Bicyclism

The new Polar CS600 cycling computer is the latest toy to grace the handlebars of all the best dressed pro tour racers these days.  It is a comprehensive data recording device to show every conceivable detail of your current and historical cycling performance.  It's light weight, small, ergonomically perfect and carbon fibre matched to your top-end handlebars or stem.  It is also at the core of a system that covers the spectrum from speed/time/distance data to power, heart rate and cadence and then connects all of that into a nicely integrated computer software package that can keep the technophile entertained and enthralled for days on end.  Email your performance data to your coach and get set to win that next big race.  Or gazump that next baby photo show and tell by reaching for your fantastically detailed heroic ride trophy graphs. 

I have had two Polar S725X cycling computers over the past two years. The S725X was Polar's top-end computer, with the flexibility of attaching either to your wrist or to your bars. The basic S725X would record all the usual ride information (speed and distance functions), plus heart rate and, with the addition of special sensors, cadence and power. You also get altitude, temperature, ascent, decent and, of course, time of day. There were a few problems with the S725X, though. For starters, the speed and cadence sensors were big, and not a particularly easy fit to modern curvy carbon (as is to be found, in abundance, on my new Pinarello Prince). Worse still, the device has only a year's worth of battery life; after which you have to send the whole show back to the distributor for a new battery cell (a very strange and rare button type battery that only Polar seems able to source). This battery deal was, in fact, the reason why I ended up with two S725X's in two years. I tried to replace the battery on my first unit myself...But the worst feature of all was the frequently feeble capacity of the unit to reliably read heart rate information from the included chest belt. The problem here is to do with the S725X's analogue wireless system. In a good headwind, the data is simply not readable and the unit helpfully suggests that you are either dead or hammering along at a pulse of 250 plus! The cadence sensor's range was so poor that it needs to be mounted as close to the computer as possible; which for my bike precluded a sensible chainstay mount. Instead, I had to install the big ugly cadence sensor on my downtube (in reach of a crank arm mounted magnet).All of which recommended strong interest on my part in Polar's announcement (in June) of the CS600. The clincher was its appearance on the bars of Valverde's brand new Pinarello Prince in this year's Tour. If it's good enough for him...

 

The CS600 addresses and essentially fixes every single issue I had with the S725X predecessor (which is still on Polar's production list, presumably for riders who still like the idea of a cycling computer that can also be worn on your wrist as an oversize watch replacement). The CS600 comes with totally redesigned sensors, which are much smaller than before (but have no replaceable batteries; thus requiring their replacement, apparently, every two years at the cost of AUD$90 a go). Better, the whole system is now digital. Digital signals are vastly more robust than the feeble efforts at communication that always dogged the S725X. Now you can place the cadence sensor way back on the chain stays. The speed sensor can be casually placed wherever you like on your forks. And heart rate readings hang in even through a gale force headwind.The CS600 battery is now user replaceable, and is apparently good for two years.

One feature I really love is the built in inclinometer. Now I can get an instant readout on the slope of any hill, in degrees or %. Just what you need to find a local Motorillo or Alpe d'Huez. Plus, if you dig around in the files after downloading to your computer, you can read off the total ascents and descents for any ride, in metres or feet. You can even work out the total distance you spent coasting as opposed to pedaling on any ride (provided you have the cadence sensor installed).

I have not yet tried out the power recording side of the story. This works through the installation of a power 'sensor' that installs on the upper pully wheel of your rear derailleur; using pressure on your chain as a proxy for power applied through the cranks. Apparently, the accuracy of this setup is a bit mixed (a stunningly comprehensive coverage of a number of power monitoring devices, including the CS600, was presented over issues 35, 36 and 37 of Australia's Ride magazine - one of the best cycling magazines on the planet).

The CS600 was launched with a new version of Polar's cycling performance analysis software, ProTrainer 5. This is a vast improvement over the old, aging and clunky Polar Precision Performance software that came with the S725X. But! I do most strongly protest...Polar continues to ignore the Macintosh here. Why oh why can't they port this software to the Mac? I have to rely on Parallels to play. Not happy! Plus, why oh why does Polar persist with infrared for its connection to the PC? Infrared connection is now a thing of the past. No one uses infrared in these days of bluetooth, wireless or usb connectivity. But I suppose infrared is one step up from Polar's equally strange dedication to sonic computer connectivity that is still to be found on some of their running monitors. The latter has to be experienced to be believed...(imagine a captive cricket sqealing in distress when held close to your computer's microphone input and you will start to get the idea...). I am not, however, saying that this new software is perfect (ignoring its Mac incompatabiity issues for the moment). It is still a bit clunky. But then again, if you are familiar with the astountingly feeble attempts at coding attempted by the likes of CycleOps to connect their powermetres to the PC just about anything else looks good in comparison. It seems that cycling performance software is operating on a decade lag to the rest of the computing world.

Users of the S725X will also be pleased about the rearrangement of the menu systems on the CS600. Now you can quickly access a stream of different screens while you ride. You can opt for a screenfull of altitude related readouts (inclinometer included), speed related information, heart rate centric data, lap time data and a strange looking graphical read out screen that I have not yet fathomed. Or any combination of the above that you might choose to customise on this most astoundingly customisable of cycling computers. It will even tell you the time and date.

But it works. Both the software and the CS600 itself.

Finally, I have left the worst bit to last. The price is kind of interesting, bracing or distressing depending on the way you see things. The unit itself costs AUD$700 (including one speed sensor). Add to that a cadence sensor at $90 and a power set up at $600 more and all this starts to add up to the price of a good entry-level racing bike. And then if you want to spread the CS600 over your stable of bikes (which I have done), you have to pay out $90 for each additional sensor (you can store details for 3 different bikes on the unit).

So, there you have it. One nice and nearly perfect cycling computer that can record anything and everything you could ever want to know about your performance and your rides (the only thing missing is GPS). All recorded with impressive accuracy, fine detail and robust efficiency.

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