Post by spyghost on Jan 30, 2018 6:37:23 GMT 8
While doing some browsing I came across this product that seemed to be a hot topic in social media groups recently. I did some digging and nothing very useful came out as most of the reviews online are not english.
So nothing left for me but to take the risk and burn Php 3,xxx.xx for this unit only.
I didn’t bother with the accessories as I don’t see any requirement for it since I ride off road - not much use for cadence and speed sensors since riding offroad doesn’t rely on pure pedaling effort plus the wheels don’t always have ground contact. As for the HRM, I am uncomfortable with something strapped on my chest so I may opt for a wrist type from another brand.
So far it has done what it’s supposed to do, track, record and sync with Strava. It’s straightforward with no additional bells and whistles that big brands have, which I personally have no use of. For me just to be able to do the basic task of wirelessly tracking, recording and synching is fine.
The weekend test ride I did was raining hard. It was quite difficult to see and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just rain water that’s keeping me wet. The product survived in spite of being drenched and splashed with water, muck and whatnot.
So what can I say for a short term use:
- No big names on your bike. Personally I like this as it’s not eye catchy. For me as long as it does what I want for a competitive price, I’m good with it.
- I can’t say much about battery life since I only had 1 ride with it as posted above. Still 3 bars after tinkering with it and doing transfer. On paper it says 40h. I hope it’s true, but obviously this is under a controlled ideal scenario (ie engineering and marketing conspiracy lol)
- Another consideration is the clamping mechanism. It’s Garmin standard which is good, meaning lot’s of third party options in the market (assuming it’s available our sh!tty local bike market). I do hope it will last long given the constant twisting it receives from install/uninstall.
- Another interesting feature or lack of is the touch screen. Personally I hate and love it, but for this purpose I think I’d stick to traditional buttons like what this unit has. No fuss on/off-road, with/out gloves, wet/dry it will do what it’s suppose to do. Again I do hope the buttons will last long.
- If you will be using the speed sensor (which I don’t have), not all 29ers will be supported. See the manual for details.
- No navigation. I don’t need it so I don’t really mind not having. In other words, it’s just a nice to have feature for me.
- Not colored. Same as above.
- No tether. This is quite a consideration for me since I ride off-road and having a secondary security is a must. I haven’t thought of working around with it yet. So far this is the only nega I have.
- No option for turning off backlight at night. I don’t ride at night but I do wish there is an option to turn off the backlight or a timeout when riding at the dark. It just automatically turns on and off depending on the TZ set.
- The bar clamp (separately sold) does not support 35mm bars and only has out front mount. I'm more into a mount above the step or top cap like the barfly 4 mtb or k-edge gravity top cap mount. these mount options minimize the possibility of damaging your unit in the event of a crash. Out front mounts for MTB use are too high of a risk and something I would never do. Right now, I'm limited to mounting beside the stem at the bars by using the o-ring based mount provided.
- I’m not sure if this is a limitation for all trackers but I can’t create a segment if it came from this device. Users of other brands may confirm this. Pls feel free to shed clarity on this.
Will I recommend it? As long as your not the type of person who likes big names, yes. If you are, don’t bother with this brand as it won’t give you fame, honor, glory and japorms.
So nothing left for me but to take the risk and burn Php 3,xxx.xx for this unit only.
I didn’t bother with the accessories as I don’t see any requirement for it since I ride off road - not much use for cadence and speed sensors since riding offroad doesn’t rely on pure pedaling effort plus the wheels don’t always have ground contact. As for the HRM, I am uncomfortable with something strapped on my chest so I may opt for a wrist type from another brand.
So far it has done what it’s supposed to do, track, record and sync with Strava. It’s straightforward with no additional bells and whistles that big brands have, which I personally have no use of. For me just to be able to do the basic task of wirelessly tracking, recording and synching is fine.
The weekend test ride I did was raining hard. It was quite difficult to see and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just rain water that’s keeping me wet. The product survived in spite of being drenched and splashed with water, muck and whatnot.
So what can I say for a short term use:
- No big names on your bike. Personally I like this as it’s not eye catchy. For me as long as it does what I want for a competitive price, I’m good with it.
- I can’t say much about battery life since I only had 1 ride with it as posted above. Still 3 bars after tinkering with it and doing transfer. On paper it says 40h. I hope it’s true, but obviously this is under a controlled ideal scenario (ie engineering and marketing conspiracy lol)
- Another consideration is the clamping mechanism. It’s Garmin standard which is good, meaning lot’s of third party options in the market (assuming it’s available our sh!tty local bike market). I do hope it will last long given the constant twisting it receives from install/uninstall.
- Another interesting feature or lack of is the touch screen. Personally I hate and love it, but for this purpose I think I’d stick to traditional buttons like what this unit has. No fuss on/off-road, with/out gloves, wet/dry it will do what it’s suppose to do. Again I do hope the buttons will last long.
- If you will be using the speed sensor (which I don’t have), not all 29ers will be supported. See the manual for details.
- No navigation. I don’t need it so I don’t really mind not having. In other words, it’s just a nice to have feature for me.
- Not colored. Same as above.
- No tether. This is quite a consideration for me since I ride off-road and having a secondary security is a must. I haven’t thought of working around with it yet. So far this is the only nega I have.
- No option for turning off backlight at night. I don’t ride at night but I do wish there is an option to turn off the backlight or a timeout when riding at the dark. It just automatically turns on and off depending on the TZ set.
- The bar clamp (separately sold) does not support 35mm bars and only has out front mount. I'm more into a mount above the step or top cap like the barfly 4 mtb or k-edge gravity top cap mount. these mount options minimize the possibility of damaging your unit in the event of a crash. Out front mounts for MTB use are too high of a risk and something I would never do. Right now, I'm limited to mounting beside the stem at the bars by using the o-ring based mount provided.
- I’m not sure if this is a limitation for all trackers but I can’t create a segment if it came from this device. Users of other brands may confirm this. Pls feel free to shed clarity on this.
Will I recommend it? As long as your not the type of person who likes big names, yes. If you are, don’t bother with this brand as it won’t give you fame, honor, glory and japorms.