Trek’s new Time Computer and Time Watch are for those times when you just want to hop on a bike and pedal – somewhere, anywhere – without having to tax your brain with power meters, heart rate monitors or percent gradients. These things are about as basic as you can get and are glorious precisely because of it.
The Time Watch (£15/US$25) is just a decently sized analogue clock – nothing more, nothing less. The marginally more complex Time Computer (£25/US$40) switches to a digital readout that also displays current speed, trip distance and trip time with information sent from an analogue wireless transmitter.
Want to know your maximum speed, average cadence and blood volume pumped by your left ventricle on that last interval, too? Sorry, wrong bike and wrong state of mind today. Best come back after the coffee buzz has worn off.
Both widgets are housed in soft plastic housings that simply snap around your handlebars with no tools required. Standard and oversized mounts are included, too, and both are offered in five different colours. If you’re shopping for junior, there’s also a child version available with a single 22.2/25.4mm mount.
Swapping between the two sizes isn’t nearly as easy as it’s made out to be in the instructions, though, and while the snap-on installation is convenient, unwanted removal (i.e. theft) is snap-off convenient, too.
There’s not much else to say. The Time Watch keeps time and the Time Computer coughs up the pertinent info quickly and easily via its single button. They’re just plain fun.