Spoke and nipple choices

Next in the selection process in building good road wheels is the spokes and nipples.

First, let's talk brands.  There are two major brands I deal with, DT Swiss and Sapim.  The spokes between the two are very similar, and I've built with many of both.  I don't have a specific preference between the two in a similar spoke.  There is also Wheelsmith, but I have not done as much with them for the simple reason that they don't seem to be as prevalent.  I've got nothing against them otherwise.

As for the spokes themselves, there are three major types, straight gauge, butted, and bladed.

First is straight gauge.  That means that the spoke remains the same diameter from one end to the other.  These really only have a place in cheap wheels.  You don't want cheap wheels, so forget about straight gauge spokes.  (They are also good if you're building your first set of wheels as they are much easier to work with when the wheel is up to tension)

Next is butted spokes.  Most typically, butted spokes are thinner in the middle to save weight, but this design also allows more elasticity in the spoke, resulting in an overall stronger spoke.  Some examples of butted spokes are the DT Competition  and Sapim Race with 2.0mm ends and a 1.8mm center section.  Coming in lighter are the DT Revolution and Sapim Lasers with 2.0mm ends and a 1.5mm center.  These have less material in the middle and so save even more weight, but they can be hard to build with as they really, really like to twist as they're tightened.  (I've got my tricks to deal with that) Two other spokes worth mentioning are the DT Supercomps, with 2.0mm at the J bend, 1.7mm in the center, and 1.8mm at the nipple end.  The center is slightly smaller than the 2.0/1.8mm spokes, and the narrower nipple end allows for a stronger spoke nipple.  These are great spokes, and I've built with them.  Lastly is the Sapim Strong, a spoke with a 2.3mm J bend, then a straight 2.0mm section all the way to the nipple end.  These are designed for really heavy duty wheels, like big guys, tandems, or loaded touring.  I've not had the need to build with these yet.  For most folks, I'd suggest the 2.0/1.8mm or the 2.0/1.5mm if you want to save weight and your wheelbuilder can handle it.

(you'll see terms like "single butted", "double butted", and even "triple butted".  I just go with "butted" and list the diameters.  Life's easier that way)

Finally, we've got bladed spokes.  The ones we're interested in are normal round spokes which have been flattened out to an oval profile to give an "aero" shape, one that's thin side-to-side (towards the wind) but longer front-to-back.  There are many varieties of bladed spokes, but for our purposes, we'll only consider one -- the Sapim CX-Ray or DT Aerolite, which share major specs.  Both start with a 2.0/1.5mm butted spoke, and are then ovalized into a 0.9x2.3mm cross section.  The key here is that the hubs don't need to be  modified like they would with other types of bladed spokes, and that's why these are the only ones that we'll consider.  These spokes are pretty amazing, since their weight is about as light as you can get, but due to the reshaping, they are strengthened, and have significantly improved fatigue limits.  So, they can make for a light, strong, aero wheelset.  Sounds awesome, doesn't it?  Well, they kinda are.  Awesome has a price, though -- these spokes are usually at least $2.50 each.  That adds up quickly in a wheel, especially when good butted spokes can be had for as little as $0.75 each.  Still, if you want fancy, fancy wheels, these spokes have to be on there.




Ultimately, a quality road wheel will boil down to four spoke choices.  2.0/1.8mm butted, 2.0/1.5mm butted, 2.0/1.7/1.8 DT Supercomp butted, or the pricey bladed CX-Ray/Aerolites.














Yes -- I know, I'm leaving out a huge amount of really interesting spokes like Sapim's new D-Light and Force spokes, as well as a huge chunk of DT Swiss' cool offerings including the Alpine III.  Those spokes are either too new or not generally available so I didn't bother mentioning them.

