Hi all,
After reading so much about the Coker's wheel circumference, max
speed, etc I thought I would make a suggestion.
I have been using a Global Positioning System (GPS) on my bicycle for
several years. It records current/average/max speeds to 0.1 mph, as
well as elevation and about anything else you could ever want. It is
very accurate, always consistent with my meticulously calculated
bicycle wheel circumference.
I think the Garmin GPS 12 is now pretty reasonable in cost and is
about the size of a cell phone. More expensive models are already
programmed with cities, roads, and lakes.
http://www.garmin.com/ for those who are interested
–
George C. Barnes IV President, ISU Unicycling Club
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbarnes/
Hi George, I am also a GPS user. I’ve brought my receiver along on Coker
and MUni rides, but I do it to record where I went to inport into mapping
software to make a ride map rather than for speed/distance data.
The frequency of update which is on the order of one second is not really
enough for me. Max speed (the most important measurement on a Coker!) on
GPS receivers is notoriously problematic, often giving unrealistic numbers
when reacquiring satellites. Turns don’t get accurately recorded (due to
infrequent sampling) and speeds on other than level ground may be less
accurate. In addition, even a very small unit like my Etrex Summit is much
larger than a cyclometer so mounting is not as easy. Battery life: several
years in a cyclometer vs one day in a GPS receiver. And then there’s
riding under a canopy of trees which can reduce the accuracy of the GPS a
lot. In short, I think using a GPS as a cyclometer is not realistic. I
really want something that’s based on a count of the revolutions made by
the wheel.
That being said, the GPS numbers will be better than nothing, and maybe
adequate depending on your own expectations/desires.
—Nathan
“George Barnes IV” <gbarnes@iastate.edu> wrote in message
news:tk7bq1i3fa6h9c@corp.supernews.com…
> Hi all,
>
> After reading so much about the Coker’s wheel circumference, max
speed,
> etc I thought I would make a suggestion.
>
> I have been using a Global Positioning System (GPS) on my bicycle for
>several years. It records current/average/max speeds to 0.1 mph, as well
as
> elevation and about anything else you could ever want. It is very
accurate,
> always consistent with my meticulously calculated bicycle wheel
> circumference.
>
> I think the Garmin GPS 12 is now pretty reasonable in cost and is
about
> the size of a cell phone. More expensive models are already programmed
with
> cities, roads, and lakes.
>
> http://www.garmin.com/ for those who are interested
>
>
> –
> George C. Barnes IV President, ISU Unicycling Club
> http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbarnes/