PatrickGSR94

I picked up this bike computer from Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-15-Fu...ndingMethod=rr

It seems to work okay, but unless I'm doing it wrong, I have to completely go through the entire set-up process all over again just to change anything like bike tire size/circumference, weight, age, switch between miles/kilometers, etc. To do this you hold both buttons for a few seconds, which appears to reset the entire unit just like removing and replacing the battery.

I've been doing lots of walking and running in recent months, and now biking, and my weight is changing every week (down 15 lbs since the first of the year!). I really would have to have to set up the unit over and over again every week just to update my weight. I know that's for calorie-burning calculations which I really don't care too much about. But still, it shouldn't be that difficult IMHO.

And similarly, are there any bike computers with a backlight that you can actually switch on and will stay on until you switch it off or the unit turns off? This one has a button on top for backlight, but it only stays on for 5 seconds, and sometimes it can be difficult to remove one hand from the bar to switch it on if you want to see your speed at night on a particularly bumpy section of road, for example.

a1penguin

Except for my Garmin 500, every bike computer I've had is a PITA to change. The Cateye Strada Wireless is a pain. I usually don't bother changing from PST to DST. With only two buttons, the sequences required to make changes is very complicated. Print out instructions and keep them handy.

ItsJustMe

I haven't found any that are a big deal to change, though that one sounds a little worse than most. It's about like changing a watch. On mine I just push the "set" button until I get to what I want to change, change it and cycle through the end.

I've never had one that needed my age and weight. Really I don't much care about them, I just want the odometer to track service on the brakes and tires and such.

If you get one that has a backlight that will stay on, it's going to be significantly bigger and have AAA cells at least to run it. A backlight draws probably 1000 times more power than the rest of the computer. If you kept it on the whole time with a regular watch battery that they usually run on, you'd be dropping new batteries in every 3 or 4 hours.

My advice is to stop worrying about your speed and enjoy the ride. Heck, do the opposite of a backlight - turn the computer so you can't even see it when riding, if you care about any of that stuff just look at it when you're done with your ride.