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Palm on a Bicycle
jcwise writes: "Want to use your Palm or Handspring as a bike computer? Here are two different products that use completely different approaches. I'm not sure if either are better than a $30 bike computer. With PDA prices falling, it might be a fun hack."
I had this back in 1999. There's a shareware program that does all this and simply connects to a el-cheapo bike "puter" and uses it's reed switch as the pulse input on the rs232 port.
it was nice, graphs, averages, etc... it just sucked down batteries like mad. but it was a great addition to my recumbent trike.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
is to get the magellan GPS unit. You get speed, plus you can create a log of your actual route. Absolute altitude is terrible on all GPS units, but you may be able to a pretty good slope reading. THe unit sends normal NMEA strings over a serial connection, so it's relatively trivial to write software for.
Magellan receivers lock on fast, and the handpring/magellan handspring module makes a nice, clean combination (relatively compact as a system, no external cables).
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
That's what I use my GPS for, I transfer tracklogs into Topo USA. There's some other software out there, which is shareware (find it on tucows, i think) which will pull tracklogs from a GPS and allow you to put it into graphs.
I forgot to mention that Garmin also has a GPS receiver you can plug into a Palm PDA, and run software on there. My eTrex is about 6oz. and I can even leave little notes in the calendar. It's about as good as I'd need for now. For heavy duty training, though, a bikebrain or bikini is the way to go, since you're probably going to get all technical and start weighing your pasta, like Lance does.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
That's spiffy for a lot of cyclists. But if you are a racer or you do tours or ultramarathon riding, it would also be very nice to ask questions like "what were my splits between miles 5-10 and 10-15?". It looks like BikeBrain has an altimeter in it, so it can also give you data like what your best time on a hill was, adjusted by the grade of the hill.
Most of the extra functions aren't things that you'd necessarily want to have access to while you were still riding, but a Palm is a very good way to capture data during your ride and then review it later.
I'd like to see even more telemetry available, like rider's pulse, blood pressure, and wind speed.
It's because you losing five pounds isn't nearly as important as the bike losing a few pounds, especially in rotational weight (rims, spokes, tubes, tires). Pedalling an 18 pound bike versus a 23 pound bike is much easier, regardless of your weight.
As a cyclist, allow me to cluebat you in.
A bike computer is a small (or, in this case, not-so-small) device attached to the handlebars of your trusty steed. The cheaper computers only track speed, distance, and trip time; and the more expensive computers (when mated with the appropriate components[1]) can track altitute, position, and even cadence -- the last of these being vital to any moderately serious road cyclist.
So; almost all bikes nowadays are equipped with computers; the Palm just provides a larger display. Since it can't track cadence, however, it would be useless to pretty much any road cyclist. The fact that Palms don't absorb repedative shock all too well rules mountain biking out. However, the large display size makes a Palm almost ideal for recumbent cyclists.
[1] For example, the Flight Deck computers must be mated with Shimano 105 (or better) components.
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