Thursday, November 06, 2008

Finally - my ibike goes wireless


ibike wireless mount_0534
Originally uploaded by gtveloce
OK, so I ride a bike. Big deal - so do you, eh?

I have ridden bikes since about 1972 or so and have always used some method of calculating distance ridden, be it via a mechanical or electrical add-on or by simply estimating distance from a map. Electronic methods improved markedly from around 1980 and quickly became a fairly universal way to accurately measure distance, speed and some environmental variables like temperature. When heart rate monitors took off in the 1990s that became another useful data source for the bike racer or exercise enthusiast. More recently the ibike has put power measurement closer to a price point where serious club racers find it hard to say 'no'.

And now - finally! - here is my new wireless ibike mount. So I have ditched wires - another 'big deal', you say? But I have also gained a few other tricks in the process, like an inbuilt HRM, a cadence sensor and the ability to estimate Watts expended whilst riding on the indoor trainer. It makes my indoor training more quantifiable, more scientific (hopefully) and probably more fun.

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