I need to get a basic bike computer for my step-father. His requirements are speed (cur/avg/max), odometer (total & trip), and a trip timer. He'd prefer wireless if possible, but would consider wired. No need for cadence, heart rate, GPS, etc., just the basics with reliability being top of the list. He'd also like to stay under $50.

Anyone have any recommendations on this?

The CatEye Velo7 is a great basic computer (wired).

If you want basic and reliable, go with wired. Cateye is a good bet.

Sigma BC 8.12 Wired Cycling Computer: Black - Modern Bike

I use the Cateye Padrone, basic, easy to use and large display. Nice computer.

I have been using Planet Bike Proteges for a long time. They just last forever. The 7 is very basic, the 9 has more functionality. The single control is very nice.

I've never gone wireless, it seems like they have a lot of things to go wrong.

I tried Cateye comps last year, but the one I got (very basic) had no way to set the odometer. That makes the whole comp completely useless to me. I don't know if that's common in the Cateye line. I confirmed both with the manual, the LBS owner and online that there's no way to set the odometer on the one I got.

Thanks for the suggestions all. I went down to the local Performance Bike and actually had a Cateye Velo 7 in hand when I saw that they had the Axiom IO wireless on sale for the same price. So, I ended up with the Axiom IO and so far my step-father has been extremely happy with it. Install and setup was very easy and so far (first few days) he's had no issues with it at all. We'll see how it does over time.

Thanks again.

I just bought both the Cateye Velo 7($16.57) and Velo 9 ($20.12). Top rated on Amazon. Wired and simple to use. Speedometer and mileage are all I need.

I returned mine because as far as I can tell, there's no way to set the odometer to the mileage on the bike. That made it useless to me. I'd not only lose my mileage when switching to it, but every time I had to put in a new battery as well.

Even $5 Chinese specials off eBay allow setting of the odometer. BTW, $5 ebay specials are actually pretty decent.

Mileage of the bike? Never heard that ever done.

This is a huge option for many who ride different bikes and want to keep track of the milage on each bike. Comes in handy for maintenance ect..

Are you being sarcastic? If so I can't tell. Every single bike computer on the market has an odometer. Pretty much everyone I talk to uses it. I use it to schedule maintenance and to find out how long different things (tires, chains, brakes) are lasting.

Honestly, I wouldn't care if my bike computer did NOTHING but odometer. It's really all I have it on the bike for, other than I use the clock sometimes. I don't care about speed, cadence, or anything else. Total ride time is somewhat interesting but I wouldn't care if it wasn't there.

I reset my odometer for each ride. I don't keep total mileage. So I was serious ItsJustMe.

The odometer we are talking about is different / separate from the daily ride milage..

Thanks for the advice on the difference raqball. Unfortunately I was not aware that a bike computer could keep total mileage. Clearly my mistake with not reading all of the instruction sheet. Thanks.