For spoke nipples, there's really only two choices, and it's between the materials, brass vs aluminum.  Brass spoke nipples are heavier (about 30g for a 32 spoke wheel) but are much stronger and corrosion resistant.  Aluminum spoke nipples weigh in around 10g for a 32 spoke wheel, so save up to 20g over brass nipples (about 2/3rds of an ounce) and are not as strong.  However, there's an easy solution for this which I've been using successfully for a while now.  By simply using spokes that are slightly longer than the recommended size, the spoke protrudes through the nipple head, slightly strengthening the spoke nipple at its weakest point -- the junction from the body to the head.  Both are valid choices, and have their place.  I prefer DT spoke nipples to the Sapims, (I find the quality to be higher) but have built with either.  Luckily, the threads are the same between manufacturers, so I have often mixed Sapim spokes with DT spoke nipples.  It's a great combo.  One nice perk of aluminum nipples is they are available in a range of anodized colors, like red, green, blue, gold, purple, and so forth.  Brass is usually only available in silver and black, although you'd be surprised at the results of silver brass and a colored Sharpie.  (yes, really, and no, it doesn't last.)

Rim choices

Building a good road wheel, you've got several choices to make.  First, let's take a look at some of the good rim choices available.

First and foremost is the offerings from Stan's NoTubes.  I'm a huge fan of Stan's products, and every MTB wheel we own has Stan's rims.  Being on a team that's sponsored helps, but I'd want to do it even if we weren't.  They now have two road options available, and they're looking to be every bit as good as the MTB offerings.  Their first road rim, the Alpha 340, has been redesigned and beefed up a little bit, and now comes in at around 380g, which is damn light for a road rim.  Their new rim, the Alpha 400, shares the same outer profile, but has reinforcing ribs which increase rim strength and durability and bumps the weight up to 425g, right in the same arena as the venerable Mavic OpenPro.  Stan's rims are designed to be easily compatible with road tubeless, and also incorporate a lower bead hook which slightly increases tire volume and decreases the risk of pinch flatting.  One thing I've noticed with Stan's rims is it is far, far easier to install and remove tires, thanks to the lower bead hook.  I also rode a set in a configuration I would have expected to be not quite stiff enough for me, and was very surprised at how stiff and responsive they felt.  I'm a big, big fan of the Stan's stuff, but the downside is their price, coming in at $120 each.  Still, they're probably my favorite choice for a road rim right now.  Some folks do take issue with the fairly sizeable decals on the rims, but decals can always be peeled off.

Next up is the KinLin rim line.  These are Taiwanese rims, but are made of a high quality aluminum alloy which keeps the weight low.  I've built several wheelsets with these rims, and they've always been nice and straight and easy to work with.  There's plenty of positive reviews available online, these rims are the real deal.  From the KinLin range, the two most popular are the XR-270 and the XR-300.  Both are an aero-profile, with the 270 being 27mm deep and the 300 being ever so slightly deeper at 30mm.  The weights are respectable, at 445g and 465g, respectively.  Heavier than the Stan's, but also a deeper V-shaped "aero" profile.  Does it make a real difference, aerodynamically?  I have no idea.  What really sets these two rims apart, however, is their price, coming in right around $40 each.  Very few quality rims can be had in that price range.  KinLin has other rims, but these are the two I'm familiar with and have built with.  As far as I'm concerned, none of the other rims offer as much as these two.

That's the two major choices I'd list.  Of course there are other major manufacturers out there.  Mavic, with their ubiquitous Open Pro rim, can't be left out, but I think the design is starting to show its age and really doesn't stand up to the other options I've listed.  Velocity makes a bunch of different rims, but I've built with them before and have never been really blown away.

7/27/12: Quick update after some more research and thought on the matter.  I think my treatment of Mavic was a bit harsh.  Yes, the Open Pro rim design is a bit dated, but it hasn't changed because it doesn't much need to.  I've got a set that I bought in 2000 built with Dura Ace hubs and 3x DT Champion spokes which has been utterly flawless.  It's really hard to beat the long-term performance of that setup.  It's not real fancy, it's not real light, but it is solid.

