I cycle for fitness, not competitively, generally in urban areas, some off road gravel trails.
Google maps on my phone just is not accurate enough, it misses large sections of a spin and shows me on paralell roads i didnt cycle, so its time for something more accurate.

Ideally Im looking for a watch that will track my route, speed (avg, max), elevation if possible.
I want this to help me improve, if i know my time for a given route, I can then try to improve it.

Appreciate your advice based on what you have used and have experience with.

Budget? Don’t forget you’ll have to purchase sensors (cadence, heart rate) if you want that data as well. GPS will provide speed.

Is a moving map necessary, or just speed & distance?

budget of maybe 350 dollars tops.
moving map not necessary, just to view my route after i get home with various stats.

I've been wearing my Garmin 235 while riding and it does well.

Download Adidas Running by Runtastic to your smartphone. Spend a few dolllars on a spare battery as the gps uses up an Apple iphone standard battery in about 4 hours.

james

A whole forum for you

In addition the the app mentioned above...also look at other smartphone fitness apps like Strava or MapMyRun. They’re sort of like Facebook for athletes. You have friends (if you want), can compare your workouts to theirs, track your miles/times/route/calories/efforts/etc. These apps generally have a free version...which for me is all I need. But there are also paid subscriptions that give you access to a few more of their applications. These apps can be cell phone battery drainers. But I turn my on and then put the screen lock on and put it in my pocket and forget about it. Sometimes I might check it mid-ride/run. But I don’t have a problem with battery at all. I use the Strava app to chart my workouts...and I also usually wear a GPS watch. Comparatively, the app is just as accurate as the GPS watch. You can use the apps for all sorts of fitness activities. Obviously cycling and running. But also swimming, hiking, kayaking/canoeing, climbing,...the list goes on.

Dan

Why tell the OP what apps to use? OP wants help spending moolah. Let’s get with the program!

Wahoo Elemnt Roam. The Bolt is good too, but my old eyes prefer the larger screen on the Roam.

I've been using an iGPSport and I'm very happy with it. It's well below your budget. It puts all of the data I need on to one page (speed, cadence, HR, distance, time, clock, temperature) that is very easy to read. I sync it with RideWithGPS.com after the ride to review my ride. Also, RideWithGPS is great for route planning.

I fall into your camp - ride for fitness. I was using MapMyRun, and it provided pretty much what I wanted as far as info goes. Decided to get a Garmin 520 Edge Plus when the price dropped to about $200, and added the speed and cadence sensors for an additional $60. It works really well for my needs, and I did not see any reason to spend more.

One of the nice things that I have not had to use fortunately, is the feature that send a message to your emergency contact if you crash. Since I often ride by myself, it's somewhat comforting to know that my wife will be notified in the event of an incident.

An added bonus is that the Garmin controls my Bontrager lights - on when moving and off when stopped. And, it syncs with my phone so I can get the ride data on it.

I've found the Wahoo Element Bolt excellent having owned one for a couple of years now. Great battery life and reliability (ie no random crashes while recording) compared to the Garmins of some friends. The phone app to manage it is also well designed and user friendly. Maps work well - navigation is simple and no frills on the black & white screen but I've enjoyed building new routes and using it to navigate them.

I'm using a Garmin Edge 530. On that unit I display 10 data fields, some are not all vital for example the ride timer and time of day. I really like having cadence, mph. average ride mph, HR, hill gradient (and climb pro), plus I display watts and watts/kg as I pair with Garmin Vector 3 power meter pedals. All of this gets uploaded to Garmin Connect which in turn uploads to Strava. The learning curve to using this set up is in my opinion a bit steep. The turn by turn GPS directions are nice. I pre-load routes that I make on ridewithgps. The only other way I know of doing this is to ride a route, save it and then it's a route on your GPS head unit. The instruction manual for Garmin is not good but there are lots of user produced youtubes. Overall I like the Garmin though.

Also check out Garmin 130 Plus if you don't need much in mapping features. I find it to be a 'goldilocks solution'.

Plus 1 for the 520 plus. I did briefly have the crash feature turned on but it was far too sensitive - maybe a reflection of the awful road quality around here? I arrived home one evening to find my wife very shook up because she'd received an emergency message from my Garmin, so that feature is now off. However, otherwise I find it excellent. The navigation feature is also pretty good so I grab routes off friends and download them to the Garmin so that I can find new trails in my area.

Just use the Strava app if you don't mind using your phone, look at the Wahoo Elemnt line (I use the ROAM) if you want more accurate positioning/navigation, etc.

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt works well if you want to see data while riding. Can upload to cycling apps such as Strava.
If you don’t need to see data while riding Apple Watch Series 3 is inexpensive. Run Strava on the watch. Later can view your ride on your phone. It also provides HR data.