Rob_E

I guess it depends on what you consider useless. Sound like the opinion is that if you're not training or going on fitness rides, the data isn't valuable, but that really depends on what you use the data for. I like knowing how many miles are on my bike, and, more specifically, on certain components. Knowing how fast your tires wear may help you decide which tire to use. Knowing how far you've gone on a given chain may remind you to check for stretch before you've damaged your cassette. And depending on how fast and where you ride, you may find that a speedometer will help you remain in compliance with the speed limit.

But that does bring up the question of what you want the computer for. Even the cheapest will do the basics, and I'm not aware of anyone saying that they've had a computer that doesn't measure properly, which would seem to be the biggest deciding factor. I'd love GPS route-tracking and other fancy stuff, but I'm not ready to plunk down the cash, so I find that my Topeak computer does all the other basic stuff. Mostly I use the total miles traveled, the current speed, the time, and the miles traveled today. Get an idea of what you want to know, and that'll help you figure out which computer you need, although they're all very similar at the lower end. I have considered going wireless, though. It might be useful if someone discussed the pros and cons of that. I'm guessing that it creates an extra battery to change, but other than that, I don't know if there are any downsides other than being more expensive.