Also, I completely skipped DT Swiss rims.  I've only had the opportunity to build with one DT rim, but from what I've seen, their quality is extremely high (as I would expect from their spokes, nipples, and hubs) and they're also a great choice for a wheelset that emphasizes durability and strength.

Fun with GPS tracks

So I'm whining to Jason P. about the lack of good climbing in our area.  I went out this morning for the Six Sisters hill repeats, where the biggest climb is a whopping 220 feet of elevation gain.  Even doing hill repeats, I averaged just under 80 feet climbed per mile ridden.  For me, it's not a real climbing ride until at least 100 feet per mile.  The best ride in recent memory was the Stoopid 50, which came in at 127 '/mi.  Jason lives in VA, where there's a number of pretty decent sized hills right in the area, so it's really easy for him to find good climbs.

JP: "here, i'll make a little loop for you, hang on"
JP:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1441153
JP: route starts 2 blocks from both bryce's house and my house
JP: 176 ft/mi
me: Yeah
me: wow
me: super
me: okay, I'm gonna draw a little route for you
me: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1441152
me: go take a hike. ;)

What?  I can be bitter.

Strava guide to a full lap of the MTB trails at Lake Nockamixon.

A proper full lap of Nockamixon involves going all the way around in a clockwise direction, making right turns most everywhere there is an option. No crossover or duplicated riding.  (one exception, noted below)

The trail map at ridenox.com helps greatly in following these lap directions.

Start off from the Tower Rd parking lot, do the Cold Spot and Hammer loops by staying to the right at the first split. Early on, you'll come to a four-way intersection with another trail -- keep going straight, that other trail is just access to the lake for the fishermen/fisherwomen.  Soon after that, the trail comes to something like a "T", where you need to make a right turn.  Making the left skips the 1.4 mile Hammer trail -- see the Caveats below.

Coming across the stream at the end of the north trails, take the right and do the short section of trail that does not have a Strava segment.  (I informally call this one the "DMZ", although it's technically the lower part of the Haycock Run loop.)  This puts you onto the connector trail southbound, which dumps you out onto the "Sidewalk" stream crossing with the big flat rocks.

That leads to the South loop, officially two loops, Jaywalk and South Park. This is the biggest segment.

At the end of the south loop, you re-cross the stream at the "Sidewalk" crossing.  This is the only place that you ride the same trail in both directions, but only to the entrance of the Eastern Woods trail northbound. Eastern Woods takes you to Haycock Run uphill which leads you back to the stream crossing. (watch for the right turn after the stone buildup over the big log)  Cross that, ride to the split before the parking lot, and you've just done a full loop of Nox!  You are now free to revel in your awesomeness.

Have fun, ride fast, but ride safe.  Sightlines at Nox can be very short, and if you run someone over because you're chasing segments, or don't help someone who needs it for the same reason, you're a twatwaffle and should stop riding.

Caveats:

• You have to make sure to stay to the right when you get to the Hammer - otherwise, your lap is bogus and if you get the KOM, you're totally lame. (unless you're just out having fun and happen to accidentally match the full loop segment because Strava's segment matching is pretty crappy, in which case, bummer.)  If you get a bogus KOM because of shortcutting, don't be surprised if Bob Eichlin comes out and scorches the earth trying to beat you. 
• The "Bump Track" on the South Park loop is not a favorite of some, and some shortcut it. Technically you should do it if you want an honest "full lap" but I don't find it particularly interesting, and most GPS units aren't good enough to reliably report if you actually did or not sooooo...
• I've done crossovers to change things up every now and then, such as riding the Hammer trail in the CW direction, then continuing on when you get back to the Cold Spot.  It'll still match, and if anything, it'll make your full lap time slightly slower.  The key is to hit all the trails.
• Going in this direction, you will very likely miss the "Gnome Home" on the South Park loop, unless you know where to look.  It's just after a fairly large log over which is built up on either side with dirt.

