Anniversary of London 7-7
The week started slow as I was a little tired from the weekend riding. Blender was fired up to edit the videos from the Isle of Wight and Red Barn rides.
Monday was the 20th anniversary of the tragedy of the London bombings on 7th July 2005. I remember it all too well as I was a cycle courier at at the time.
Fingers crossed I finished all the maintenance on my Bianchi 928 RC road bike, which I have had since 2006. The Bianchi is still in excellent condition after a great many journeys and Audax events.
I have used a Garmin 1030 cycle computer for the last 7 years and its been really good experience. Unfortunately the mounting tabs have snapped and can no longer be mounted. I will try and repair the cycle computer by replacing the back case and if that fails I will consider trading in for a new Garmin. Either way, it seems time to consider choosing a new cycle computer for the next 5-10 years.
I was hit by a large vehicle on the way back from collecting the new cycle computer. I was a bit shook up for a day or two but apart from some bruising I seem to be in one piece.
Bigfoot Club Ride - Hildenborough
Cyclingλ︎
I was a little tired from the ride to Red Barn and so decided to edit the video from the Isle of Wight trip and the Red Barn ride.
NOTE: the camera is a little more shaky for these rides, I think due to the carbon out-front arm I fitted. I'll replace the carbon out-front with the aluminium out-front arm I have been using previously.
NOTE: A Garmin mount can be repaired by a Trigo replacement, although these seem hard to find now.
Update: I have fitted the new computer and changed the camera to be mounted on top of the stem, above the connection to the frame. This gives quite a nice shot of my hands changing gear and breaking, as well as the new cycle computer. I will try adjust the angle of the cycle computer mount to better see the screen.
Bigfoot Club Ride - Hildenborough
I've booked a ticket for the cycle club day trip to France and Alan is giving me a lift 🤞 (otherwise its a very long bike ride).
Bianchi Maintenanceλ︎
In 2019 I was in training for a ride from Lands End to John O'Groats. I had a significant service of the Bianchi 928 RC bicycle at that time, which included a new chain, new cassette size 11-28 and new front ring size 34. The handle bars also had new bar tape.
In the end I bought a Ribble Endurance SL Disc bicycle as I wanted a lower set of gears but most importantly disc breaks for all the big hills I would descend.
This year I wanted to bring the Bianchi back out for rides, because it is such a beautiful looking bike. I also wanted a fully working backup bike if there are issues with the Ribble.
The only updates on the Bianchi required were:
- new peddles (trying out Bucklos pedels for Look Keo clipless pedals)
- new 25c Continental tyres (the tyres that came with the Ribble bike, which I switched to 28c)
- TPU inner tubes and rim tape on front wheel
Choosing a new cycle computerλ︎
Oh the agony of choice :) Or is psychology terms, choice overload bias. It was far more challenging to decide on a new cycle computer than I expected.
Previously I had just bought the Garmin 1030 because it is what a friend had and it looked very fancy. This time I put a little more thought in to it but not to much thought to hopefully avoid decision fatigue.
The Garmin and Wahoo products seem much similar than when Wahoo first came out. Both manufacturers have significantly improved their products.
I can get a trade-in of my broken Garmin 1030 for a 30% discount (contact Garmin support). Although it could take a week or more extra to get a new computer as I have to send the old one back (free postage) before they ship the new one.
I will give the Wahoo a shot this time because I prefer a matt screen (to minimise reflection from the sun) and the Wahoo has a neat data page zoom. I am used to large screen with the Garmin 1030, so I will try the Wahoo Elemnt Roam. Switching to a Wahoo is also something new and different, so more to get geeky about 😆
If you have a lower budget, look at the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt 2 or 3 and the Garmin 540.
The new Wahoo's do seem to have a longish delivery time (early August on Amazon or 5 GBP for delivery direct from Wahoo). The Wahoo's are available for collection at Sigma Sports (Hampton Wick, other side of Richmond Park). The computers can be reserved online and should be ready for pickup within a couple of days.
