Cycle distance meter

I still have (somewhere) the original? mechanical type that fitted on the front forks and worked by a little cam bolted? on a spoke that "knocked" the star wheel and so clicked up the distance travelled

40yrs!!!! can stablizers be fitted to adult cycles

In a word, no!

Unless you are getting really serious that is.

We use a mapping and route tracing App called Cyclemeter. In its free form it works well, showing average, highest speeds, distances with each mile shown on its map, and where you are at any time. A friend uses it while out riding her horse and we also use it while walking.

Many cycling enthusiasts use Strava, which will collect data from various sources such as e heart monitors (Cyclemeter does that too).

And Pros use Garmin, which often uses transponders built into their bikes.

If you want a simple, phone free monitor, Google "Cateye Strada slimline”. The latter refers to their neatest attachment inside the front fork which uses a tiny magnet attached to a spoke to provide data which is wirelessly communicated to the very neat display on your handlebars. Although it creates data in several forms, the screen is so small that it can only display two at a time. We’ve both got two bikes, one for off road and the other being a minimal weight fast road bike. At under £35 each, we have the above in perminant residence on all of our handlebars, supplemented by Cyclemeter when on longer routes. All of the above will benefit from more robust mounts to replace the Velcro or plastic ties which come with them.

if you do decide on mapping Apps, you could do worse than check out ToPeak’s range of bar mounts, phone cases and, in due course, power banks, because constant mapping on a smart phone can drain your battery on longer routes.

But for now, as a returnee to cycling, you probably just need a low cost, low commitment solution until you decide whether you want to do more.