Bay to Bay ride

Yesterday I did the Bay-to-Bay century ride down in Maryland.  We started off at Betterton, MD, a beautiful little town on the Chesapeake bay where one of my friends has a really, really nice condo on the water.  Another perk of his condo is the location, only about 1/2 mile from the start of the ride.  It used to be even closer, but folks complained about the little bitty hill (a nose-bleedingly, ear-poppingly massive 0.3 mile climb that averages 2% grade and gains 38') heading away from the start, so they moved the start to the top of the hill.

I thought that with the area being predominantly flat, and us bringing six strong guys, the century would be easy, but that turned out to not be the case, but not for the reasons I expected.  My fit on the bike isn't quite perfect, and I quickly discovered that being in a paceline means holding more or less the same position for quite some time, and that gets uncomfortable quick.  Plus, there are only two interesting places in a paceline -- at the front and pulling, or at the back where you can relax, stand, whatever, and you don't have to worry about the guy behind you -- because there isn't any.  (second wheel isn't bad if the guy pulling is solid) In the middle, you have to be diligent and focused and although you're using less muscular energy, you're using more mental energy.  I guess that gets better with a bunch of paceline experience, which I don't have.  Worse yet, because this is a big organized ride, a paceline passes many single riders and smaller groups, many of whom gladly attach themselves to the paceline, despite a lack of experience themselves.  We had one guy early on who was really quite squirrely, and kept doing dumb things like overlapping wheels, and getting into an aero tuck on downhills.  I was really glad when him and his buddy opted to keep going through the first rest stop.  Many of the other guys who rode with us were pretty good, but ultimately, a bigger paceline just means more time in the middle, where it's frankly quite boring.

So, by the second rest stop at mile 38, I was mentally exhausted, wishing passionately for a real climb, and frankly quite done with the ride, but Rule #5 (and being 38 miles from the start) prevented me from giving up.  (the interesting discovery that horseflies know how to draft and as such can't be ridden away from didn't help, either)  I spent the next 15 miles slowly rotating through the paceline and watching the miles tick off.  One of our guys started having trouble with the pace, so he and another guy dropped off, so I dropped off as well to ride with them for a while.  Riding in the smaller group was far better, and I started to enjoy the ride.  We regrouped at the next rest stop, and I wound up with the big group again, and got into the rotation again.  I began wondering how you could do an organized ride with a good group of guys, but also manage to keep the "unknowns" out of the line.  Personally, the "unknowns" just wound up annoying me and made the line bigger, and more boring, even if they took their pulls and were good in the line.  I guess it's a mindset thing.

After the last rest stop, I pulled out first and took the lead for 2.9 miles -- 9 minutes.  (it was a looong, easy start, and I wasn't fully up to speed until the first mile was done) Rolling off at the end of my pull, I saw the group going by.  Four of our guys, two "unknowns" who we'd been riding with for a while, who were solid riders, but at this point, I was just tired of riding in a paceline, and made no effort to catch the last wheel.  I started to recover from my pull, and brought my pace up, and stayed within a couple hundred yards of the group for quite some time.  This was at mile 87, and I knew this wouldn't last, but was curious how long I could keep them in sight riding solo.  Soon, however, I saw a guy walking on the side of the road with his bike, so as they rode by, I stopped next to him to find out if he needed help.  Turns out his issues weren't mechanical, but severe cramps, and unfortunately there's not much you can do at that point, so I verified that he was okay, and rode on now completely alone.

Here's where it started to get interesting.  No longer was my effort dictated by the group, so I could ride as hard or easy as I wanted, and I was soon up to some pretty high efforts. I rode hard but controlled, and caught one or two other riders, then came across one of our own guys who had been shed from the paceline.  I swung around him, sat up and cruised for a little while, but he made no effort to grab my wheel, so I rolled back onto the power and kept on up the road.  I soon found myself at the bottom of a long climb, and recognized it as a climb which we had done the previous morning.  Since there was no previous Strava segment there, we created one, and I had been tied for the KOM at 2:56 until Dave uploaded his ride and got 2:55.  I had joked with him that I was going to take the KOM back by riding a 2:54, and coming to the bottom of this climb at mile 94, having been riding by myself for 7 miles, that is exactly what I did.  (What really sucks for Dave is that his phone locked up and stopped recording early in the ride, so even though he probably went faster up the hill with the group than I did solo - he doesn't get any credit, or the KOM.)  Halfway up the climb, I saw another rider up the road, so used that rider as my rabbit, and managed to chase down Brian, another one of our guys, right at the top of the climb.

