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I am currently using a xiaomi smart band 9 to track my rides (so thats GPS from phone + HR from band), I start and end the ride from the band and the app automatically transfers the route, speed and heart rate to strava
I am wondering if I should upgrade to a bike computer cus I am not worried about how much calories I burn nowadays, as I got the idea of it. I just want to know how far I went and how long it took me, and to keep track of cadence so I learn to ride optimally
I have been looking at XOSS G2+ (pic related) with 2 sensors - one for cadence on crank and other on rear hub for speed (rotation)
my questions about bike computers in general are:
>do the bike computer accessories (cadence, speed, HR) connect to it, or to the phone
>does only the bike computer connect to your phone and stay connected constantly, or only to transfer data to strava or an app once the ride finishes?
>can I just get on my bike and ride, and the bike computer will then automatically upload my ride to strava once I am done?
>can I still use my xiaomi band 9 to measure my HR? will I be able to see my HR on the screen? or the bike computer only connects to HR sensors and not other "smart" devices
>should I get a bike computer with an actual screen to show maps/route?
>should I even get a bike computer to begin with, I am riding actual gravel and trails, basically exploring my region on weekends and driving 2-3 times to work a week, will the sensors and shit survive the rough terrain?
>will my mechanical watch (8 year old skx007) get fucked by the vibrations from the single/double track?
Thanks
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1. connection protocols are part of the spec on both the head unit and the accessories. you have to see if the head unit supports accessories of that type (say, hub mounted speed sensor) and if the protocol works (say, ANT+)
2. either/or. I get phone calls and texts on mine if I allow it. not all necessarily would, check the specs
3. the device has to be paired with a supported app and you have to start/end the ride from the device. once that's set, in generally it "just werx"
4. this one is a can of worms, but in general stand-alone HRM sensors (chest or wrist) that do only HRM are going to be the most painless, any multi-function device like a smart watch or a phone may or may not work, and may or may not require a bunch of crazy hacks
5. personally I'm not into that stuff but some are, sure
6. my opinion is that if you ride ore than once or twice a week it's well worth it, sure you can try to use your phone for everything but a head unit is so much nicer and also easier on your batteries
7. probably not, I used to ride with a turtle and it never seemed bothered by it. I wouldn't ride with an antique watch like a pre-diashock seikosha or your brand new GS koda remontoire, but skx is a modern simple movement that shouldn't be bothered by it
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>>2039903
>>do the bike computer accessories (cadence, speed, HR) connect to it, or to the phone
yes, but you should check the compatibility from the manufacturer.
>>does only the bike computer connect to your phone and stay connected constantly, or only to transfer data to strava or an app once the ride finishes?
I have this model and I just connect the computer after each ride to upload it to their app and then it syncs with strava
>>can I just get on my bike and ride, and the bike computer will then automatically upload my ride to strava once I am done?
yes, see above
>>can I still use my xiaomi band 9 to measure my HR? will I be able to see my HR on the screen? or the bike computer only connects to HR sensors and not other "smart" devices
it depends on the bike computer, but this model allows you to connect to HR monitors. I use my garmin forerunner to broadcast heart rate to the xoss and it detects it no problem.
>>should I get a bike computer with an actual screen to show maps/route?
it would be very helpful and convenient. This model is very basic and you can't change which data is being displayed on which screen layout (this one has 3)
>>should I even get a bike computer to begin with, I am riding actual gravel and trails, basically exploring my region on weekends and driving 2-3 times to work a week, will the sensors and shit survive the rough terrain?
It depends on the model and rating but I've used this one during heavy rain and it has survived. It also got banged up when my bike fell but it only broke off the retaining locks. Still works. It depends on what you want a computer for and if the data you really want the data it will give you.
no idea on the last question.
Btw, this model isn't as accurate when it comes to % gradients if you're looking for that. It is very basic and limited but it does the job for what I was looking for at the time.
Check out igpsport if you want customizable screens and data display (it's also very cheap)
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>>2039903
>Mogs your bike computer
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bike computers feel like something completely unnecessary these days. Unless you just don't want to put your smartphone on your bars or think it's too big / bulky (they're not unless you have a giant phone), it's just an waste of money.
Strava tracks everything I do anyways, just open the app put my phone on my mount and ride.
I'm bringing my phone with me no matter what when I ride anyways.
