like the idea of a wireless unit because I'd like to have
    cadence and don't want wires all over the place...  I'd also like to
    drive it off the rear wheel so I can use it on the mag trainer.
    
    My recollection is that the Vett C-300 has cadence.  Am I right?  If
    so, can the pickups be put on the rear wheel?  How much trouble am I
    going to have with panniers, rack bag, under-seat bag, water bottles
    and whatever else getting in the way?
    
    Or, just on the OFF-CHANCE that they ever get the cadence unit working,
    should I buy the C-50 so I'll know how many feet I've groaned up?
    
    I wish somebody would make a wireless, cadence, rear-mounted pickup
    unit - CHEAP!

     I think you're out of luck looking for a wireless with cadence. I
    don't think one exists (we're entering the world of multi-signal
    frivolous exotica units here).
    
     I can tell you if you do sacrifice the cadence and go for a wireless,
    get the Cateye and STAY away from the Vetta (wireless). I have both,
    and acquaintances have had both. We are all of the same opinion...
    Vetta works like crap, Cateye is great. And, by the way, one of my
    friends has the Cateye wireless on his ATB! No problems.
    
      Chip

    I also have a couple of Vetta Wireless and a few Cateye Wireless.
    The Cateye's work fine and I'm not going to say anything derogatory
    about the Vettas.
    
    One of the Cateyes seems to interfere with my heart monitor, the
    others have never had problems, so they must use different frequencies.
    
    ed               

    re .7:
    
    >don't think one exists (we're entering the world of multi-signal
    >frivolous exotica units here).
    
    <in sardonic tone>
    
    Oh, yeah, and a toy that tells you how far you've gone, how fast, at
    what average speed, how much time you've spent, what your max speed
    was, the total miles this period, and how much climbing and descending
    you've done - NOW THAT'S JUST A NECESSITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :^)  On a
    bike with kevlar belted tires so you don't get flats, with indexed
    shifting so you can clunk between gears, wearing shoes that LOCK into
    your pedals, on a frame made out of material that could have gone to
    the moon - THANK GOODNESS WE'RE NOT FRIVOLOUS!!!!!! :^)
    
    Lets face it, they're all toys!  I just wanna toy that does ALL the
    things I want - cheap!
    
    NOW EVERYBODY LOOK AT THE SMILEY FACES - Besides I'm the worst kid I
    know about toys!  Anyhow, I'll definitely stay with the Cateye, OR go
    for the Avocet 50 - is there any projected date for the cadence to
    actually be released?

    
    	Toys are the best incentive you can get. It encourages you to go
    out on the bike because you want to show off your new toys. You know
    let everyone see that your computer can play space invaders in 15
    different languages, make you a cup of coffee, give you the latest news
    from the stock exchange, massage your back when you get home and take
    the bike into the garage itself while you have a bath (the top of the
    range model runs your bath for you). If you got toys like that you've
    just got to let everyone know!
    
    	Only problem is that you do so much overtime to pay for the toys,
    you don't have time to go on the bike.
    
    Graham.
    

     Let's not forget the value of stimulating a sagging economy!
    
       Chip

    Yeah, would want any more Japanese out of work, would we?
    
    ed

    
    	Maybe this is the kind of new product needs to devise to improve
    the shares...
    
    Graham.

    
    RE: .10
    
    ...and provide you a beverage that tastes almost, but not entirely,
    unlike tea.  ;-)
    
    -john

    
    	Don't know about the rest of you, but I want something stronger
    than tea. No, not Gatorade...
    
    Graham.

    re:.14
    that's alright just about everything I drink tastes
    
    "almost ... unlike tea"
    
    ed

    
    In case you missed it, .14 was from a well-known quote describing a
    Sirius Cybernetics device, the Nutrimatic.
    
    -john

    
    
    Can it produce a really good Stout?
    
    8^)

    re .17 et al. We could get Marvin to broadcast on the DS to rider
    channel of the helmet radio. I wonder if that's why Lemoan packs
    so often ?
    
    ---Alan (Please, I didn't mean to insult his Gregliness)

Re .9:  Nah, our bike frame materials wouldn't have gone to the moon.
They weren't available then.


