The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: modusoperandi303 on November 02, 2012, 04:18:04 PM
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Sooooooo about a year and half ago I started cycling to work 20.4 miles there 20.4 miles back, the car I had at the time cost roughly 0.29p per mile and £11.83 (rounding down the last .002p) per day. I listed most of the details in this question (https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/my-neccesary-commute-with-added-badassity/msg8024/#msg8024) about whether I could justify buying a mountain bike to deal with the winter weather. Something which I did go on to do but I shopped around on ebay got a good deal and when I realised that it was not needed sold it on ebay for the same amount I bought it for and put the money into a money market account where it should be. Now after all the cycling I have been doing it started to turn into a hobby and I joined a cycling club and have discovered I need to train a lot harder to be able to stay with the group. This has lead me to want to purchase on of these: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/garmin-edge-500-blue-with-heart-rate-and-cadence/ but I was wondering if there would be a cheaper way of creating something which does most of its job in a cheaper/I learn a new skill way.
So here the challenge can you build an Arduino (maybe adafruit) cycle computer which measure just the basic things cadence, speed (through reed sensors or hall effect sensors both of which cost pennies), An arduino mega2560 and a heart rate monitor. The arduino I already have and a water proof reed sensor I already have, though having spent some time googling around I have found people who have already built these I have found one with a good drawing of the bread board connections. Heres an example:
http://idkfa.com/ec/the-bike/the-bike-how-to/
some also have code missing:
http://urbanhonking.com/ideasfordozens/2009/11/21/stationary_bike_speedometer_wi/
Any body seen anything around the internets I have missed?
ps. my level of knowledge as far as electronics is ok I can fix guitar leads, get leds flashing on my arduino (but have yet to purchase of parts to carry on with the tutorials) and have worked quite far through codecacdemy's lectures.
Cheers Andy
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If your goal is to get basic stats such as speed, cadence, and heart rate you could do it much cheaper than the product shown. However, if saving money is the priority over simply playing with your Arduino, I would suggest just buying a cheaper set of purpose built devices. Low cost cycle computers which measure speed and cadence such as this one (http://www.amazon.com/Cateye-CC-RD200-Cadence-Bicycle-Computer/dp/B000R6QR2C) combined with a standalone heart rate monitor watch like this one (http://www.amazon.com/Timex-Mid-Size-T5G941-Trainer-Monitor/dp/B000F5WB66/ref=lp_3407971_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1352134911&sr=1-9) will cost significantly less than an arduino project. If you decide to make one yourself you have to factor in the cost of the arduino (I know you already have one, but you could use it on another project), waterproof cases, a display, etc.
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I don't know any specific plans for bike computers, but there are some pretty great inexpensive substitutes for arduinos: I can vouch for:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNO-R3-ATMEGA328-ATMEGA16U2-Controller-Board-USB-Cable-Arduino-Competible-/160898236047?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2576483e8f