Gone are the days when a bike is simply a bike, where the use or function is for transportation, or to stay fit, tone one's body or test one's endurance. Owning a bike should always be accompanied with essential accessories like helmet, comfortable clothing, basic safety gear such as gloves, mirror, light, and most importantly, a repair kits. Safety must be the first consideration.
Nowadays, a bike computer is a must-have. It provides the biker the necessary statistical data such as speed, distance, cycles per minute, heart rate, pulse rate and others, depending on the kind and model of the bike computer. Not only does it makes biking a trendy and cool activity, it makes the hobby a serious, costly activity.
GPS bike computers are for hardcore bike hobbyists. It basically gives a sense of "companionship" as if the biker is circling around with a reliable buddy. There is also a feel of imagined competition with the start/finish alert signals. The maps or open street maps accessible in newer bike computer models guide the rider on accessible roads or open routes to tread.
To check one's physical ability, the bike computers help calculate the biker's functional threshold power (FTP). This will aid the biker on the extent of his/her power training zone, like a vector.
"It would be cool and trendy to have GPS on long bike rides, especially when on unfamiliar roads. It could save you from getting lost. It also helps plan and give information on how long and difficult certain routes maybe," says Rodney Brown, a bike hobbyist in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania with eight bikes in his possession.
However, this comes with a big price tag. Bike computers with GPS are very expensive that people can just use apps on their smart phones as these do same function as a GPS bike computer.
So, it's basically a choice. As long as one's budget could afford it, go get a bike computer.
