Let us know how it works. As I said, I love tech—maybe I can be convinced.
Have you seen the product that puts a rear-facing video cam on your bike? I suppose it helps identify the car that struck you from behind—great gift for your heirs. --Eric N campyonly...@me.com www.CampyOnly.com Campyonlyguy.blogspot.com @Campyonlyguy > On Mar 1, 2016, at 10:24 AM, René Sterental <orthie...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Eric, > > You are absolutely correct regarding cycling and wearing headphones. I do > hear the cars coming, but usually when they are close. And I agree that trail > users including runners and walkers who are wearing headphones and unaware of > their surroundings are a problem. > > Still, I consider this as a supplementary piece of information that just > provides additional enhancement to your awareness and could compensate for an > impaired or reduced capacity like wearing headphones. > > I tried riding with a helmet mounted mirror and found it very annoying as it > would somehow get in the way of my forward vision and still, I wouldn't see > cars or cyclists overtaking me until they were passing me. For some reason, > probably because I'm right eye dominant and the mirror is on the left side, I > had to close my right eye and force my left eye to focus on the mirror to > actually see what was coming. It never became secondary or automatic that as > my eyes moved, I would be able to process what was being displayed in the > mirror. > > Still find it pretty interesting and I'll post an update sometime in the > future to see if the benefits are "real" or it's just the geekiness of it. I > wonder if I can get some insight from drivers based on whether the light > dynamically increasing it's brightness/# of diodes truly alerts them to the > cyclist or they've already seen it. There are some interesting taillights > being marketed now that have additional features that are purported to aid > drivers in noticing cyclists at night, so just curious to see if that is true > or just hype. > > René > > On Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 9:47 AM, Eric Norris <campyonly...@me.com > <mailto:campyonly...@me.com>> wrote: > Rene: > > Glad this is working for you. I’m an early-adopted-tech-geek through and > through, but I must admit this particular product exceeds even my desire to > load my bike down with electronics. > > I get that you ride with “headphones”—I do this myself, but I would never use > in-ear phones that block all outside noise *or* listen to music at a volume > that blocks out all exterior sounds. You decide how you want to ride, but I > think it’s dangerous to be out on the road without one of your most important > senses (hearing) working properly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had > to take evasive action on the bike trail as the result of other riders (and > runners) who can’t hear anything buy their music. > > Regarding electric vehicles—even here in California, they’re a very small > part of the fleet, and in my experience that share drops even farther on > low-volume country roads (except for perhaps Marin County, where the local > residents drive their Teslas out into the country a bit more than in, say, > Kern County). > > My solution for knowing what’s happening behind me is to use my ears and a > helmet-mounted mirror. Cheap, effective, and neither one needs to be > recharged. > > --Eric N > campyonly...@me.com <mailto:campyonly...@me.com> > www.CampyOnly.com <http://www.campyonly.com/> > Campyonlyguy.blogspot.com <http://campyonlyguy.blogspot.com/> > @Campyonlyguy > > >> On Mar 1, 2016, at 9:00 AM, René Sterental <orthie...@gmail.com >> <mailto:orthie...@gmail.com>> wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> >> I am a geek, and love technology applied to my hobbies. Yes, there is a >> place for simplicity but so far it's not near me. I love my Apple Watch and >> iPhone 6 Plus, but after trying to use them as cycling computers with a very >> poor overall experience, I went back to my Garmin Edge 1000. I used Polar >> technology a decade and a half ago, but when Garmin entered the cycling >> market, it provided a better user experience for me, so I switched. I'm >> still upset that Garmin doesn't share data with Apple Health, but it's not >> enough to make me switch to the poorer user experience I had with Cyclemeter >> even factoring the Apple Watch app. >> >> It's not that I am obsessed with tracking all these numbers, I just like >> watching the data when I ride, and being able to go back and compare >> progress every now and then, see my tracks on the maps, etc. >> >> A couple of weeks ago I was at Palo Alto Bicycles looking for a helmet >> light, and I "discovered" a new Garmin gadget called Varia >> (https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/cycling/varia-rearview-radar/prod518151.html >> >> <https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into-sports/cycling/varia-rearview-radar/prod518151.html>). >> For some reason, I had never seen it, heard of it and was curious to see >> what it was. When I discovered it was a rear-looking radar to let you know >> when cars were approaching from the back, I was intrigued and did a bit of >> research online and then ordered one. >> >> I installed it on Sunday, and have ridden with it yesterday and today. I >> think it's very helpful and useful, particularly, when you are riding on >> roads with low traffic volume. If there are a lot of cars, then there is no >> purpose to it, but its use is very good when you are riding on low traffic >> roads as it lights up and tells you when and how a car is approaching from >> the back. My commute is mostly on such roads and trails, and now I don't >> have to keep turning my head back when approaching sections when I have to >> take the lane just to see if there is someone behind me. Particularly useful >> with all these electric vehicles in California that don't make a sound when >> they approach you. >> >> It connects to the Garmin Edge unit, so I don't need the version with the >> separate display unit. With the front load configuration I have it attached >> to the seat post with the mount provided, but for the Homer I'll devise a >> way to attach it to the saddlebag. It provides an additional dynamic >> tailight that lights dynamically as the cars approach you. >> >> Since I'll confess to the sin of riding while listening to music on my >> headphones, the benefit is significantly higher for me as I don't always >> hear the cars when they are far behind me. The angle of coverage is pretty >> wide, so on multi-lane roads or when riding on a trail next to a road, it >> will still light up when cars are behind you even if they are one or two >> lanes away. It still makes you aware. On my evening commute yesterday, I >> used it to enhance my timing to switch lanes in traffic so I could take a >> left turn. Worked very well! >> >> The only hassle is that you have to charge it, and I still haven't tried to >> see how long will the battery truly last. Although at NAHBS I saw these >> chargers you can piggy-back on the SON hub so you can charge your devices as >> you ride... Will be doing some research on those as well, although they'd >> only be truly practical if I ever go on a tour. >> >> Viva the geek! >> >> René >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com >> <mailto:rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com >> <mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com>. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch >> <https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout >> <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > <mailto:rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com > <mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch > <https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > <mailto:rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com > <mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch > <https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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