My bike computer has been acting up lately. It will randomly not work even with the sensor and reader lined up on the front wheel. Sometimes it will also randomly turn off or throw out random mph numbers. Does this sound like it needs a new battery or is the computer just on its way to taking a dump for good?

Change the battery every year.

Magic 8 ball says "Reply Hazy Try Again."

I would suggest replacing the battery after lightly buffing the battery and computer contacts with a pencil eraser. There is often a reset button somewhere, if you have one, press it for a few seconds after inserting the new battery.

Li 2032 on older style, non-GPS computer will last 5 yrs or more. Older computers may respond to battery change and dsbrantjr suggestion of
cleaning the contacts, both in the battery compartment and on the slide in contacts on the removable computer back and the mount may
help. I have had this occur with one computer (random speed jumps, ie 11 to 23mph then 14 while moving on the flat). Hope you can
interpolate your odometer reading, if important to you, as removal of battery or reset push zeros out all the settings. Computer should
work down to 2.2V out of the battery (2032 is 2.8-3.0VDC when new). The graceful fail of low battery is a dimming display. One computer
needed the battery contacts bent back into a good position, they were too depressed to make reliable contact with the 2032 cell and the
vibration resulted in intermittent contacts. All of my computers are 8-12 yrs old. Failed computer most commonly manifests as
no display.

Some older model Cat-Eye cyclometers (Mity 8 and Enduro 8 for sure and possibly some others) had provisions for resetting the odometer reading to it's previous value after a battery change or hard reset. It was a great feature and why it's no longer offered I don't understand.

I've ditched the bike computers off all my bikes, and I find the riding to be much more enjoyable now. Part of that is never having to worry again about the alignment of the magnet or replacing the batteries.

Just a suggestion to consider.

The Cat Eye Urban is my first wireless bike computer that I have used for any real amount of time. Mine recently started having problems exactly like yours is. I thought to my self, "damn it looks like this thing is turning into a piece of junk already". I 've had it for about a year. It just needed the batteries changed! I was just so used to the wired versions running FOREVER on a single battery!

So yeah, change the batteries....

Bruce

09box, My wireless was throwing insane speed readings and not recording speed at other times. Only on a few occasions did it seem accurate.

I had to play around with the sensor to magnet position to have it read properly. I couldn't have the relationship too close or too far away, like Goldilock's B&E into the bear's home.

Brad

Yeah, their wired computers do run for several years on a CR2032 battery and, when the reading get wonky there is no ambiguity as to which battery is the problem.

Sounds like a battery change might be the way for me to go...

With smartphones and all of the nice Bluetooth sensors out there I ditched my computer completely.

Done this on my folding KHS.
Sometimes I miss not seeing what time it is. The other stats. not so much.

toss it.. they're cheap.