Should I spend the extra money to buy one with cadence? Is this necessary?
Any suggestions on model under $100?

I started biking again a little over a year ago. When my computer with cadence needed replacing, I got a computer without cadence because I thought with my experience I did not need it and I wanted less wires and sensors to worry about.

It is difficult for me to judge cadence without a computer. My legs do not give me the feedback that I need to determine what gear to be in. After I got cadence again, I would often find that when I shifted it did not feel like my cadence increased. But my cadence had increased. As a result without the computer giving me feedback on my cadence, I would shift again unnecessaryily. I feel that if I want to concentrate on keeping a steady cadence I need a computer to help me since I cannot do it on my own.

Some riders can do this themselves and think everyone else can also. I am not one of them.

Cateye Astrale 8 is the model that I have. Since I mounted it on my bike I have not had to adjust it once or replace a battery over the last year and 5,000 miles. The Strada is a nice model also. Whichever computer you get, make sure it can fit your handlebars. I had a new bike with 31.8 handlebars and found that some of the computers that I was looking at did not fit the larger bars. But that was a year ago.

Roadbikereview.com is a good source for information. Go to their reviews and check it out. Or use Google search and type the model number of the computer you are interested and add review. You can usually find good reviews on just about any product using Google search. Example:
+"Cateye Astrale 8" +review gets you reviews and a youtube video.

Thanks dekindy. That is very helpful. I am going to definitely purchase one with cadence.

I guess first ask yourself if you really care about cadence...

A lot of posters might suggest you count pedal strokes for 10 seconds and multiply by six or something like that. While it can be done it's certainly not convenient, especially if your actively trying to increase your cadence and want allot of feedback.

I have a sigma 1606L. It has wired speed and wired cadence (i'm old school that way). It's a basic and adequate computer... oh and cheap too, i think like $30. You should have no problem in your price range.

DX has a cycle computer with cadence for $5.46. They call it RPM but thats the same thing as cadence. A button selects speed or RPM. This one is so cheap you can just leave it on the bike.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2682
http://www.dealextreme.com/productimages/sku_2682_1.jpg
You can easily Improvise a cheap computer to read cadence. Here is the link.
http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/touring/cadence/cadence.html

They call it RPM but thats the same thing as cadence. A button selects speed or RPM

This item appears to be intended to sense WHEEL RPM and calculate SPEED (RPM*Wheel circumference).

Yes you could attach it to sense crank RPM but then what would happen to all the other features ...
SPD - Current Speed <--- useless - needs Wheel RPM * Wheel Size to calculate Speed
ODO - Odometer <--- useless - again - needs wheel Rev Count * size to measure distance.
DST - Trip Distance <--- useless - requires same as ODO
MXS - Maxmum Speed <--- same as SPD
AVS - Average Speed <--- same as SPD
TM - Elapsed Time <--- can be used - no relation to wheel RPM
RPM - Rotation Per Minute <--- of Crank - (cadence or RPM) not of Wheel
CLK - Clock <-- useable

OK ... it's $6 but you can only use $1.75 worth of it's features ...
Deal or no Deal??? To you maybe ... to me ... no.

You are welcome. I am glad it was helpful. Finding myself constantly riding with stronger riders (which is just about everybody) on long rides, it is extemely important for me to keep my cadence steady and being in the right gear to maximize my ability.

Some riders can do this themselves and think everyone else can also.

Yeah, of course -- it's just like tapping your feet to the music. An easy 60 rpm is most any military march; 90 rpm would be, say, Metallica's "St. Anger".

I am not one of them.

Ah... nevermind.. ;)

Cadence, is one of the most overrated features in a bicycle computer. You only really need it in 2 situations

1) When you start out new and do the typical "must train for higher cadences than 60)
2) Training

Once you find what your "normal" cadence is on a ride, you never really deviate too far from this comfortable figure.

Like Operator said it is overrated. I only payed attention to it when I first started and rarely from then out.
For whatever reason I was hung up on keeping mine at 90-100. Now it is fine above 70 and I tend to sit at 80. On occasion I will look at it out of boredom.