Brian misread the arrows on the road, as did I, and we made a right turn where we should have gone straight.  This wouldn't have been a big problem, but I recognized the road as one that we rode the previous day, and had created another segment on... so I turned on the gas yet again trying to better my time from the previous day.  Despite a near maximum effort, being at mile 95 and on my own (Brian hung onto my wheel for a couple minutes but decided to let me go) doesn't stand a chance against three pretty fresh guys sharing the load from the previous day, and my time came in at 9:34, a damn shade slower than the previous morning's 8:26.  Worse yet, this was when I realized that there were no blue arrows on the road at the next intersection -- we had taken a wrong turn!  I broke out my phone and checked the map, and we had gone exactly the wrong direction to get to the finish.  I later discovered we nearly reconnected with the course at mile 73!  So, we had no recourse but to turn around and ride the 3.5 mile segment back to where we'd made the wrong turn.

At this point, I was more interested in finding the short way back instead of finding the course, so I used my phone to map out the shortest return.  I soon realized that I knew the roads we were taking, and these roads went over the few "hills" in the area.  The biggest of these isn't even 100 feet of elevation, but we're now at 105 miles and oddly enough, getting a little tired.  Had I followed the course instead of the "short way" back, I think there would have been a whole bunch less climbing.  We finally made it back to Betterton, and the rest of the guys had finished, but while they only had 103 miles of riding, Brian and I had 111 miles (Strava says 110.8 -- I didn't start the Garmin until after the 0.6 mile ride to the start, so I legitimately claim 111) and had finished with climbs, which we agreed made us the big winners and hard men of the group.

So, the ride was enjoyable, despite my issues with the big pacelines.  I would love to do the ride again, but this time with no more than four folks in a core paceline and some way to keep the "unknowns" from spoiling the party.  Doing it solo would be interesting, but probably also very, very difficult.

One of the reasons I stayed with the pacelines as much as I did was because I was convinced if I went solo, it would take me longer to get finished, but that's not necessarily the case.  Here's the segment between the second to last and last rest stops where I rode with a paceline of about 7 guys:

http://app.strava.com/activities/11635620#z17009|18874

10.2 miles at an average speed of 19.6mph, sitting behind an unknown who would pedalpedalpedal-cooooaaaast-repeat for the entire time.  (granted, his buddy with the tri bars did have a wonderfully long and consistent 20mph pull) Very mentally draining as I was trying to leave enough gap that I didn't have to coast when he slowed, but could soft pedal and not screw up the guys behind me.

In contrast, here's the segment where I went solo after the last rest stop:

http://app.strava.com/activities/11635620#z20951|22843

10.5 miles, including the biggest "climb" on the course (and 3.5 miles in the wrong direction) at an average speed of 20.0mph, while enjoying myself immensely more.  This is even after my 2.9 mile pull out of the rest stop.  Could I have kept that up for the entire ride, hell no.  But still, it's interesting.  I caught two folks who had been shelled from the paceline, and had I not made the wrong turn, I think I may have caught the others who got dropped -- Dave Heller finished with only one other guy.  Maybe... maybe not, but ultimately, it doesn't matter, because that last 26 miles was the best of the ride, because I was riding either solo or with one other person.

Keep your shirt on...

Tonight we went to Nockamixon.  We had talked about going to Wiss, but Grace's concern about my ongoing issues with my left achilles' tendon had her decide Nox was better.  Sure... the place that I know so well that I almost always wind up hammering... the same place that I re-annoyed it on Monday.  Well, we figured we'd start out easy and figure how we felt.

