AdvXtrm

I don't want one that needs to be connected to my phone for anything. Otherwise I'd just use my phone, which is what I'm trying to avoid for this.

I just need the basic info such a s Speed, Distance, etc. I'd also like elevation, but from what I understand these are unreliable, and need to be carefully maintained at best. I do not need any "training", body, cadence, or such things.

Some things very important to me are that it is waterproof, has a back-light for easy night viewing, large text, a replaceable and long lasting battery be it rechargeable or not, and USABILITY. I don't want to have to be holding multiple buttons at once, and cycling through a bunch of setting just to reset, get info, or whatever. I have an older Cateye on another bike, which is most definitely NOT user friendly. I'm looking for something better.

Can you recommend any for me?

blacknbluebikes 

Actually, I just bought another Cateye to replace a Sigma on my "B-bike". For some time I've had a Cateye RD420DW on my "A-bike". I like it because, first, it's wireless, and second, because all you do is "push and click." That is, there's no button, the whole body of the computer is a simple rocker. Press down, next screen, press again, next screen. Cycles through 8 screens. Simple as can be, great design. Also has cadence.

Sigma just bummed me out because the spoke magnet broke and went I went to get a fix, I was somewhat irked that it was going to be what I considered "fairly expensive" for a trivial plastic part plus shipping. Pullllease... it shouldn't be 25% of the cost of full replacement. bye bye. Just couldn't engineer a good hack around remounting that magnet.

Bought a Cateye MC200W to replace it. Didn't care about cadence this time (pretty much know it), glad to pickup easy backlight access (B-bike is night bike) and a seperate stopwatch function (for certain segments). Again, I think the push-click on the body is pretty user friendly. The Sigma had 4 buttons, bit too much, kept wandering into setup mode and the like.

jefnvk

I've got a few cheap wired ones from the local Big Box store, as well as two CatEye Velos. Can't say any one really works any better or less than the others. All are fairly accurate (generally <1% deviation from GPS), all work great for basic speed/time/distance. Both my CatEyes are one button, the others are two.

Dunno about shipping because I have them locally, but Performance sells replacement Cateye magnets for like $4. They should work on any model, I'm using one with my Bell computer right now. It replaced the giant magnet I duct taped to the spoke to make the computer work in its place....

EDIT: oops, just read backlit. Can't help after all.

blacknbluebikes 

Yeah, came in at $11. I wrote the company, they pointed me at their webstore, end of story. Not a bank breaker, but - hey, come on, it's a trivial piece. I gotta buy you FIVE cups of coffee for one of those? And neither electrical tape or hot glue was successful - I don't know if the blade spokes made it better or worse. Just stuck my tongue out and moved on.

fietsbob

I'm Still using [when I put a Battery in] the German Made Ciclomaster I got in the 80's

I just use the odometer and resettable trip mile counter .

AdvXtrm

The Cateye line where the unit itself is a switch sounds interesting, but I wonder if it would trigger when riding over the rough stuff and getting airborn here and there as I ride, which happens about every time I'm out. And also how long would such a switching mechanism last?

Doug64

We have Cateye Stradas on 5 of the touring bikes in our family. They have been reliable, and are relatively easy to use. My wife's touring bike has had her Strada on the longest, 5 years with just over 16,000 miles, without any problems.

The body switch is reliable and bumps and jars do not affect it. The trouble I have is that I some times clear it accidently when I lean over the bars. It is easy to prevent by leaving the mode on the "time" setting.

alan s 

Garmin Edge 1000.

AdvXtrm

I may very well end up going with one of those, thanks. I'll try and get it mounted in a position that I'm less likely to rest on it and accidentally reset it.

That's a lot more computer than I need, more money than I want to spend, and too short of battery life for my needs.

AdvXtrm

This one looks pretty good. I like that it has a back-light, since I do about as much riding at night as I do during the daytime. It looks like this one has a button for operation rather than the unit rocker style of the ones previously mentioned.

Cateye - CC-MC200W Micro Wireless
https://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/CC-MC200W/

AdvXtrm

OK, after reading up a bit more on the Cateye - CC-MC200W, I see that in gets bugged out when passing my certain signal frequencies and such. I wonder if there's a wired computer that would fit my needs. Cateye doesn't have one with a back-light.

AdvXtrm

I found this one. It looks like this company is using a digital technology that prevents other frequency generators from interfering with it.


Sigma - ROX 6.0
SIGMA ROX - Overview

Sangetsu

I've been using Cateye cordless type computers for decades now, and can't say enough good about them. Small, light, simple, and lots of battery life.

AdvXtrm

This one looks tempting as well. Has more functions than I need, but all that I want in that mix. I really like that it can be charged during use.



