The Bike’s Gone Wireless

For the last several years, I’ve been a convert of the wireless revolution, sitting quietly in a coffee house getting paid for working through the ether. You might find me at the library, the hoagie joint, or the donut shop beaming out messages. I’m a wireless junkie. Boston’s been a hard come-down in the wireless future.

This weekend though the future arrived on my bicycle as I installed a Vetta wireless computer. I like having a computer on the bike. It keeps me from lying to myself about how far I’ve ridden and gets me out there sometimes to add an extra mile or two. When I’m out touring it’s helpful as a reality check and something to think about as the miles click by.

Here’s a good thing and a bad one.

Good: I don’t have to mount it to my handlebar. It can stay in my bag, out of the bad weather, glaring sun, and away from punk thieves and still function fine. That might be handy occasionally.

Bad: It goes bonkers if it’s to close to another wireless source like my computer! It started toiling away, so now my max speed is over 60 mph and I’m concerned that my odometer is wrong. This could be a problem. I already miss the easier to use features of my mid-level Cat Eye. Despite what the box says about the Vetta, I can’t figure out how to get all the features to work, so they may just be imaginary, like counting the clock as a feature, when it is just baseline.

I’d be curious to know if anyone else is using wireless and if you’ve noticed quirky behaviors by the computer due to conflicting wireless transmissions. I’d hate to be biking around and having my computer get nutty due to everyone’s wi-fi apartments.

ed note: After all these comments, and the fact that I could never get it near my computer, I took it back and got a regular wired computer. Ok, I have to admit to not being the brightest science light, but it was not the wirless transmissions floating through the air that appeared to confuse the device, but being too close to magnets.