Stringrazor

I'm sure this has been discussed before (and I did search and read through some posts) but you all like talking about this stuff anyway, right? Now that I have the new bike, I'm gonna need a cycle computer. Being a full-time IT geek, I'd like to have a comp that can upload to a PC so I can keep a log easily. What the advantages/disadvantages of wired vs wireless? I definitely want speed/distance and heartrate but do I need cadence too? Of course, I don't want to spend a fortune (~$150 +/- max). The Polar CS200cad looks good on paper but user reviews are all over the place. Should I just get a simple speed/distance comp w/o upload capabilities? What functions do you really use?

Ed-u-micate me..

will dehne

This is a very individual thing. I have spend ridiculous amount of money toward these gizmo's and now I lost interest in that.
Lets start with HRM. Assuming you are in good health, your HR is hardly a limiting factor. Your legs, nutrition and willpower are more important. Your heart will not blow up.
Cadence is important. Cadence in the 90's is much better than the 80's. Do you need to monitor that? I no longer do. I just learned to sense pressure in my muscles and gear down. To get there you may need a cadence monitor.
Speed. Well, we need to know that don't we.
Average speed? Nice to know so you can brag about it and perhaps see progress or not.
Uploading to a computer? That is more than I am willing to do.
I like to bike and did over 10,000 mile last year. 200 miles a week is for me a pleasure. Monitoring that with a computer does not increase my pleasure. JMHO.

MNBikeguy

My experience is similar to wills. I agree.
I confess to being a gadget junkie. Been there...done that with the gazillion function bike comps. Personally, after the novelty wore off, it just became an exercise in time consuming useless data.
Strapping on the HRM lasted a week. (ugh) Cadence monitoring is great for stationary bikes. (IMHO)
While uploading all that data made a pretty cool chart, what I soon realized without having to upload anything, was my average speed was slowly increasing on my daily after work ride. That little bit of information is available on all the cheap basic function models!

stapfam

Look at the Polar Heart monitors for bikes and they do have monitors that will axct as Bike computers that also have cadence- or they used to. But I was looking at the Garmin Edge earlier this year and although expensive- There are models there that will give you all you want with GPS at the same time.

RoMad

I have a Cateye Astrale 8. It does all of the standard functions plus cadance. On a friends recommdation I switched to it so I would know my cadance. As a new rider the cadance was very helpful and still is. Like everyone says here, keep it above 90. One odd thing I noticed is that when I switched bikes and put the old computer on the new bike I seem to be at the same comfort level at a higher cadance. On the old bike I stayed between 90-95 and on the new one I look down and will be at 98-100. I don't know if the bike is smoother or it is because it fits me better. It has a little bit different frame dimensions. Of course it could all be in my head.