Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Cateye Velo Wireless Plus computer

7
£34.99

VERDICT:

7
10
Well made, user friendly and easy to fit. You're paying extra for some quirky features in addition to the usual.
Weight: 
48g
Contact: 
www.zyro.co.uk

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

Conceived as an entry-level wireless computer for riders entering the sport either to benefit their health and fitness, or to have a smaller environmental footprint, the Velo Wireless + is a nicely thought through computer with some interesting features.

Designed to be user friendly and easy to operate, the display is large and shows sets of data from just two functions at a time. Scrolling through the functions is easy enough, with a single button in the middle. The Velo Wireless + offers the functions most needed by anyone, with current, average and maximum speed, trip distance, total distance, elapsed time and a 12hr/24hr clock.

In addition to this, the functions that mark it apart from so many other similar computers are calorie consumption and carbon offset. The calorie consumption is an averaged out estimate, since there’s no heart rate monitor or personal data involved. Nonetheless, it’s nice to have a vague notion of how many calories you’re burning on your commute or ride to the shops, and this is, after all, the sector that’s being targeted by Cat Eye with the Velo Wireless +.

The CO2 offset function is a slightly contrived one, especially as most of us have no idea how many kg of CO2 we would expect to produce in our everyday lives anyway. That said, if you’re making an ethical choice to use the car less and the bike more (which has to be a good thing in anyone’s book) it’s quite nice to have a concrete figure for how much CO2 you've NOT generated in the car, to pat yourself on the back with at the end of a working week.

The Velo Wireless + is simple and quick to install, once you’ve figured out the very slightly confusing instructions regarding wheel size settings. There’s a choice to set with a single standard figure, or to be more precise, and the diagram takes some understanding. It locates easily in a simple zip-tie fastened cradle, but in long term use I’d have some doubts about the longevity of the sticky pad helping to secure the cradle to the bar. To maximize its life, avoid removing the unit too often if you can.

In use, it’s straightforward and the sensor pick-up is reliable. There are other cheaper computers on the market, and if you’re not dead set on having the calorie or carbon offset functions, other wireless models, including from Cat Eye, are available for less money. But, as a well built and user-friendly computer with some quirky functions, it’s not a bad price.

Verdict

Well made, user friendly and easy to fit. You're paying extra for some quirky features in addition to the usual.

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Cateye Velo Wireless Plus computer

Size tested: n/a

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes. Fun to see calories used and carbon offset.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes, if I wanted those functions.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, probably.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 1.65m  Weight: 67kg

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, general fitness riding, mtb,

Lara has been riding bikes for longer than she'd care to admit, and writing about them nearly as long. Since 2009 she has been working as part of the road.cc review team whilst championing women's cycling on the side, most notably via two years as editor of the, sadly now defunct, UK's first and only women's cycling mag, erm, Women's Cycling. 

Believing fervently that cycling will save the world, she wishes that more people would just ride a bike and be pleasant to each other. 

She will ride anything with two wheels, occasionally likes to go fast, definitely likes to go far and is always up for a bit of exploring somewhere new and exciting. 

Add new comment

14 comments

Latest Comments