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Price: £49.99 / $54.95
Weight: 31.5 grams
Screen size: 43x32mm
Connectivity: Wireless internal connection
Waterproof: IPX8
Battery life: 1 year
Over the past few years, I have been experimenting with low-tech ways of tracking my rides and training. I’ve shed myself of Strava, and I’ve increasingly experimented navigating my adventures with actual paper maps over a GPS.
This is where the Cateye Padrone enters the scene. Lightweight, no-frills, sleek and reliable, this cycling computer is designed for those of us that just want the basics.
I’ve been looking forward to testing this unit out, curious to see what it added to my rides and how easily it slotted into my life. Can a low-tech tracker offer the perfect middle ground in the age of data?
Design and aesthetics
Cateye has been in the bike computer game since the early 1980s, so it knows a thing or two about what works. The Padrone range was developed in response to customer feedback asking for a lightweight, more basic wireless bike computer. It’s the stripped-back sibling of the Padrone+ and Padrone Smart, which offer a backlit screen and phone sync respectively.
The display is large and easy to read, even in bright sunlight, and it depicts eight measurements: Current, average and maximum speed (in either km/h or mph), trip distance, total distance (or odometer), moving time and clock. There’s an additional option for stop watch, too. In short, pretty much covering everything you’d ever really need to monitor your riding with the exception of any kind of navigation, providing you aren’t into using a heart rate monitor or a power meter.
From an aesthetics point of view, there really isn’t much to it. The Padrone is all black, sleek and with a large analogue screen. The screen is made from a plastic that seems relatively resistant to smeary fingerprints and there is one click…
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