Rod

    
      I thought I would give my thoughts and opinions on the Vetta C300 that
    I bought this winter.  Vetta also makes a C200 of which I know nothing
    about.
      The whole system seems to be made very well.  A little heavier than
    any of the Avocets but I don't mind the extra weight.  The transmitter
    on the fork has a good size battery that adds most of this weight.  The
    pickup unit on the bars also has a battery.  The manual says that with
    normal use I should get a couple of years out of the batteries.
      When I purchased the unit I forgot that I had barcon cables which
    would run directly in the path of the transmission signal.  Well this
    did not turn out to be a problem.  One warm day this spring I took off
    my Thermax dot gloves and wrapped one of them over the computer.  At
    the end of the ride the computer had still received all of the
    information sent to it.  
      Calibration was very easy and can be changed while your are riding if
    need be without wiping out stored information. 
      The unit is very quiet.  I hate listening to the click-click that
    most other computers have at the pick-up.  
      My only complaint is when I am wearing my heavy gloves for winter
    riding.  I have a hard time pushing the buttons.  But I have had this 
    problem with every other computer I have used.  
    
    
    							Norm
    
     

     If you want to go wireless, get the Cateye... The Vetta is trash
    IMHO...
    
       Chip

    
    	Any new news on the wireless computer front?
    
    	Is the Cateye still the one to buy, and the Vetta not?
    
    	And how much should I expect to pay?
    
    	And will the computer lose all previous info when the battery dies?
    
    	Thanks for any info.
    

    I've had both and dumped the Vetta and kept the Cateye. Absolutely
    no problems. I've had it for 4 years now.
    
    I believe some models will now retain the information if the battery
    dies. Most don't however.
    
    Chip

    
    	I'm seeing all kinds of references to "cadence".
    
    	Can someone tell me what that is, and whether it's worth having?
    
    	Thanks for any info.
    

    Cadence is like a metronome on a piano: provides a steady beat
    that can be used to keep pedalling at a constant, and theoretically
    maximized, rate.
    
    I.e. provides rhythm for white people.

         Cadence measures pedal rpm.  It requires attaching a magnet to the
    crank arm and a sensor to the chainstay.
    
    Tom

    cadence = absolutely useless in the woods

    cadence = hut hoe hreep hoe hut hoe hreep hoe hut hoe hreep hoe ...
     until the DI gets tired then it's ...
    oh this isn't LOSER::MILITARY? whoops,
    
    :-)
    
    ed

    
    	Thanks for the interesting feedback [oh, and thanks to you, too,
    	Ed 8^)].
    
    	Sounds pretty useless.
    

re: .30
    
    	Sounds pretty useless. [cadence]

Actually, on the road, I find that this is the most important piece of on-going
information for me.  I use it to make sure that I'm turning at about the right
speed regardless of how energetic or how tired I feel.  There is usually a very
strong relationship between my ability to keep my cadence where I want it (these
days, around 85) and the speed of my ride and my endurance.

In fact, I'd like to see a version that provides "Average cadence" readings, 
too, so that I'd really know if I was pedalin' the way I wanted to, and to see
if I was making any progress when I decide to try to increase my average
cadence.  

Haven't read enough to know what the best rate really is, but I'd guess it's
in the the 90's somewhere...

Just my $.02,
John

    

    cadence is important to someone who is seriously training. i meant it
    was useless on a mountain bike (for the obvious reasons).
    
    cadence becomes important if you're goal is to optimize your correct
    spin in conjunction with where your max heart rate is, anaerobic
    threshold, VO2 max, power output (mean/peak), fatigue index, etc...
    
    beyond this it's an amusing toy.same thing with heart rate monitors
    (barring health issues).
    
    Chip

Cadence has been the most useful thing for me as well.  I mainly do 'training'
rides on my racing bike and I like to keep the heart rate in the best zone. 
It's like a tachometer for the car -- My body/heart/legs are at optimimum
performance right around 95 RPM.  Through experimentation I've found that I
can't keep up the RPMs at much above 100 and when I drop below 90, my legs get
tired more quickly.  Therefore, it is very useful to me.

Your mileage may vary.  I will always use the cadence.  My Cateye Astrale can
display two functions at once.  The big number on top is always the cadence.

Tim

    
    
    		I have the Vetta C300 wireless.  Works great.  
          It doesn't have cadence, which can be a very useful training
    	  tool.  But, for $31 it can't be beat.  I don't think you
    	  will find them around, but good luck.
    
    
    	  Chris