So, purchase a cateye astrale 8 at most. For $35 you can afford to ignore it eventually.

+1 on the Astrale 8. I bought it because I too heard to you need to keep a high (90+) cadence. But find that I am comfortable at 75 rpm or so. I find myself paying more attention to MPH. Not sure why though.

The computer on my road bike has cadence. My commuter/cross bike doesn't have it, nor does my mountain bike. I have it on my road bike because that bike gets used on the trainer in the winter, and having cadence is something else I can monitor to help pass the time.

Another recommendation for the Astrale 8. Besides just being a good all-around bike computer, I like knowing cadence 'cause I am a numbers freak (as an engineer, it is an occupational hazard :) ). Another advantage is if you use your bike on an indoor trainer, the speed sensor is mounted on the rear wheel, so you get some information about your indoor riding too.

Yet another vote for the Astrale 8. I've used one for several year (before I went wireless) and found it to be rock solid & easy to use. Yes, I agree the feature can be overrated, but I prefer it over mph (which, I'd argue, people tend to focus on too much).

My reason for switching to the Astrale 8? I found when I initially returned to biking that I tended to push too big a gear (i.e., cadence in the 60s).

I'm a big fan of the Sigma BC1606. It has all the necessary features. It also has an LED backlight. Yes, it does have cadence, but as others have said, I find it mostly useless. You can also get a second bike harness; it'll automatically read when it's on bike 1 or bike 2. The 2nd bike mount also comes in a rear wheel variety for use on a trainer.

I see a lot of folks don't care for cadence, but I find it useful. I tend to be a masher, but my knees complain if I do long rides just mashing up the hills. If I spin up the hills, my knees are OK and I typically climb a bit faster. So for me, there is a nice benefit to having the cadence sensor.

For those all-day bike rides (centuries and longer), I know I need to keep my cadence above 85 to 90 rpm and keep my heart rate averaging at or below 140 bpm. I can ride a long way without pain afterwards when I stay within my limits.

This item appears to be intended to sense WHEEL RPM and calculate SPEED (RPM*Wheel circumference).

Yes you could attach it to sense crank RPM but then what would happen to all the other features ...
SPD - Current Speed <--- useless - needs Wheel RPM * Wheel Size to calculate Speed
ODO - Odometer <--- useless - again - needs wheel Rev Count * size to measure distance.
DST - Trip Distance <--- useless - requires same as ODO
MXS - Maxmum Speed <--- same as SPD
AVS - Average Speed <--- same as SPD
TM - Elapsed Time <--- can be used - no relation to wheel RPM
RPM - Rotation Per Minute <--- of Crank - (cadence or RPM) not of Wheel
CLK - Clock <-- useable

OK ... it's $6 but you can only use $1.75 worth of it's features ...
Deal or no Deal??? To you maybe ... to me ... no.

I have had this unit for several years. It has separate sensors for wheel and crank and reads cadence directly from the crank sensor. When you press the RPM button it reads cadence. Pressing it again switches back to read speed. All other functions are unaffected and operate the same with speed or RPM selected. This computer has served well for several years and I never bother to remove it when away from the bike as it's so inexpensive.

When using a cheap computer modified for cadence normally you would pair it up with another computer without cadence.

I have the Cateye Strada Cadence. Nice unit, but the Astrale 8 is much more intuitive to use. And cheaper. Otherwise, they use the same bike mount and wiring harness.

+1 on the Cateye Stradas and Astrale 8's. (I've got one or the other, forget which, doesn't seem un-intuitive to use).

Good to be able to quickly check cadence. Watching seconds on a wristwatch is too awkward. In days of yore, I taped a piece of paper to my handlebar stem with the various gear-inches, and would pass the time doing the mental gymnastics to multiply cadence (determined by watch watching) times the gear, times the conversion factor, to figure my speed.

[URL="http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=22846&subcategory_ID=4110"[/URL]This "Filzer" unit at Performance works Ok, too. "Wireless" for the front wheel speed sensor, wire for cadence.