Does anyone know if there is any kind of cadence measurement gadget that can be connected directly to a pc/laptop?

The plan is to use it with a turbo trainer so I can have a great big display in front of me, rather that a wee sweat covered one on the bars!

Cheers.

Are you any good at electronics (or even very slightly nerdy / programmery)? Just that given an existing cadence sensor wire and magnet (or even just a simple magnetic switch for 50p fro maplin it'd be dead easy to connect it up to something like an arduino (they cost about 20 quid) and program that to show the display on your computer. Cost would be about 25 quid. Would be a nice little project – i reckon it'd take a couple of hours to hook up. I would buy one of those wired rear wheel speed and cadence sensors from cateye and dissect the wire personally – that way there'd be no soldering needed.

Alternatively if you're not techy think polar do something with all the bells and whistles heart rate etc but it costs hundreds of quid.

Joe

Cheers Joe, a home brew effort could be the go. I just wondered if anyone else was aware of something that can just be plugged in.

Better get the Maplin Catalog out!!

Cadence is basically just a measurement of frequency or 'counts per second'. So, you'll need:

* Crank magnet and reed switch salvaged from a dead bike computer. Wheel magnet and switches should be usable too if suitably hacked.

* A battery

* A multimeter with a gert big display on it which has a frequency meter as one of its modes. You should be able to find a USB one if you want super pimpy display.

If you were thinking of reaching for the Maplin catalogue, you should be able to work the rest out for yourself. Of course, you'll be getting Hertz – revs per second – not RPM, so you'll have to multiply by 60 in your head…

If you want data logging, there are a lot worse and more expensive ways of doing it than using an Arduino, and you can re-use the hardware in the summer / when you're fit / get bored with turbo training. Or, again, get a USB data logger or oscilloscope or something that will do the job.

Cheers for the tips guys – never heard of an Arduino before, but have now been educated. I'll see what I can come up with.

Anymore, from anymore???????