Is it ok to be riding in wet weather with a bike computer.

I've only been a roadie for about 6 months now and have made the choice to avoid the rain. Only due to the fact that I'm worried the wet may ruin the computer or the sensors. I looked to see if Cateye mentioned it in their instructions and warranty info but theres no mention of it.

I have a Cateye Astrale8.

The rain will not damage the computer. It will, however, short the contacts and stop the computer from registering. In rainy weather, put a piece of saran wrap over the computer and cinch it with a rubber band. That is all you need.

it wont damage the computer... Some forum members even wash cyclos w/ thier clothes, by accident of course.

I've never had a problem with any of my cyclo-puters while riding in the rain, and I've been caught in a couple of fierce downpours.

I often leave my computer on my commuter scooter, which leans against a fence while at work. It's been rained on many a time and still functions just fine.

Think of em like your watch. They're designed to be more or less water resistant versus water tight. If you submerge it in a bucket of water for a period of time, the likelyhood of a failure is probably higher.

This is probably obvious: I was always told not to push the buttons when it's wet

??

I've only had extensive experience with two cyclocomputers. One was the CatEye ATC CC-8000 which was actually sealed and waterproof. The other is my current FlightDecks. I've used others though but not enough in the rain. Both of the previously mentioned computers operated fine in the rain. However, one had sealed buttons and the other had no buttons on the computer itself for on-bike operations and the FlightDeck hood buttons seemed relatively sealed. One suggestion is to smear a little bit of vasoline around the contacts to keep the water from shorting them out or corroding them.

Get wireless! On my Cateye wireless there are never any problems with rain because the signal goes directly to the "computer", there are no contacts to be shorted by water.

Depends on the wireless design. Some computers have the wireless receiver integrated into the computer head itself. Others have the receiver as part of the harness. This allows the same computer head to be used in a wired and wireless application.

I got in a nasty rain storm. My speed stopped registering, but my cadance was over 500!!!!! The computer is fine though.

You must have been cavitating!

good one!

Thanks for the advice.

My little cateye computer does not like rain and will go on strike when it gets wet. I can avoid this by simply covering it with a little plastic bag. The problem is wet contacts. If I dry these off, it works fine but if it is raining they get wet again so that is why I use the bag for wet weather. It beats stopping and drying the thing every half mile or so. When things dry off, it works fine. I have never heard of a bike computer ever being permanently damaged by wet weather but I would not subject one to total immersion either.