Hi guys,

I am a new rider and use strava which i find very helpful. I see many bike computers on amazon for less than $20 or $30.

1) what is the primary use for these?
2) what are some good ones you all recommend?
3) do any of them sync with strava?

Thanks

You'd have to look at the features of individual devices, but I'm doubting you'll find many $20 devices that play nice with Strava. I have even had troubles with Strava recognising generic bluetooth devices.

An magnet/induction based speedometer, might be more responsive to the current conditions than a satellite based device. I.E. If you want to know an exact current speed.

I use Strava for every ride, but also have a bike computer with cadence. I have my iphone with strava in my pocket, and have my bike computer set so that it shows current speed and cadence (I ride using cadence, and aim for 80+Rpm)

I'm looking very closely at the new Garmin Edge 1000 and may get one in a months time. It links to Strava but is not cheap

I seriously doubt that you will find a bike computer in the $20-30 range that has Bluetooth, which is needed to connect to your phone and the Strava app. Purchasing a stand alone bike computer will solve the problem of being able to see your speed, distance and cadence (if equipped to do so) but if you want to see your cadence, and possibly your heart rate, on Strava, you will have to manually enter them at the end of your ride. However, it will not graph your cadence or heart rate but will display the min and max values.

If you're not looking at spending a few hundred dollars in order to get the bells and whistles offered on a Garmin and similar products, you may want to look into the Wahoo RFLKT ($79) or RFLKT+ ($99). The RFLKT is not a bike computer but it does connect to your phone and your Strava app. The Strava app sends the RFLKT page layouts (which can be customized) and data collected by Strava (speed, distance, times, etc) is displayed on it's screen. This will allow you to see your ride data without having to keep your phone's screen lit during the ride. If you feel the need to use cadence and heart rate in the future, you can get the Bluetooth sensors and connect them to your phone and the Strava app and that data will also appear on the RFLKT's screen. It's a cheap way to get the bells and whistles of a Garmin, or similar product, without paying the hefty price tag. The difference between the RFLKT and the RFLKT+ is that the plus has a built in altimeter and thermometer and it has an Ant+ bridge that will allow you to connect Ant+ or Bluetooth sensors to an iPhone. The altimeter, thermometer and Ant+ bridge do not currently work with Android phones but some Android phones do have Ant+ support.

Technically, any bike computer that generates a .fit file (I would assume) should be compatible with Strava.

The least expensive that I know is the Garmin Edge 200...which is $89.99. It basically records your ride with GPS, includes speed on the readout, has a lap feature, etc. Basically this would be probably 1 step up from just running the phone app to record your rides in the sense that it's a set and forget, doesn't rely on your phone battery, and has a display you mount on your stem that shows your speed, time elapsed, distance elapsed, etc.

I don't believe it supports heart rate or cadence...but if your goal is tracking, it works with strava, and once there the file includes things like speed, average speed, average power, power during certain portions, etc...

There's cheaper:

https://www.amazon.com/Bryton-Rider-1...EJ3NNVRX3PR0EF

[MENTION=391827]dr_lha[/MENTION] that looks nice...It says it supports BlueTooth too, which is nice. And it may take a HR pushed with BLE (don't have the time to read into it now) -- but a lot of the "fitness trackers" can push HR with BLE now adays, so that's definitely a viable option for a cheap cycling computer (assuming it has some longevity bulit into it).

It actually doesn't support BLE sensors, it supports talking to your phone via BLE only. I know, it's not obvious from the specifications, but you'll need ANT+ sensors for it. But compared to the Garmin Edge 200, which support no sensors, it's better!

Thanks for the informative inputs everyone! I just saw them. I have a B&H gift card from the Mrs that I'm trying to use. I was looking for something under $200 and the polar m450 with HRM caught my eye. Is it a good one to link with strava?

I may be getting the Garmin fenix 3 as a gift in a few months so thinking little ahead if the polar and Garmin will talk to each other?

Polar stuff links so Polar's own "Flow" system (like Garmins connect to Garmin errr... Connect), that supports syncing to Strava, so it should work fine. You can find a review of the M450 here:

Hands-on with Polar?s new M450 GPS cycling computer | DC Rainmaker

Read the comments to find out about the latest updates.

It's a bit of an oddball in that it supports only BLE sensors, not ANT+.

I've had one for a little more than a year, it's a fantastic watch.

You can use it on the bike (it will talk to speed, cadence, HRM, and power sensors) and it will push your data to Strava with no work on your part. Just stop the ride on the watch, and it's on Strava.

Just curious how much do these sensors cost? I can look it up if you can give the model numbers also. Thanks

Kind of a bug "it depends." The basic heart strap is $40; the heart strap with sensors for running dynamics is more, it costs $50 bundled with the watch; the heart strap for swimming is $100; the one for triathlon is $130. A power meter can be anywhere from $400 to $3,500 depending on your requirements, some of them also act as a cadence sensor and then you just use GPS for speed. Otherwise the speed and cadence sensor is maybe $50 on Amazon.

Amazon.com: Garmin Bike Speed Sensor and Cadence Sensor: Cell Phones & Accessories

this one?

I haven't used that one, I had the GSC-10 in mind when I wrote that because the last time I bought one it was about $35. I just looked and that's no longer the case.

I ended up getting the Garmin fenix 3 as a early fathers day gift today. Was surprised. Got the HRM bundle. Now that I got the Garmin watch does it make sense to get the Garmin speed and cadence sensor or the wahoo fitness blue screen ant+? Excited

So the watch can tell you your speed and how far you've ridden based on GPS, or you can get a wheel sensor which is more precise. Personally I find GPS is enough. But speed sensors are usually bundled with cadence sensors and you probably want one of those. The Garmin or Wahoo one will work, as long as it's ANT+ any speed and cadence sensor will work with it.

There's also a quick release kit available that lets you put your watch on your handlebars or stem to see it better while you ride.

Awesome. I'm leaning more towards wahoo. Amazon has two one regular and other with any+ should I order the second so it can talk to fenix 3?

All the Wahoo sensors are BTLE and Ant+ and transmit both signals simultaneously. The nice thing about Wahoo sensors is that if you ever want to augment your Fenix with a cycling app on your phone, the Wahoo sensors will connect to both devices at the same time.

Thanks John. I got confused since amazon had two. I want link the sensors to my fenix 3 and then push data to strava.

The old model Wahoo BlueSC only supported BLE. The V2 version is BLE/ANT+. I guess Amazon still have some of the old ones in stock.

FYI, so will the Garmin sensors. I have the same watch as the OP, and a Samsung phone with ANT+; I've been able to record a few rides and runs (including HR data) on my phone and watch at the same time. I can't find any benefit to having it recorded on the phone, but it's possible.

i ended up getting just the garmin cadence sensor and installed it. I also downloaded the ant+ app( i guess the service) on my android. how do i get my garmin connect talking to the cadence sensor?

Nashbar has been blowing out the Cateye Stealth series. I just got a Stealth 50. On a test trip around the block it locked onto signal in a not unreasonable amount of time, recorded everything and uploaded to Strava painlessly. I'll let you know how it goes. I've been lugging a tablet in my camelbak for off road rides and this is a lot smaller and lighter. I'll probably be picking up a speed/cadence sensor to go with.

If anyone's interested I'll update how it goes with this for me.