Hello. I have just purchased a new to me road bike. Litespeed Tuscany. A little backstory, as a kid I bought my first road bike (Fuji) at about age 13 1986 ish. Put 12-14,000 miles on it, sold it, bought a LeMond Zurich. Rode that for 4 years, sold it. Been without a bike since about 2006. Getting back into it because I miss the hell out of it. My old bike had a Cateye Micro Computer that had the basics, but also included cadence. I later had a heart rate monitor I wore separately so I could slow down before I blew a gasket. For my new bike, I am looking for pretty much the same as before, maybe add a hrm. Looking around I find a CetEye Strada model that lumps all of that into one. Now, I also have a smart phone these days, and I have Strava downloaded.
Not looking to break my bank, just something to keep track. Sorry, I am so far out of the loop on this stuff. What do you guys have as far as computers and what options do you find you wish you had or don't need? Being as I moved from Florida to east Tennessee I think an altimeter of sorts would be neat, but not required.

Thanks!
Wayne

I use an ABC/GPS watch. Love it. A lot of people are happy using their phones though.

Well I just posted the reply below in another thread. I didn't really care to have navigation and all that since I nearly always ride local. I just wanted to have speed, cadence, and HR, and be able to post to Strava. That's all. I've researched a lot over the past couple weeks and decided to try the phone route. We'll see how it goes but I think it will work out great. I already have the phone anyway and always carry it with me so why not use it. The only time I'd ever want to use navigation is on non-local rides, and I'll have it. Battery should last fine, especially since my iPhone has an OLED and I'll use a black background. On longer rides I can just use a USB battery charger.



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I never was able to use the phone computer reliably. Another alternative is something from Lezyne - a Macro is $100, usually available on sale somewhere. At still lower prices you can find Brytons and IGPSports computers with ANT+ and/or Bluetooth to connect with strava, phone, or sensors, including HRMs. You don't need sensors for speed and distance, though a sensor will be slightly more accurate in many environments. Cateye does spedd, distance, and cadence at about $50, but to get HRM integration, Cateye costs more like $100 or more.

Beware of creeping featuritis. Cateye Strada with cadence is a great way to go.

If you decide you want to log climbing, look into some of the GPS with barometric altimeter and a cadence sensor. Might want to add in a heart rate strap, which the GPS will also collect. Make sure it has mapping in case you miss a turn (east Tennessee has enough back roads this is possible!). And a power meter will help you plan, execute, and log your training.

See what I meant about featuritis?