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>>2040025
an expensive phone that I'd rather use as a phone and not as a shitty replacement for basic parts that aren't expensive and do a better job, I do respect you doordash guys though you work hard and it's a dangerous line of work to be in
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>>2040025
Other anon is right, it takes time (anywhere from months to years, depends on a lot) but it's real. The two main things I hear all the time from phone mount users is the focus mechanism failing and battery failure.
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>>2039903
1) Either. You can connect most of the bike sensors you find on aliexpress to your phone via Bluetooth, and use a free app like OpenTracks or Strava.
2&3) Depends on the model. For most models you connect the bike computer with your phone using an app, and you have to use the app to upload or download data. Not sure which models download the data and upload it automatically, check the model's data sheet.
4) Unlikely. See if you can install the HR2VP app on your watch (it must use WatchOS).
5) YES! lol. I bought an IGPSport BSC200 for $35. While it does almost everything I need, maps and routing are a great function to have, and the cheapest unit to do it is the Magene c506 for $120.
6)No! I first bought the bike sensors and paired them to my phone. However, I liked the idea of having a bike computer due to the longer battery, and saving the battery on my phone. The sensors are plenty tough.
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Maybe this is a good thread to ask...
I got back into mountain biking recently and perhaps looking for a cockpit computer. ALL I want is a live GPS map that approximately guides my way. No need for anything else. No gimmicks. The map should be the main emphasis in terms of quality.
Is there something that just works for the purpose without much fiddling around?
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>>2040023
>I'm bringing my phone with me no matter what when I ride anyways.
I haven't carried any kind of phone with me since the mid 2000s. I've been considering to get a nice compass and do the old school paper map thing. It has a wonderful feel to it.
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I feel like these expensive, GPS-integrated, wireless ones are actually the opposite of what a bike computer should be.
Picrel was $20, takes one battery, and gives speed/distance/time. If you're fancy, then you get the one with a second, wired sensor for cadence. Never needs to leave the handle bars other than to change the battery once in 18 months.
If you need directions, stop and take out your phone. But you don't need your phone on your handlebars.
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>>2041180
Contribute a USD$3 (they do get that cheap, shipped through Aliexpress) speedo install on my scooter. Works, the small diameter programmed in with no problem and it fits and signals pic related. Needed a wire extension however with somewhat tricky soldering. I did this more for odo than speedo. One thing I don't like the battery is an AG10 which is tiny - I feel its going to materially affect utility.
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I recommend getting an igp sports bike computer ie. bsc100 for basic, bsc200 for nav and basic or the bsc300 for a full bike nav computer with all the fancy flares. They got cadence and speed meters you can strap on too. You can get all of em extremely cheap, especially during sales like Black friday, christmas, 11/11 and stack global aliexpress coupons on top.
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>>2056743
Getting somewhere with muscles alone means your trip time can vary by up to 10 minutes on a 15 mile commute, depending on wind conditions and what you ate that morning and other factors, understandable that you wouldn't get it though since you have never needed to get anywhere on time
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>>2056746
In fact that's a conservative estimate. A 5mph headwind can add 10 minutes if you pedal at the same wattage. So plus or minus 5mph means a 10mph difference, I assume you can do the math since you're clearly such a smart guy
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>>2058206
unracers will gladly spend 10x more money for something that does the job 10x worse if it lets them pwn the freds, bike culture on the internet is surrealist comedy horror now that subject matter expertise is illegal wokeness and being performatively stupid is the only way to stay employed anymore
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op here I got the xoss from the first pic but with the new "arena" sensors
idk what the fuck is going on
connected the computer to my phone
i then connected the sensors to my phone to set them one for speed one for cadance
then I connected computer to sensors (1 sensor in other end of my house to not fuck with it)
next day went on ride, everything worked
day after that cadance didnt work so I opened app and both sensors were connected, I then connected computer to one of the sensors (no idea which) and everything worked
today I thought cadance didnt work, but I was in a rush so I said fuck it
when I got home none of the sensors were connected to the app, so I "forgot" them from app, took off wheel with the speed sensor and moved it away, tried to connect computer to cadance, didnt work, so I connected cadance to phone (said battery is very low on app), then I connected the computer to cadance
then I took computer to the wheel and connected the computer directly to speed sensor
and it seemed to work, but it was pitch black so I only tested it in my retarded driveway
>mfw trying to figure out what connects to what
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>>2058206
the point of that post was that the point of the "bike computer" is to flex on poorfags, and if the point is to flex on poorfags, just use an iPhone™
and really, if you need fitness info, just get a fitbit, and if you need to know your exact speed, that can be achieved by gps and there's free phone apps for it (and you can get dedicated units like for sticking on tractors or w/e)
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>>2061181
I can tell you've never used a bike with a properly set up bike computer. Using the GPS app is fine if you want to see, approximately, what roads you took in what order, after the ride, so long as those roads weren't too close together and so long as they were completely flat and in a grid pattern. Or what was your average speed, over a significant distance, as long as the default built in error correcting heuristic works reasonably well for your circumstances. It's shit for seeing how fast you're going NOW, and half the time it's not even tracking correctly unless you live in the netherlands where there's no terrain, tunnels, or buildings.
