I'm considering picking up a simple cyclocomputer just for curiosity's sake. I'd be interested to see how much speed I pick up or how many miles I actually do in a round trip. However, will I likely be disappointed if I pick up a cyclocomp in the <$30 range?

I think they are all pretty much the same. You could even pick up a cheaper model if all you want is speed and distance.
The trick is setting up your wheel circumference so it is accurate.

I picked up a comp for $25 from the local Performance shop... it even has cadence. I haven't had any problems with it at all, and have 1,400 miles logged on it so far.

I don't think they're all made the same but you can't descriminate based on price. I've had good luck with CatEye computers and you can get some of them for under $30. They are just as accurate as the higher-end models. They just have less features. Some cheap no-name or obscure brands tend to have problems in wet weather or they lose resolution and accuracy above certain speeds. For an entry level computer, I would recommend the CatEye Mity 8. You can find these for around $20. You can also find the CatEye Velo 5 for around $15. And if you want something with more features, the CatEye Astrale 8 (has cadence) is around $30 and the Strada is around $35.

I got my Cateye Micro Wireless for 30 on ebay. Great computer.

I've used a $8 Schwinn computer from Walmart and I have a $50 wirless cateye. They both work just fine for me.

I got my Sigma Sport BC1606L on Amazon from ARequip for $25.50. I didn't think it came with a cadence sensor but it did. Great computer.

Cateyes are the Timex of cyclocomputers. They may not be fancy but they can take a lickin'! Inexpensive and nearly indestructable.

During one 'Hey, guys! Watch this!' moment, I happened to knock one off my mountain bike into a stream. I was a couple of miles away when I notice that it was missing, so I went back. I found it in the stream about 25 yards below where I had my...umm, moment... and it was still ticking off the time. I used that one for a number of years before upgrading. My current one has been through the wash several times, through downpours, and been skipped down the road a few times when it came off the bracket (which is the weak point of Cateyes). It may look a little raggity but it still works.

I just threw one in the trash, I forgot who made it, something starting with a "V". I went to the LBS and grabbed the first, cheepest, wireless model I saw, $30 and some change. Problem with it is; it goes into "sleep mode" if idle for 5 minutes, and does not have the sense to turn itself on when you start moving. It must be "awoken" by pressing a button, you have to pay attention to it, or you never have accurate trip time, etc, even the odometer does not work in "sleep mode".
Bought the first cheepest Cateye, works great.

--A

I have a question about the better computers out there. I have a cheap computer that the screen turns completely black after 10 minutes of riding in our 100+ degree days, meaning I can't read anything. It still records all the information, but I can't see my speed, distance, what time it is... anything. When I get to where I'm going I have to throw it in a cup of ice water for a few minutes to see anything. Is this a problem you guys have on your better computers?

^^^^
My iPod does that in the car all summer. Sorry, don't know if top shelf computers are typical victims of heat stroke, I've been riding with the cheep ones.

--A

That's too bad, I was hoping that there was such a thing a a higher quality LCD panel that this didn't happen to. I would assume that the ipod uses a good quality LCD, they seem to be build rock solid otherwise. If it goes black, I'm going to assume any computer will.

That happened with a meat thermometer I was using recently but I've never had it happen with any of my bicycle computers...even on tour where the computer is in direct sunlight for hours on end. I can't say about other computers but the Cateyes don't go black.

My extremely cheap computer (got it free at the LBS when I bought my bike) does this, but only when stopped in extreme heat (100+). Once I get going, the wind seems to cool it down after a few minutes.

I've never had this problem with Cat Eye though.

Had the $10 schwinn computer from wal-mart last for 1,560 miles before I broke the bracket. Decided to upgrade and bought a Planet Bike Protege 9.0 which arrived in the mail today. I like the 2 wheel setting feature since I swap wheelsets on my mountain bike for road riding and off-road riding. The temperature feature seems pretty accurate as well (I'm a weather geek so I really like that feature, heh).

