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Buy Cycle Computers

Shimano loves to invent stuff. In the last few years alone, the designers from this innovative Japanese company have invented V-brakes, reverse-spring derailleurs and, most recently, LCD gear indicators for their high-zoot Dura-Ace road gruppo (Shimano's top-end group of road bike components). So it came as little surprise to the industry when they adapted this cool techno-foolery to the mountain biking side of things. After all, who loves cool gadgets more than mountain bikers?

And so the Flight Deck cycle computer was invented and then introduced this season. We've been using and abusing one for several months aboard an official MountainZone.com test bike, and are here to report our now-declassified findings.

"For techno-weenies and people who are easily bored on training rides, this is a great little unit with which to impress your riding buddies..."

"It's one of the most popular items to come from Shimano this year," says a Shimano representative. "It provides more of the data functions that cyclists have been waiting for, and you can operate it without taking your hands off the bars; it's safer and more convenient...a whole new level of cyclist-friendly design."

The Flight Deck is, at first blush, a bike computer with the usual array of features like speed, distance and time. Its gee-whiz factor, however, is a suite of features that only a company like Shimano (who makes shifters) could add in.

	Features
	Current Speed
	Cadence
	Clock
	Trip Time
	Trip Distance
	Total Distance
	Max. Speed
	Avg. Speed
	Stop Watch: Max. speed, avg.speed, trip distance
	Gear Info: position, number, ratio
	Lap Counter
	Auto Sleep Function
	Speed Cadence readout Switching: main sub display
	Toggle switch Function Select
	Easy input Tire Diameter Memo
	Autogear Data Display: 3.5 sec. after shifting
	Low Battery Indicator
	Double or Triple Battery Compatible

First of all, there is the visual gear indicator. By removing the plastic windows from your LX, XT, or XTR shifter pods (you know, those red bars moving over the numbers above your shifters) you can hook up the unit's electronic sensors to detect which gear you're using. Once calibrated, they tell the computer what gear you're in, both front and rear, allowing you a digital readout of your gear combo.

The other cool feature of the Flight Deck is a cadence, or RPM, calculator. By inputting what size cogset you have (11, 12-32) and what size chainrings you're running, you can get an ongoing readout of your cadence, calculated by the computer.

All these features are controlled by yet another nice feature, a remote pair of buttons which mount next to your handlebar grip, just above the shifters. This way you can change modes or start and stop the clocks with a reach of the thumb. There are some other nice features like lap counters and advanced stopwatch modes, some of which our oxygen-starved minds couldn't figure out on the trail.

With a price hovering around $100, it is a good bit of cash to pay for a souped-up speedometer. And, to be honest, after several months of casual use we found its practicality limited. Sometimes it's easier just to look down at your drivetrain to see what gear you're in. But, for techno-weenies and people who are easily bored on training rides, this is a great little unit with which to impress your riding buddies.

For more information: (800) 353-3817

— Ari Cheren, with enough data to prove that, in fact, he rides much slower than he thought.

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