Garmin & Wahoo - relative productsλ︎
Small screen, no touchscreen, small memory (for courses and continent maps) Wahoo Elemnt Bolt 3 Garmin 540
Mid-sized touch-screen, increased memory & battery life Wahoo Elemnt Roam 3 Garmin 840
Large touch-screen, large memory & battery life Wahoo Elemnt Ace Garmin 1050 (or recently discontinued 1040)
User experienceλ︎
There have been a lot of improvements to the Garmin software and it does seem easier and much nicer use than before. However, I think Wahoo is still easier and has a nice zoom feature on the data pages which quickly show only the most relevant info in larger font without having to switch pages.
Displaysλ︎
Wahoo use Matt screens, so the screens are less reflective of the sun (very useful at the moment). They may not be quite so bright, but they do have brightness controls (and a dark mode that can be selected).
Garmin screens are a little brighter but also reflect the sun a lot more. I've had a few sunny trips lately with the Garmin 1030 where I got regular flashes of sunlight. The 1030 does switch to dark mode at low light levels, so I hope the newer garmins have similar display controls.
Connectivityλ︎
Both Garmin and Wahoo seem about the same here. The newest models have dual-band GPS, so are much more accurate (and hopefully dont loose the route on heavily tree-lined segments).
Sensors should all connect to any product, regardless who made the sensors. Even the Coospo
Navigationλ︎
Both manufacturers seem very similar here too.
All products have excellent climbing displays that show the gradients of any upcoming hill (of significant height and length). This works wether on a route or 'freestyle' ride.
Devices without touch-screen (Bolt and 540) are limited if you need to pan around maps, although zooming looks good. Wahoo can share your position with Google and Iphone maps (if your phone has a data connection)
Video reviewsλ︎
- Wahoo Bolt 3, Roam 3 and Ace comparison
- Wahoo Bolt 3 review
- Garmin 840 in-depth review
- Garmin 840 &540 in-depth review
There is a written review of many different cycling computers that gives a good overview.
Collecting the new cycle computerλ︎
I took a ride out to SigmaSports in Hampton wick (Richmond area) to collect the new cycle computer. Its a very nice store with some very nice bikes.
On the way back from the shop I was clipped by a very large vehicle, a Range Rover or similar. It came out of a gap in traffic and didn't seem to see me until the collision. The bike seemed to be intact and I was only bruised, so was able to make it home.
Friday I went to the hospital to get checked out and I have a bad bruise on my ankle where the car made contact with me. Appart from being a bit shaken up, I didn't have any permanent injuries.
Wahoo initial experienceλ︎
I like the Wahoo Elemnt Roam 3.
It was quite simple to set up, although did take about 5-10 minutes to do all the updates initially.
There is a QR code that appears on the screen to set up a Wahoo account and add the device, via the Wahoo App (not the Wahoo Elemnt app which is only for v2 and earlier devices).
I used the Wahoo app to configure the data pages of the app and it was great to see that page update straight away on the Wahoo Roam device.
There is still lots to explore and I am enjoying the experience so far. I am glad I did go for a touch screen cycle computer as it simplifies a lot of use.
Unexpected life as a cycle courierλ︎
From 2004 to 2005 I worked as a bicycle courier in London. The job had a lot of positives, especially getting to know where things are in London. After a while the city didn't feel quite so big.
The biggest negative was not really part of the job in any way. On 7th July 2005 I was riding around London the day of the bombings in which a large number of people were injured or died.
Some of my regular collection points in the morning were in the Aldgate area, although they were delivered out towards the west end of London after picking up a few more packages along the way.
As it was 2005 we didn't have the access to information people do now. It was a while before the bike controller was able to give information to the riders about what had happened. It was almost lunch time before the news had fully spread to the people working in London.
Understandably people decided to leave London on mass, heading for home.
In terms of the courier job, we all left early as no one was left that wanted parcels delivered. Again, completely Understandably.
Thank you.
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