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Also love the part where anon wants me to "just" buy a shitty $100 fitness watch to pair with my $1800 phone so I can get an extremely shitty, ergonomically compromised, inaccurate approximation of something I can do flawlessly for $100 is for "flexing on poorfags", unracer logic strikes again
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I use a Meta Quest and six 4k cameras I hooked up to an SBC in my pannier to provide me realtime full telemetry of all my Bicycle's systems and subsystems and those subsystems' subsystems, overlaid on a 360 degree view around me projected into the headset. I have complete and total information and domination over the roadspace. Everything from the ambient temperature to the exact tension of each spoke is projected in front of me on an AR display. A real cyclist would settle for nothing less. It would be literally impossible to guesstimate how long it would take me to bike to work otherwise.
I absolutely REFUSE to use a magnet based speedometer, however. That is simply too much weight and even my 870k TC job in Sillicon Valley doesn't pay well enough that I would throw so much money away on such a horrific, byzantine, overpriced system.
Fixie Nation btw.
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>>2061199
Oh ok so let me get this straight, I can "just":
-Buy an old timey analog bike speedo with the spoke magnet that goes crazy and displays 99.9 mph when my headlight is turned on or when I'm crossing near to a traffic sensor induction loop like they have at most intersections
-Also buy a fitbit that costs more than an inexpensive head unit so I can wait until after the ride to check how fast my heart was beating an hour ago
-Fuck up my iphone battery to do a shitty job at recording my ride so I can look at it later for some reason
Any other bike advice? Because this is some genius level shit so far
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>>2061203
>be stopped at a light, feet on the ground
>AIEEEEE HOW CAN I POSSIBLY KNOW HOW FAST IM GOING!?!??!?!?!?!?!
>feel sweaty
>AIEEEEE HOW CAN I POSSIBLY KNOW IF I AM EXERCISING!?!??!?!?!?!?!
>simply biking to commute
>AIEEEEE HOW CAN I POSSIBLY KNOW IF I WILL GET THERE ON TIME!?!??!?!?!?!?!
>participating in a track event
>AIEEEEE HOW CAN I POSSIBLY KNOW WHEN I HAVE COMPLETED THE EVENT!?!??!?!?!?!?!
idk why you even need to know in the first place, fitbits are a meme too. you're only buying a "cycling computer" for the larp, admit it
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>>2061201
Magnet systems became obsolete once bike headlights went from halogen to LED, so if you're doing what the unracer suggests you would need to replace your headlights with antique headlights from back when you had to carry a big ass lead acid battery pack in your water bottle cage to have decent lighting
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>>2061205
>Magnet systems became obsolete once bike headlights went from halogen to LED
explain how lower voltage lower amperage devices that are entirely enclosed with their battery create more RF interference than a higher voltage device with lines running elsewhere
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>painstakingly calculate how fast I went over an entire trip by checking google maps on my iPhone and using a ruler and compass and shit to measure it like a fucking caveman
>instead of just getting a proper cycling computer that can tell you your exact speed at any moment without having to rewire your headlights and replace all your cables
Where do these retards come from?
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>>2061208
Are you asking because you think I'm an electrician, or because you think I'm making stuff up?
https://www.google.com/search?q=bike+computer+interference+light
I'm not an electrician but there's probably a few in the hundreds of forum discussions on this topic
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>>2061212
>le just google it BRO
yeah im sure retards on boomer cycling forums are all experts on RF theory and your 0.5w LED light is a fucking electromagnet. make sure to never turn on the lights in your basement, your computer might crash!!