Sigma - ROX®10.0 GPS
SIGMA ROX - Overview

amos77

Look at this on eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/361547705548

skycomag

keck these out suppose to fairly good.
I have not use one but when my garmin craps out, i'm going to give them a try,


https://www.google.com/#q=bryton+310

staehpj1

I have found that the several wireless ones I have observed on my bikes or the bikes on friends and relatives bikes were flawed in a way that I found a problem when on long tours. Strangely they always seemed fine when around town at home. The main problems were:

• Miles logged when parked near a neon sign. Since I often lean the bike against the front of a little store or diner this was a problem when on tour.
• Bogus readings near power lines, electric fences or other interference.
• On some you need to push a button to wake it up when it goes into rest mode overnight.

None of these ever bothered me much at home, but on tour where I rely on both the total for the whole trip and the total for the day to keep track of where I am, it was a major inconvenience.

I have used a bunch of different ones including Cateye and Planet Bike. Some models from either were OK, but I like the planet bike ones better. The Planet Bike ones I have had use a single button. One short push to toggle display modes and one 5 second push to reset trip mileage, elapsed time, and so on. The few display modes are well thought out and simple to navigate and read.

I agree that fairly simple is best. No need for a plethora of features. The main things are current speed, odometer, and trip odometer. I do like to also have a thermometer and current time though. Other stuff like elapsed time and max and avg speed are ok if they don't get in the way or complicate operation. I find that they don't on the Planet Bike, but do on the Cateye models.

I find the thermometer on the Planet Bike to be a big plus. I is surprisingly accurate as long as you are moving.

Yan 

I have used various models of wired and wireless Cateyes, and one wireless Sigma. The Sigma stopped working after a few years, becoming completely glitched out. I think water got in there somehow. None of my Cateyes have every failed, but were stolen or lost at various points. I'm currently on a wireless Cateye Micro. You can't go wrong with this simple computer. I've also used a cheap department store computer once when I arrived on a tour and realized I'd left my computer at home. It worked fine and was gifted away later.

Consider getting a wired computer as well: they only use one battery, a huge benefit.

AdvXtrm

Thanks everyone, I'm following up on all of your suggestion. Hopefully I'll reach a decision and get one ordered by tomorrow.

BigAura

Just to add my vote for Cateye Strada wireless. I've been using one for nine years for touring and never had any issues. Change the batteries every once-in-awhile and never think about it...IT simply just works, simply I purchased a second one a couple of years after the first one and have had zero-problems with either.

Here it is on my touring rig before my July tour.

Jean3n16

did you decide on anything? Im interested to know because i have been using my cell and RideWithGPS but it would be nice to have a computer that is long lasting and doesnt drop out (due to losing 3G/Wifi).

blacknbluebikes 

Update: just returned my new Cateye MC-200W due to intermittent transmitter failure. Was only capturing 2/3 of data, eg: 30 mile ride recorded as 19.5. Couldn't stay connected wirelessly, tho I tried all suggested troubleshooting tips. C'est la vie. Still looking for a decent $60-$75 solution myself. harummph.

AdvXtrm

OK, so here's where I am with all of it right now. I decided I wanted a GPS unit, because using my phone for that purpose, the apps have been buggy, and trying to deal with waterproofing and protecting my phone on the bars isn't that great either. Dedicated units have their advantages as has been pointed out. A dedicated multipurpose GPS unit will solve my issues with the phone in that role, and it will also cover many if not all of the functions I want from a dedicated cyclo-computer. So then it comes down to size, weight, and price. Yet at the same time I'm still considering adding a relatively inexpensive dedicated cyclo-computer alongside the GPS unit at some point. I haven't completely decided on that part of it, but I am for sure going for a dedicated GPS unit right now.

As for a reasonably inexpensive cyclo-computer, I really like the "Cateye CC-VT245W Urban Wireless+", but, since it uses the same system as the Cateye MC-200W that blacknbluebikes is having to return now, which others have held the same complaint about, then you'll have to go up to a more expensive unit using different technology. The other more expensive units I've found worth considering are the "Polar M450 GPS Bike Computer" fro about $140, the Polar "V650 GPS Bike Computer" for about $200, and the "Sigma ROX 10.0 GPS" for about $200.

So as I said, for myself right now, I'm likely going with a dedicated multipurpose GPS unit; the features are awesome. I'm pretty settled on this Garmin eTrex Touch 35, which costs around $180,

Garmin - eTrex Touch 35
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/into...rod156873.html

Walter S

I've quit buying name brands of bike computer. My last purchase was a Chinese model I bought four years ago on eBay, I think for about $12.00. I had to replace the battery recently.

Jean3n16

link? name?