How many of you use a bike computer with cadence? If you do why do you feel it important? I have read so many opinions in various books I would like to hear from real cyclists. Thanks

I use it because its easier to train, example my coach told me to do an 40 min 8% climb @78-90 rpm or he will tell me to do some tempo @ 90+ rpm or spin 110 rpm for a certain lenth of time.

what exactly is cadence?

The rpm's of your crank when you pedal

I'm much more interested in the cadence readout than in any other. I feel that I do best when my cadence is in the 70's for tempo riding and in the 80's for when I'm "getting with it." I used to think that I could judge cadence pretty well on my own, but I find that I'm more easily fooled than that.

Speed, max speed, average speed and the like are only useful for bragging after the fact. Knowing what they are doesn't help you to actually ride faster or more effeciently.

i want to get a computer with it, but i dont have one that does yet.

When I first started riding I wanted/needed one because a friend commented about my slow cadence. I got a cyclocomp with cadence to monitor my pedalling. When I was pedalling too slow I'd speed up (pedal faster or change gears). After a while it just becomes second nature to pedal at the "proper" cadence (80-100 for most people).
Now I don't need it but find myself checking the numbers every so often.

What he said.

And cadence isn't a display that drives you nuts over a long ride-- like speed, distance traveled, or elapsed time can be.

actually I used the speed indicator to gague my performance over a fixed route I used to run...I based my min as the previous lowest +.1mph. If I went below it, I had to make up by doing more distance after I finished the run. Basically that helped me go from an 8mph rider to an 18mph avg speed in 6 months. even loaded down with over 60lbs in crap in the panners on my mtb, i would still average about 16mph for an 8 mile run. Hopefully by this time next year I'm pushing in the 25mph range.

Cadence is good for a lot. Search these boards on it.

I particularly like it because:
- Good way to monitor fitness over given rides (doesn't care about wind like speed does). Also good for me since I have figured out effort with it.
- Using it is better for my knees (higher overall = less knee pain - recomended y my doctor )
- Easier number to watch when in a hard part of a ride. Not depressig when I am slow.