Well, anyhow, we get there and are putting our bikes together and I hear a familiar voice.  I look over and see the EWR jersey and knew his majesty, the King of Nockamixon, Sir Bob of Eichlin, was just about ready to start a ride.  Grace sees him there and simply mutters "oh shit."

Ya see, Bob is fast.  Take a look at any of the Strava segments in Nockamixon, and you'll see Bob's name right up at the top, usually with a pervertedly large buffer over second place.  Bob's also a really cool guy and fun to ride with, when you can keep up.  So, our "let's start out easy and see how we feel" plan suddenly got scrapped for "let's hammer like crazy".  So, we meet Bob's buddy Jason, and the four of us head out.

Almost immediately I'm reminded of my lack of bike handling skills.  Don't get me wrong, I can do okay, but I immediately find myself in a cycle of braking for a corner that they didn't, then having to accelerate to catch up.  They're just zipping along and I'm already spending more than I should in the first mile or two of a ride.  I manage to settle in and catch back up to them, but am starting to realize that they are on a fast pace, and if I stick with it, my achilles will not be happy, so I make the decision to "do the smart thing" (aka preserve my sense of dignity with an excuse) and let them go.  I'm screwed when the tendon is all better, though.

With the evil rabbits out of sight, we settle into a good, enthusiastic pace.  I meter my efforts, keeping the stress off my heel, and manage to move up to third on two segments.  As usual, looking at it after the fact, I'm absolutely convinced that I can do better.  We did the south loop in both directions, with Grace in the lead.  I am firmly convinced that I ride better when chasing her through the twisty sections.  Hell, it was chasing her in Mercer all those years ago where I learned to do the tighter corners out of necessity.  Most importantly, I made it past the "stripper tree" twice and manage to avoid having my jersey torn from my back.  The 2009 EWR jersey lives to see another day.

We finish up with a reverse of the Cold Spot/Hammer loops, and I come to the conclusion that I much prefer the Hammer loop ridden that way.  It just seems to flow so much nicer.  I think it's the first time I've ridden it "backwards" since before it was actually open and we followed Kenny around it.

Running out of light -- and temperature -- we get back to the parking lot just after Bob and Jason, talk to them for a while, then head home for steaks and beer.  All in all, not a bad way to end the week. 

A nice, cheap alternative for bike GPS use.

I've become a big, big fan of the Strava ride logging site.  When bike GPS first came out, I was a big fan, and bought in with a Garmin Edge 305, and used it religiously for a while.  But, after a while, it dawned on me that all I was getting for all that datalogging wasn't much more than I could have done with a typical bike computer and a mapping site like "MapMyRide" or "Bikely".  Sure, I got neat little graphs of my speed and heart rate and cadence, but unless I did the same exact ride, it was almost impossible to compare my times and see some progress.  What I really wanted, and spent a bit of time looking for was something that would allow me to see my times on a certain segment, like, say, Tohickon Hill Road.  I couldn't find anything, so the usefulness of GPS logging lost its appeal to me, and I stopped using it as much.
A couple years later, I find out about this new site, "Strava".  Oh, goodie, another GPS logging service.  Well, here's what makes them special -- they have actually implemented the segment matching I was dreaming of all those years ago, and not only can you compare your times against yourself... you can compare against everyone else who's ridden there.  WHOA.  That's cool.

