I'd want to have speed, odometer(s), cadence for sure.

A heart rate monitor and/or calorie counter would be nice, but I can live without them.

Least important I'd like to track elevation changes and would be nice and I'd like to be able to view the rides on a computer, but that's not terribly important.

GPS doesn't appeal to me at all. I'd like wireless, but I'd be willing to go wired too - depends on cost difference.

I've been using a Garmin Edge 800 for two years and love it. It does everything that you mentioned although I wouldn't swear to it's accuracy regarding elevation. It's a wireless unit. With the release of the the newer Edge 810, you can usually find the 800's for well under $300 but, of course, I don't know what your budget is. Hope this helps.

I asked my son the same thing yesterday. He suggested a Cat-eye Strada double wireless. So... I am taking his advice and looking at that and others.

Any opinions on the Blackburn Atom computers?

If you have a smart phone, use that. I've had all the fancy Garmin ones and have since gone over to my iPhone in a stem mount by Quad Lock using Cyclemeter and a bluetooth speed cadence sensor from Wahoo Fitness. I carry the phone anyhow and this gives me everything my bike computer did plus a better display and I have to carry it anyhow. It also will work with power meters, remote displays, heart rate sensors etc....

J.

Add a Lifeproof case so it's fully waterproof and impact resistant and it's perfect.

how about a basic wireless od/mile model ? don't have smart phone and don't need anything but speed and distance and low budget

Don't mean to hijack but op may have a smart phone so, will the screen stay on as you ride? How about battery runtime? Also what do you mean by having all the fancy garmins, like what models? And for me, I would like the gps functions so do you use that as well?

With Cyclemeter you can have the screen on or off and have it stay on. Full charge iPhone 5 will go 2 hours with screen on and indefinitely with it off. I also have an extra battery case for my phone and that will take it for far more than I would want to ride. Cyclemeter also has audio feedback of ride parameters that are user configurable and can be at preset intervals or on demand. It will also use phone GPS and will support cadence, wheel speed, heart rate and power sensors. You have a choice of many screens all user configurable and they include ride parameter display as well as maps and routing. It can also tweet hour progress and read tweets back to you as audio. Very full featured and cheap.

J.

John, can your iphone do live tracking so an invitee can track your rides in live time and if so, how offten dose it update?

Yes. You can configure it to auto tweet your position and statistics at certain events and intervals like start, stop, done, intervals (distance configurable), intervals (time configurable), etc... You can have it read tweets from only certain individuals in response (think coaching, for example). So, for example, if you were on a long ride, your support team could tweet to you that they were located at a certain point as they arrived and they would know where you were. We've used Cyclemeter when a family member was running a marathon and carried their phone for music so that we could follow their progress. Worked great.

If you want to have 100% live to the second tracking, then use Glympse (app) that will show where you are, how fast you are moving, etc... I've used that for several years too so that my family will know where I am and when I'll be home. We now just use the Apple utility Find My Friends where you can go out and query a given phone and it will return the location on a map.

I've found that Cyclemeter used as a bike computer is really useful. I've passed on the Garmins that I used to use because the display is better, the functionality is great, and I carry my phone anyhow. I have a Wahoo fitness speed and cadence sensor on all my bikes and the phone is paired with each one.

I have a battery case for my iPhone 5 for when I travel (iBattz Mojo Fuel) that will allow me to add additional batteries for unlimited usage. It's very slim and not much bigger than an iPhone with a case anyhow. They have an add on super case that makes it the equivalent of an Otterbox case. To that I stuck on a quadlock adhesive piece that mates to the quadlock bike stem mount and that's how I use it for long rides. I could have days worth of battery power at that point so battery usage is no longer an issue.

J.

thats where most start off at about $25.. LBS being aTrek Dealer they are what are in that shop..

I have antique Ciclomasters , they just need a battery and re inputing the wheel radius.
single row LCD, metal threaded O ring sealed, battery compartment, so its pretty much deluge proof.

I really liked those old Ciclomasters too. Seriously waterproof and bulletproof but (at the least the vintage I had) they weren't wireless then so you had the whole wire thing. The new version I don't like much at all.

J.

If you can find the Garmin 500. amazing.

I bought one for $4 from meritline 4 years ago. I have 18,000 miles on it and everything I want (distance, time, speed) still works. The average speed now only reads multiples of 1.8 mph (truncated to nearest integer multiple below actual); for a while it read wacky maximum speeds (78, 87 mph), but I don't care about either of those. The cadence always looks correct. The clock gains about a minute per week - 1 part in 10,000 - which isn't very good for a clock (I reset it every few months) but I don't need time that accurate when riding. I cracked the bezel when I forgot to remove it when I turned the bike over to repair a tube so rain gets in and puts it on the fritz, but I take out the battery and let it dry out overnight and it works. I'm glad I didn't spend big money. No heartbeat/glucose/blood pressure/ventilation rate/insulin/body temperature/barometer...

Cateye cyclometers are some of the best I have used wireless. But for road biking I solely use Garmin GPS based units.