Review: Knog Nerd

I like the simple pleasures of cycling. Who wants to turn a ride into a spreadsheet extravaganza? Still, I've always been curious how fast and how far I've gone, and there's no way to answer that question accurately without getting a little bit, well, nerdy.

The Knog Nerd fits the bill perfectly. It's a well-designed, easy-to-use bike computer that's basically a speedometer, an odometer and little more. But that's all I want.

Designed by Knog, a Melbourne-based maker of hip urban biking accessories, the Nerd doesn't look like your average cycling computer, which is a good thing. With no buttons or wires and a soft, silicone rubber body, the Nerd is not nerdy. It's cool.

The Nerd is super simple to install. it's wireless, so there are no wires to run or brackets to screw on. It attaches to the handlebar with a simple silicone strap that wraps around the bar and catches on a hook, just like Knog's Frog lights. The transmitter also has a silicone strap. The spoke magnet may require a screwdriver. I used a penny.

The hard part was measuring the circumference of the front wheel – a necessity to get accurate speed and distance readings. The computer wants the measurement in millimeters, but all my measuring tapes are in inches and feet. I had to use a foot-long school ruler, which I'm sure wasn't completely accurate. After that, setting the clock and other functions was straightforward.

On the bike, the Nerd's display is easy to read with nice, big numbers. It has a great scrolling animation that indicates speed changes visually. The numbers scroll up when you're going faster, down when decelerating, a nice design touch.

Operation is a single button affair. Actually, there's no button – at least, no button in sight. You press the bottom of the screen to trigger a button hidden within the Nerd's silicone exterior. Each press of the screen cycles through a different mode: current speed, trip distance, ride time, odometer and so on.

The Nerd comes in a 9-function model for $70, which includes the above functions plus average speed, maximum speed, relative speed (a graph showing current versus average speed), battery level. There's also a "scanning" mode that loops through all the functions. A $90, 12-function model adds support for two bikes, plus distance per day and a backlight.

My only complaint is the manual, which to my mind is laid out backwards. Instructions detailing how to mount the computer on the bike are on the last page – not at the front where I expected them. The logic of this occurred to me later: Knog expects you to set up the computer before mounting it, but it threw me at the time.

Overall, the Nerd is a stylish bike computer that doesn't look nerdy. It's thoughtfully designed, well-made, dead simple to install and use, and doesn't overwhelm with useless functions.