So I get into it again, religiously logging my rides, uploading as soon as I get home so I can see if I have any new KOMs, and go back through all my long-forgotten Garmin Connect rides so I can import them into Strava, because who knows -- I might have had a KOM long before I knew what those were!  At first I'm using my phone, but I quickly start looking at the newest Garmin offerings.  I'm a little tenative about that, because my old Edge 305 wasn't exactly problem free.  After the warranty expired, I had to send it back to them for a fix to the tune of $90.  I forgot what was broken, but not too long after, it wasn't finding satellites anymore.  I tried several things, then gave up and sold it to a buddy for a song.  (amusingly enough, he did manage to get it working)

But, I then had the great idea, and found Grace's old Motorola Cliq (MB200) phone, her first smart phone.  I loaded that up with MyTracks, and started testing it out.  Turns out, it works really well.  I tried the Strava app, but had some problems with that, so have been sticking with MyTracks, which is made by the Google team.  (I worked with the Strava support folks on the issues I was having with the Cliq, but since MyTracks worked and the Cliq is an older phone, I didn't push the issue.)

So, before you go out and spend at least $150 on even the most inexpensive Garmin, or the fancy new Motorola that does MP3s as well, consider getting an old, used Android smart phone.  You might just wind up with something far cheaper which has far more features.

• A phone can have a very accurate GPS, especially with MyTracks, which allows you to modify the logging settings.  Nothing short of the ultra-expensive Garmin Edge 800 allows you to do that.
• If you don't like the interface of the MyTracks app, you can run the Strava app.  Or Velox.  Or a large number of other alternate apps.  With a Garmin, you're stuck with the interface they give you.
• In my comparison with logged rides in Nockamixon, my old Cliq with accuracy turned up has logged closer to the state-created trail maps (created with, I'm told, a $20k trail mapping GPS) than anything shy of a Garmin Edge 800, a $450 computer.  Better than an Edge 500.
• A phone has support for wifi, so if you use the Strava app, as soon as you have access to a wifi signal, you can upload your ride automatically.  However, I use MyTracks as it's more stable and precise, so I export to GPX and email the ride on wireless.
• Motorola's bragging about the MotoACTV having MP3 support.  Even old phones support MP3, OGG, and several other video formats, as well as having the ability to play videos.
• Most Android apps work on an old phone.  No apps available for bike computers.  Might not be a huge consideration, but it can be pretty cool.
• Without cell service, battery life is fairly fantastic.  I did a multi-hour ride and didn't even drop down to 50% battery with the Cliq.  If you had the display on, that would wear it down faster.
• Most importantly, an old phone like the Cliq MB200 can be had for as little as $50-70 used. You might even have one on hand already.  It doesn't need to be unlocked, you don't need cell service.

Things to watch out for:

• This is the biggest thing.  Some phones will NOT get a GPS signal without a data connection.  My old Motorola Droid X would not lock onto the GPS without data, no matter how long I let it sit.  I'm not sure the cause, but that renders it totally useless as a bike computer.  I've tried running it where I had a wifi signal at the beginning so it could get a lock, and then doing a ride, but the accuracy was pretty sad.  At this point, I can say that the Cliq and the original Motorola Droid both work without any data signal and make good bike computers.  The Droid X and the Galaxy Nexus both have issues getting GPS without data coverage.
• My Cliq is really particular about getting sweat on the screen.  Whenever I've done that, it gets kinda mental, and won't respond right to touch until I pull the battery, clean the screen, and leave it alone for a while.  I'm wondering if maybe the phone itself is dying, as other phones I've had don't act up the same way.  Still, worth mentioning.
• The Cliq does sometimes have some GPS madness where it doesn't follow the path too closely.  This ride has me riding through the middle of the lake, (pretty sure I didn't do that) but it was also before I tuned the precision in MyTracks.
• Handlebar mounts for phones aren't quite as slick as mounts for bike GPS.  I got this ugly beast.  I don't understand the point of the ball socket, and can't seem to get it tight enough to hold a position.  Most of the time I just put it in my jersey pocket, although accuracy does seem slightly improved on the handlebars.  Some phones also might not like the level of vibration they'll see on handlebars.
• Phones aren't waterproof.  Garmins are.  However, I've found that ziploc snack bags fit even the pretty large Galaxy Nexus with no problem, and are cheap.  I can still operate the touch screen through it, too.

So there you go, hopefully something to think about, and if you happen to have an old phone sitting around from after an upgrade, you might be able to give it a try!