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>>2061216
As I understand it, the magnet sensor sends a simple blip to a receiver on the head unit, and the light or its circuitry creates blips at a high frequency that's close enough to the frequency used by the blippy thing, but if layperson terminology upsets you, that's a you problem, since you're too obstinate to click on a link I made for you
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Like do you really think it takes an electrical engineering degree to see that your computer stops working when the headlight is switched on? Do you think it was a mass hallucination on the part of boomers?
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>>2061218
boomers are terrified of "spurious transmissions" so yes, it's lead-huffing retards getting into hysterics because bluetooth dropped for a second. Blame the old FCC "this device may cause and must accept interference" stickers.
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>>2061222
>>2061221
>>2061222
If you bothered to read any of the discussions, or refer back to the original post on the topic ITT >>2061205, you would have seen that more modern bike computers that use GPS are unaffected by this issue, it's specifically the combination of LED headlight and old timey head units that use the magnets. If the military uses drones that are completely dependent on an anachronistic mechanism for measuring bicycle wheel rotations then yeah, there'd probably be an issue. But I'm not a drone expert, I just know when my bike computer is working and not working.
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>>2061228
I tried a lot of things, eventually that particular speedo head unit got damaged due to an unscheduled altercation with a motor vehicle and I got a modern wahoo head unit that uses whatever wahoo uses. ant+ I guess. you're the electronics expert, presumably you know what that means.
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>>2061230
it's a proprietary standard by one of the faggier consortia so gg your computer works now because instead of "count the wheel spins" it needs 300mbps and to fuck up the 2ghz spectrum even more to do what was achievable with an encoder wheel and a photoresistor 50 years ago
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>gps
Yes, let me just do my entire ride, then open up a map and use a compass to calculate how long it really was, then I can do some complicated math to determine how fast I might have gone.
Or I can get a real cycling computer that uses specialized sensors ot tell me exactly how fast I'm going in that single picosecond.
You can't just use a GPS as a speedometer, that's not how it works.
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>>2061233
oh no, not the 2ghz spectrum! I thought interference was boomer mass hysteria
>>2061234
it's not the GPS aspect that makes it immune, it's the wheel sensor signal, the GPS just happens to be part of the suite of modern advantages you get when you stop being a stubborn retard trying to use antique technology to impress unracers
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what the fuck is going on, it was a mistake bumping this thread
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>>2061203
>>2061205
>>2061224
I still use >>2041180 and this problem is completely non-existent. Neither the LED lights nor the traffic sensors do shit.
I dunno what FREDs on bike forums are saying, but they should probably clarify the specific the models they are using, since it's clearly not a universal phenomenon that only $1000 GPS devices can fix.
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>>2061289
the DisplayLink people want to make it happen but i've never seen a direct USB-C to DisplayPort cable in the wild
but if you can find one, a battery to run the monitor, and of course the monitor itself, sure
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>>2061289
realistically not really since the typical >USE CASE is to mirror something else to your phone, your phone already has a display and can be put in a protective case to be used as a ghetto head unit.
i would just look into those oldschool car GPS units, or just pick up a rasppi and a few "hats" to rig something up (it's easy these days, they literally just run linux and if even that is too hard there's Windows 10 IoT)
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>>2061323
>windows on a bicycle
>can't know how fast I'm going because Something Is Happening... and then Something Went Wrong :(
>becomes a brick as soon as I turn on my flashlight because Bill Gates doesn't know what interference is
Thank you microshart, very cool.
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>>2061660
A head unit is a small, robust unit made to go on your handlebars that doesn't require much power, has an interface designed to be simply and easy to use when you're tired and sweaty, and if it falls off your bars or gets lost in a ditch because you crashed, it's far less problematic to replace than if the same thing happens to your primary smartphone.
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>>2061287
I hope you're ESL because otherwise how embarrassing for you
>>2061656
>what I need is 90mbs of streamcasting battery rape smart phone garbage instead of just having a $9 GPS module and a $2.50 display and a $0.25 plastic case to do things the right way because somehow the first option is "stickin' it to the man" and the second option is fred boomer mass hysteria
What kind of early childhood trauma causes this?
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>>2061704
How do you propose to continuously mirror your smart phone display on a separate device, just to display a couple of data points that you're using your entire phone as a capture device, with better energy efficiency than just using independent dedicated hardware that only has to do those data points and nothing else? How does that make ANY sense?