CatEye knows how to make good durable computers. This was borne out of their CC-8000 from long ago (1989) and the Enduro line is a decendant of the CC-8000. The CC-8000 was their first computer to be fully waterproofed, encased in a ruggedised housing, used a reinforced mount and have extra thick sensor wires.



Fifteen years ago, I was on a night ride with this girl along an unlit trail (save for my meager Cateye 5W headlamp) that led around Fermi National Accelerator Labs in Batavia, IL where we both worked as college interns. She mentioned something about being able to see the stars (a rarity for the burbs of Chicago) and I started staring up and stargazing. By the time I heard her yell, "look out!", the big 4" diameter roadblock/gate was upon me. It was right at handlebar height. I didn't even have time to fully hit the brakes. I was doing maybe 16MPH when I contacted the bar. The bike came to a complete stop. I however, did not.

I went sailing over the bars (both my bike's and the gate's) and plunged headfirst onto the hard gravel. Luckily, my helmet which nobly sacrificed itself in favour of my noggin did its job and absorbed the impact while leaving me with a bit of a headache. My date was both amused and concerned. And I guess I sorta soaked it up... Hey, sympathy attention is better than none.

It was a total yard sale. We spent the next hour looking for all my gear. The CC-8000 took the brunt of the impact and nicely got ejected off into the bushes but came out with hardly a scratch on the housing. The bike came out relatively unscathed (some scratches on the brake levers and barends) but it took us both a good 45 minutes of beating around in the bush to locate my bike computer.

Aside from the heat problem I had more trouble with bike computers in Colorado commuting in the winter. Below 40 degrees they were unreliable. Below 30 degrees they went dead in minutes ifI had standard batteries. I do understand how cold slows the chemical reactions in the batteries. If it had mattered I could have gotten a voltage converter and run it off of my big, insulated headlamp battery.

If you hot riders can find no other way to keep your displays from going black get one of those electronic widgets that turns cold on one side when you put juice thru it and mount the computer on that side

It's known as a Peltier device. It works on the reverse principle of the Seebeck effect. This is essentially how thermocouples work. A temperature difference will cause a current to flow in a thermocouple. Using the same principle, a heat flow can be induced from the hot side of the thermocouple to the other by running a direct current through it. The biggest difference between a thermoelectric couple and a regular thermocouple is that the Peltier device couple is constructed of an N-type and and a P-type semiconductor. Traditional thermocouples (such as those used to measure temperatures) are constructed using bimetalics.

Or, you could go to my LBS, as I did to try to support them, and ask them to change out a shot computer and find out after picking up the bike and paying the $45 bill that the model they put on only has 4 functions -- not even elapsed ride time or average speed -- and a list price of only $18, streets for less.

I have a VDO which cost about $25. It is very simple to set up and use. It has also survived 1 harsh Latvian winter, a lot of rain, and a nasty crash which sent it flying. It still works perfectly.

Be careful of cheap wireless comps. Mine gets affected by certain stores - I guess the alarm by the door for theft prevention. So I hit 99.99km really often....

I guess more expensive ones have codes to make sure they're recording from the right bike? (or from a bike)

NO, the Cateye brand is created above all other equals! Just go and press a few buttons on various models and you will rapidly tell the Cateye doesn't have that cheap plastic contact feel to them. Plus Cateye's service department is second to none. I have a Cateye wireless and the sending unit died 1 year after the 2 year warranty expired, I requested to buy a new unit on their website and instead they sent me the unit for free without postage being charged, AND it came in 2 days!

NOTE FOR EBIKERS: Cateye wireless cyclocomputers do not work well with electric bikes. These things are not well protected against electric noise and will indicate false speeds/distance because of the radio noise from the various eBike components (computer, motor etc.)

Pickup an inexpensive wireless one. The setup is easier than with a wired one. The newer, pricier wireless ones that code the signal digitally are even easier to setup because they allow greater tolerances, e.g. sensor and magnet spacing, IME.