Computer recommendations
 

Can someone recommend a good computer that does all the main features (speed, time) but also heart rate and computer download ability. I was looking for something less then 250 dollars. I think the Garmin edge 305 would fit my needs, but I was wondering what else was available below its price. Also, I don’t think I would like recharging the 305 everyday.

Check out Sigma's Rox 8.0 and 9.0.

You might want to take a look at the Polar options:

http://www.polar.fi/en/products/cycling/

mavic wintech ultimate is amazing. Installs clean without zip ties, loaded with features including altimeter, heart rate and cadence. All for $229. and has a $25 add on rear wheel trainer sensor that goes on and comes off fast and easy.

I'm a newbie and don't know **** from shinola about cycling... except that the Edge 705 I bought last month - extravagantly expensive as it was - has turned out to be incredibly useful and incredibly motivating. It painlessly captures everything and painlessly plugs it into the database on your computer. Not to mention routing and finding cool roads and not getting lost and all the other cool things about GPS's.

Yeah, definitely look at the Edge 305.

I have been looking at a few myself. Since I am new as well I pretty much have had eyes on the Cateye brand as it is cheap, and it was the first company I was introduced to :P

I have a sigma rox 9.0 and it really is a nice computer.
Likes
Wireless sensors work great.
Display is awesome. You can see everything at a glance and customize to display what you want.
Battery life is fantastic. Only need to change about every 6mo - yr.
Its very easy to use.
It can be set up for 2 different bikes and logs the miles on each of them.

Dislikes
Logging capabilities don't include cadence. It will tell you min/max and avg cadence, but it isn't logged every 5sec like heart rate, speed, and inclination.
Software is a bit peculiar, but it gets the job done.

If you think you may become obsessed with biking, spend the cash on a refurbed 705. Then when you are thinking of a power meter of some sort, you already have what you need.

I'm thinking of selling my Rox 9.0 so I can purchase a Garmin 705. (Around $360 refurbed with cadence/speed and hrm)

Rick

My initial impression of the Sigma Rox 9.0 that I just got last Friday is very good. I've only gotten to use it on a 64-mile ride but it preformed well. The display is easy to read. It's a little bit of a pain to remember to start and stop the log feature, but I think I can train myself to do that. I had to zero out my Cateye Astrale 8 every time I started a ride or it would add my ride information to my last ride and I'd have to figure out the difference to log the ride. The ability to download to the computer and see the information graphically is the main reason I bought the 9.0. It is pretty cool to see how your heart rate increases with increases in grade or when you're pulling the group, how it recovers when you are on long downgrades and how your speed fluctuates, etc. It has auto start/stop capability and lots of features that I think will take a while to understand. You can get one on eBay for around $195 shipped. I think you can also get it at Nashbar (where I got mine) for $180 plus shipping and tax through the weekend. They have it for 10% off list and have another 20% off code at the moment.

The Edge 305 with HR can be had for under $200 these days. If you really want a GPS computer, that is a great deal. Of course, if you don't need GPS, there are nice bike computers with HR for less than $100.