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>>2061711
>independent dedicated hardware that only has to do those data points and nothing else?
like what? i'm not aware of any devices that run navigation as easily as phone apps. i'm used to being able to use google maps on the fly without needing to download routes ahead of time and such, like is needed with bike computers.
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Does anyone know if Garmins have some kind of "tour distance" field? Basically I want it to start counting how much I've ridden and stop when I tell it to, without resetting at the end of a ride.
I remember wired computers from the 90s had this functionality and I can't find it here. I could record the whole tour as a single ride and use laps for days, but then if it crashes I lose all the data.
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>>2061712
well ok if you really must have a car-dashboard-size moving map display with 7680x4320 resolution to run waze, then, maybe, a phone in your pocket with a 5g sim, slaved to a handlebar mount screencast device could do the trick, though even then, a dedicated device makes far more sense given the size and energy requirements of a head unit. so you're still not getting around the fact that a purpose-built tool is going to be better suited to this than any smart phone plus display mirroring solution ever could be
I can tell you that in 5+ years of owning the same fred hysteria "flexing on poors" head unit designed for actual bikes, I've needed to re-download maps exactly once, and that was when I took my head unit to another continent (I live in 'merica) and the thousands of square miles of local-to-me maps I downloaded on day 1 of fred hysteria weren't pre-saved. I am not sure why it occurred to me to do that before getting on the plane but I'm glad I did because imagine being in a backwards country like france or switzerland, where they don't have wifi or cell service yet, right? I mean everyone except me lives in mud huts and chucks spears at each other and has a penis gourd, MURICA #1 MAGA MAHA THEY HATE US CUZ THEY AINT US
but I suppose if you're some kind of superhuman ultra-distance cyclist who can cover thousands of miles a day without stopping *and* you have the short term planning skills of a russet potato, then the limited onboard memory only capable of storing new england, the mid-atlantic, plus some of the eastern midwest might present a problem because what if you reach your hotel that night and forget that you have moved 6 states over and you didn't expect to be there for some reason and on top of that you have no access to wireless data of any kind, what then? then people like me would really feel dumb huh
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>>2061716
dunno if it still helps and what firmware you're on but you can create a separate activity profile for that. There is an option to display total distance on that profile then. Dunno if there is a proper way to do that tho
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>>2063466
You can? I updated my firmware but I don't see the option, all you get are the 3 premade ones.
But yeah, I found that you can go into history -> totals and reset a profile and use that as a counter. Garmin software is still pathetic.
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>know how big my wheel is
>know how many times it turned
>multiply how many times it turned by the circumference of the wheel
>know how far i went
>combine this system with a clock
>know how far i went in a small unit of time
>know therefore how fast i am going
Why wouldn't this work? Why hasn't someone invented a device that does this yet?
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>>2063773
Of course you are trying to be funny from a position of ignorance but that is how they all work, the good ones use a hub sensor and a GPS unit and combine the two readings in order to compensate for the deficiencies in each method. Yes, shocker I know, there is no One True Way, everything has pros and cons.
Back in the day it was a spoke sensor but, as has been discussed ad nauseam, there were issues with that when used in the modern context, and today there is no reason to stick with the old ways unless you are just an unracer trying to be obnoxious, but the funny thing about unracers is that they try so hard to not try hard at everything that they don't even have to try to be obnoxious, so you can really just do whatever you want and you'll succeed at irritating people with your stupidity, if that is your goal.
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>>2063806
No they don't. They are Computers that use AI and RAM to tell you your speed. This is the only way they can possibly work, especially when there are LEDs nearby that randomly flip bits by being on at such high voltage.
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>>2063773
That's not how math works and it's not how computers work and it's not how bicycles work. Kill yourself you retarded jeet. Enjoy carrying an entire fucking server farm on your bicycle because you are literally too stupid to understand an Incandescent light bulb.
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>>2063827
>>2063828
What happened to you that you are like this? Did your mother not show you enough love, or did she show you too much love?
>>2063859
That's still how they work, you'll notice when the coin cell on your hub sensor dies the speedo readout gets really fucked up and will take longer to catch up when you start or stop.
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>>2063859
>The problem is accurately measuring the circumference of the wheel, any error in that measurement will produce inaccurate numbers
That's a feature, not a bug. Round up the circumference, enjoy the very tiny ego boost.